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「重なる魂」 (Kasanaru Tamashii)
“Souls Come Together”
It’s funny how something so unexpected can nonetheless threaten to make this series more generic and forgettable.
A Consistent Tone, Finally
Say what you will about this episode (and I will), but it did have a much more consistent tone than the preceding episodes, save for perhaps the first. I’m not sure how much that tone works, given that Sougo is still a shallow character who wants to save Felia thanks to motivations that haven’t been adequately developed, his plan to save her is idiotic (yes, drive your hoverboard at the military vehicle and only summon the mech after you almost get shot, smart), and the only reason the plot progresses the way it does is because both sides make a series of idiotic decisions (like only sending Puck outside to make the exchange instead of sending a few guards, or putting the choker on Felia that didn’t allow her to use her powers even when she needed them). But it was consistent, so the episode ended up feeling less scattershot. It goes to show that if Comet Lucifer would stick to one thing, it can at least be that thing. I still would have preferred other world slice-of-life to mediocre mech action, personally.
Girl To Woman
Note: I’m purposefully skipping talking about the mecha battles. I don’t understand why Moura was missing an arm in the first battle, but it was largely pointless. It was also convenient that the mech evolved when it did, considering it never did that the other times Felia was falling somewhere. Also, Moura kept pulling new powers from, literally, its ass. The less said there, the better.
Instead, let’s talk about Felia’s transformation. Isn’t it funny that the most unexpected thing about this episode—a possibly permanent physical change to one of the main characters—has the potential to make this show more generic? The only thing that was probably working was the Sougo (papa)/Kaon (mama)/Felia (daughter) relationship. That Kaon hadn’t become an unlucky childhood friend was one of the bright points of this series so far, but it looks like they were setting up the usual trope (guy falls for the mysterious new girl) instead. Which, granted, we’ll feel for Kaon more now that we’ve seen her interest and thought the relationship was possible, rather than being informed of it, but that doesn’t alleviate my trepidation since that was the one element of the show I enjoyed.
Looking Ahead
I hope I’m wrong about what’s coming up vis a vis Kaon, but I don’t think I am. Sometimes it’s tough being right all the time.
tl;dr: @StiltsOutLoud – Some pointless mecha battles happened, & Felia grew up. At least the tone was consistent #cometlucifer 05
Random thoughts:
- “Make me climax!” Wot. Did Captain Gus actually say that? *shakes head*
My first novel, Wage Slave Rebellion, is available now. (More info—now in paperback!) Sign up for my email list for a FREE sequel novella. Over at stephenwgee.com, the last four posts: Stephen, what is best in life?, It depends, Momentum & mental space, and The best content is in email
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“Make me climax!”…damn it captain Gus, wrong anime, wrong anime.. “Abort”, i repeat “Abort” XD
I’m talking about Valkyrie Drive in case someone doesn’t get it.
What subtitle version did you watch? I usually watch the RAW’s and didn’t hear a line like that. Also checked the horriblesubs version and didn’t find that line anywhere, what point in the episode did that happen? Could be just badly translated.
obviously some other fansubs, since I doubt HorribleSubs would bother modify any of the “official” scripts they grab…
He said something like ”いかせてみろよ, 俺をよ！” (Ikasete miro yo, ore wo yo!). Which would mean something along the lines if “Try and make me cum” to put it kinda bluntly. The いかせて is derived from いく or rather the verb 行く which means to go or in this case “Make/let” someone go or climax (but when used to refer to climaxing they seem to only use Hiragana or Katakana). The みろ part is the order form for 見る to see, try etc (Not sure what the proper grammatical term for that is). But basically its a form used to tell someone to do something.
Just in case, this is a screenshot from HorribleSubs
When I first heard it I was like… “WTF really!? they allow this on TV!?” D:
P.S. Explanation might’ve been bad, I still make a lot of little simple mistakes on tests etc, but I’m relatively confident with the listening portion.
Yeah, I don’t remember if I commented on it in the first episode or just thought it, but Kaon was always doomed by the opening. As in, she’s pretty much nonexistant in the opening so she’s not the heroine.
Which was probably what turned me off the series in fact because I think from her first appearance she was one of the more likable characters in the show.
I don’t remember if it was you, but I remember that being mentioned. And I agreed. It just started feeling like maybe that was a misunderstanding … or really, I hoped it was. Bah, humbug.
Also in the scene where Puck brings Felia out, he threatened to cut her head off, and I just thought, “Uh I’m pretty sure your superiors want her in one piece, so threatening to kill her is kinda dumb”
Bleh! Kaon is obvious the better choice. Which I can say comfortably even without having watched past episode 2. Unnecessary age-ups for cliche romance plot-tumors are terrible ideas.
you know what? i will be completely honest…that ending did not surprise me as i predicted it to happen. Before clicking to watch this ep, i swear on everything i thought out loud: “I think today’s ep is called ‘two souls come together’ verdad?….sounds like it’s referring to felia and sogo creating some out-of-the-blue deep connection. Man, wouldnt it be funny if felia’s powers sort of made her grow up as some contrived way to make her become a competing item of affection for sogo’s heart, knocking kaon out of that position, making this show spiral deeper down the hole of mediocrity. Oh, oh and wouldnt it be funny if the show started making Kaon’s fiancee’s chauvinistic moves to acquire her heart start to eventually melt her cold disposition towards him….ugh no way right?? that would be heinous to reduce her character to something like that. Even more heinous would be the whole felia thing…..HA…felia getting older…..as if doing that makes it right in the creators mind that she can now become an object of affection for sogo because, hey, it’s not like she’s been portrayed as a child for about 5 eps now right. HA, HA, because it’s okay for a father to start developing feelings for his daughter because she’s 26 yrs old and has amazing cans and a booty that would make space dandy get a boner so immaculate, it would reset the universe right??? HA….HAAAAAAAA…oh man…felia getting older; what am i saying….anyway…” click (22 mins later, sees felia with boobs) “……..” (hears large flushing noise inside head and turns away from the screen)
Hmm.. At this point I’m feeling that you might be better off avoiding reviewing this and pick up another series… Perhaps the fafner series? As all I am getting is disappointment and perhaps venting a bit.
I understand that you as a writer and a reviewer have a tendency to nitpick, but it would be nice to read something more balanced, or even analytical, like maybe that felia is the planet’s goddess?
I haven’t watched any of the Fafner series, and I don’t know where I’d start if I had time (can I start on the first season of Exodus, or would I need to go back to the originals?). Which I don’t have time for, especially since I’m trying to marathon the original Utawarerumono at the moment.
But let’s talk about balance, and about being analytical. Some people take it as gospel truth that balance means taking the middle road—that there’s wisdom in being the moderate, if you want to look at it in a political sense. I’m not saying that’s what you think, but that’s what your comment made me think at first blush, which is why I want to address it.
While I think there’s some wisdom to Aristotle’s golden mean (google it), it’s not absolute. It’s good to avoid radicalism—in this case, doe-eyed positivity to the point of ignoring fallacies or caustic cynicism to the point of making fun things hateful—but that doesn’t mean trying to balance the good and the bad is always the proper way to do things.
Some shows are just good, in which case I’m going to give passing mention to any flaws and spend the lion’s share of my time gushing about how fucking awesome this shit is. But some shows are also just bad, in which case it would be duplicitous for me to pretend anything else.
The truth is that I was as balanced as I could be with this review, which is why it’s markedly shorter than most of my posts. And that’s because I was being analytical. If I had been strictly analytical, I would have been honor-bound to rip the episode to shreds even more, because it is, as objectively as such things can be, not very good. I know how stories are told, enough that I’ve done it myself, and I can tell when it’s not being done well.
(Though I will admit that I was partially hungover from a Halloween party yesterday, without which I could have probably dulled my blows somewhat. I honestly wasn’t venting. I just wanted to be done with the post so I could take a nap.)
Comet Lucifer isn’t giving me much to work with. If you want to see me write a good, balanced, generally-positive post out of a show that’s objectively a mess, read any of my Heavy Object posts. With that one, I found a hook that’s allowing me to still enjoy it. There’s nothing like that for Comet Lucifer lately.
As for dropping the show, I don’t like to drop shows in general. We are making a small change in how to pick and announce shows next season, though, which will hopefully allow us to catch more sleepers and never pick up some of the duds.
P.S. If it sounds like I’m annoyed in this reply, I’m really not. I just saw what looked like a misunderstanding, and wanted to clear it up. Being balanced means giving all sides the amount of attention they deserve, which is different from giving them equal time.
For example, if I were organizing a debate on climate change and I wanted to be balanced, I wouldn’t invite one scientist and one climate change denier. I would invite three climate change deniers and ninety-seven scientists. That’s how John Oliver did it, and that’s the only balanced way to do it. Which means that if a show is utterly terrible, a balanced review will be indistinguishable from a cynical screed. Balance is something a reviewer demonstrates over time.
honestly stilt’s, if you have time to cover this series, i dont want you to drop it because as a writer, i think it’s important to highlight not just what makes good storytelling, but also the other side of the spectrum as well. I think it would be cool if every season, a RC writer blogged one series that is inherently flawed and talk about how those flaws compound on each other on a weak by weak baiss. The modus operandi wouldnt be to rip on a the series for the sake of ripping on it, but to rather explore what creates weak storytelling an how writers can avoid this danger zone. I personally thought this was a balanced review and would like to see this continued to be covered for the above-mentioned reasons
I wouldn’t want to go out of my way to do that myself, and I wouldn’t want to encourage (force) any of my cohorts to do it, either. But once it’s done, yeah, I’ll do that. Won’t be the first time, lol (Genei, Mahouka, Maoyuu, etc).
Agreed with sithstormjedi.
Fafner needs some love especially now that everything gets really interesting. And season 2 with a much improve art, designs and animation over season 1 is god send. I think Fafner has one of the best animations this year. CG mechs blends well with the 2D backgrounds.
Though that’s season 2. You gotta leave by with season 1’s shitty animation if you want to dive into the series, Stilts.
So, still not clear. Could I start with Exodus (first season), or would I need to go back to the originals?
Exodus does a decent job as an entry point for need-to-knows. It establishes the humans vs. aliens, the Fafners and the pilots well enough. Unfortunately there is also hits the audience with alot of continuity, referencing many past events and developments which can confuse new viewers because of its large cast. Most importantly, Fafner is one of those series where alot characters, primary and secondary are killed off, so going into Exodus at once will spoil you on who makes it or not.
Just as an example, the original series introduced some kids halfway into the series. They had around 15 mins of total screen time, little dialogue and could barely be described as C-list characters. By the Fafner movie these kids become the 2nd generation pilots and the primary cast become their mentors. By Exodus these 2nd gens are now the mentors to the 3rd generation pilots.
This is just as an example of its strong continuity. The great thing about Fafner is that you can marathon the first series, go to the movie, then to Exodus and you feel like it never stopped. (Other than the outdated animation). It takes a lot of commitment but I honestly think its worth it.
So yes I recommend you start with the first series Fafner: Dead Aggressor, watch the movie Fafner: Heaven and Earth then move to Fafner: Exodus. The experience is far better.
There is one more entry to the franchise, the OVA Fafner: Right of Left though I don’t think that is necessary to watch. While its a good its also the most disconnected other than a few references to it on the main series.
This really was a clusterf*ck of an episode. It moved in a logical manner this time around, but none of the results had any impact or meaning. For example, barring a few more ambiguous lines, we still don’t know why Felia is sought after. And now moe Felia has become love interest Felia. IMO it’s clear now that Comet Lucifer plans on dropping all development needed to properly connect each event to one another.
Ironically though the lack of development might be Lucifer’s strength. If the show doesn’t know where it’s heading the audience sure as hell does not. Guess we shall see if the surprise will be worth it in the end 😛
…..what? What happened? What the…? I don’t even….
This show is like a study in what not to do when writing an SFF story…
Well I hvent start this series yet….but so much obivious feeling…so I dont know if want to start watching this or not….
Saw that transformation coming. Felia was obviously being set up as the main love interest in the OP, but she was too much of a kid to really qualify at first. So, badaboom, age-up, just like that! Now the girl he was treating as his daughter looks his age, and the protagonist can plow that without reservation!
…wait.
I always seem to watch this when I’m tired and it makes me really sleepy. I had to think about what happened again, an dI was like oh yeah, Felia grew up! And some mechs fought, but whatevs.
There is still Felia’s Secret. No not that she could be the Planet Spirit. Yes, perhaps the Planet is her Home where Humans settled down on the surface.
No, the key here is, when the Boy receive the Red Crystal Key. this very Short scene. We saw a glimpse of Felia’s true appearance
But. Is Felia’s Planet man made or an natural Planet? If Man made, then i fear something military use
First I wanted to watch it. Then I wanted to hate it. Now I think I may just have to hate-watch it. That seems like a good compromise.
I think I actually commented an episode or two back that the seeing Kaon and Sougo get together would be the only possible redeeming quality of this show. “Aaaaand it’s gone”
Actually, I quite enjoy the fighting scene and bgm by 8bits. Nicely done, not that bad to be fair. Of course, there are plot holes in the story, but at least, there is no h_r_m. Sometimes, we just need something different… but not too much…honestly…
I forgot to mention the bgm. It was nice. Though that’s part of what lent the episode its tone, so I guess it was implied in there, haha
The fights were nice, they just lacked weight. In that, I knew they didn’t matter. I feel like the snarling mech isn’t working so well anymore, since there’s no character from Moura when (s)he’s in mech form. And I knew the battles didn’t really matter. But the actual animation itself was nice.
Willingness to save the girl he met three seconds ago. It’s cliche, but that’s the Sougo motivation. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheDulcineaEffect
So they take what could have been a pseudo-wholesome father/daughter or young girl/caretaker relationship and replace it with the MC ogling the breasts of a girl who is like a week old and still has the mind of a child.
Actually, thankfully, if you listen to the way Felia was speaking at the end of the episode, you’ll notice that her mind has matured along with her body. She now speaks with full sentences and full cognitive range compared to her toddler-level mind from the beginning of the episode.
Honestly I had no clue about how she acts of speaks post transformation, I stopped watching this show after episode 3 and now simply experience it vicariously through Stilts’ weekly agony.
G-glad you’re enjoying it? :X
I think of it as my cross to bear. To tell the best stories, I must study the worst. This is turning out to be a good education.
After last week dancing veggie I decide to drop the show and looking I made good choice in doing it!
Stilts,
Sorry, don’t know how to post under another relating post.
About fafner, you have to watch from the very beginning to understand any of it.
There’s just too much going on and you will be confused otherwise.
But I wish you would pick it up because the last 3 eps is an emotional roller coaster.
Sadly exodus s1 kinda sucks but every ep of s2 makes up for it.
You do have to watch the movie too because everything ties in….
Just click the REPLY button below the poster’s name to nest your comment under their comment.
And gotcha. That makes it far less likely I’ll get to it though, alas. The funny thing is that the more time I spend writing about anime, the less time I have to watch anime. Life is cruel like that.
I kinda understood what happened with the mech fights in this episode…
*SPOILERS in case you really want to know*
Show Spoiler ▼
…epic spoiler fail (the last paragraph got included by accident)… /facepalm
Also:
https://randomc.net/image/Comet%20Lucifer/Comet%20Lucifer%20-%2005%20-%20Large%2035.jpg
more plot incoming? (sorry I have to do it…)
Oh and I hate the trope used her and Naruto and Bleach and many other young male oriented tale of the heroic mad and incredibly stupid character who rushes in to save the day no knowledge of how in his rage and gets extremely lucky. At least in To Love Ru the hero’s stupid defenses are for comedy because his girl he’s protecting is probably a Supergirl or better class hero, reversed from Lois and Supper Man, women of steal man of paper.
Most historical great fighters are the calm often simple men who in civilian life everyone thinks are just a normal not boastful person. These real heroes fought in a state of calmness not rage. In example Sgt York, The beast of Omaha beach who probably killed over 3,000 men because he had a great position over the beach and was supper accurate and the god of hero’s Norway’s “White Death” over 500 sniper kills no scope as that gives away your position and makes you get higher to shoot. White Death also killed over 200 with a submachine gun which is maybe even more impressive as that is point blank firing basically action hero in a movie stuff except he ran up a way higher total.
1. Real war heroes and heroes in stories are not the same thing, for lots of good reasons.
2. While the dumb rage fueled hero of anime can get annoying just due to over-use, there are PLENTY of medal of honor recipients and older war heroes (harder to get their exact stories) who did what they did in the grips of murderous (and often suicidal) rage.
[That looks like a flag lol… I hope they won’t make him fall in love with Felia btw, somehow I’m wary with triangle set ups. “Childhood friend with unrecruited love because the main character is way too dense suddenly fall in love with a girl appearing out of nowhere and will be more than willing to go into danger for her while sidelinening the childhood friend. In the end she gives up, marries with the side character while the guy remains oblivious with the new girl.”
Slap me please if my prediction is right later. (I really really hope I’m wrong though)]
Kek remember what I wrote from episode 2? LOL slap me please.
Interesting enough someone replied on my earlier post with:
[im almost positive it wont go down the route of sogo falling for felia. It’s more like he has a responsibility to be her protector/father figure more than a love interest. Felia seems like she’s twelve while sogo and kaon seem like their 18 and up (someone correct me on the ages if im wrong)]
And now she becomes adult effectively turned it into “Yeay now it’s legal she’s not a loli anymore! Hahaha thanks author for creating an extremely convenient excuse for me to chase her! Did I forget about someone? What are you talking about, author? This little girl is the first girl I ever met in my life, I don’t remember having a girl childhood friend whose always with me up until a few weeks ago!”
Prediction on the last episode:
After a few SOL episodes it will suddenly goes into full fledged battle, and the protagonist is cornered. The silver chick will be forced to use her power beyond the safety limit or something to save the good guys. Name calling between bland MC and silver chick “Shogooo!” “Feliaaa!”
Bad guys lost. Silver chick and mascot slowly dispersing into light, fading away while the MC hugs her. MC pleading to silver chick and finally confess that he loves her. Silver chick refuse and states that MC has a nice girl always besides him all this time. MC refuse and adamantly stating that the one he truely loves is silver chick and will always wait for her. Silver chick disappears while MC whailing.
Epilogue:
Marriage ceremony. MC congratulates Kaon and the annoying sidecharacter guy. MC goes for a walk, camera from behind, then MC suddenly stop and turn around then smile. Screen fade to white with red stone on the corner right with text “fin” while MC said “Okaeri!”
I pray that this is wrong, lol I’ll laugh hard if this becomes true…