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「Lonesome Vampire」
The concept of a creature trapped outside of their time is always a tragic one, and the titular vampire of this episode was no exception. She was the lone survivor of her kind, having woken up long after a war that ended with the destruction of her kin. Considering how she was awakened, confused and starving, it’s not easy to fault her for killing the first human she saw. Of course, it’s certainly not acceptable behavior, as it may well have been when she and her race were at their prime, but the fact that she spared a young couple later on makes me think that she was really was just draining humans to survive, and not out of any particular sense of ill will. Had she received the chance to become accustomed to human culture, as Tilarna has, she might have even become an ally. Unfortunately, you could just as easily say she was too set in her ways to change. Given how readily she refused the warlock’s offer of aid, even at the eventual cost of her life, it really feels like she could have been an interesting, if decidedly neutral, addition to the cast. At least Tilarna seemed to relate to her to some degree as a fellow fish-out-of-water.
A prophecy was hinted at this episode – one that just might refer to Matoba. This series has certainly adopted the admirable yet frustrating tactic of introducing plot elements without explaining them, which is why I’m still hung up on latena. Tilarna said that the fairy bombs were powered by that substance, but if the vampire this episode was draining latena from humans, then it’s just life force, isn’t it? In this case, I actually wouldn’t mind if the action put itself on hold for a moment so that Tilarna could explain what exactly latena is. Still, it’s refreshing to watch a series with no clear audience surrogate. Matoba knows a great deal about fairies, and can even speak their language to a degree because it’s his job to police both humans and fae and he’s good at it. At the same time, Tilarna has valuable insight to give that comes in handy with crimes involving those from her world, even if the show tends to undermine her a bit by having Matoba refer to her as a police dog not once, but twice, with no repercussions. All I’m asking is that these two be allowed to act like professionals who respect each other and learn from each other’s methods, without unnecessary conflict and bickering that honestly feels lazily written, anyway. On the upside, there was an instance of anti-fairy racism that was shot down hard by the new police chief, and that was a sight to behold. Plus, Matoba would have gone to bat for Tilarna if the chief hadn’t deliberately beat him to it. The more I think about it, the smarter it is that the chief stopped Matoba from losing his cool. After all, if Matoba had retaliated, the harassment would have likely continued, but since the chief put his foot down, that should be the end of it.
From this point on, there may be several case-based episodes ahead where Zelada recruits potential allies in the background. I was concerned that he wouldn’t be a very formidable villain, so it’s nice to know that his abilities mean that he could quite literally be anyone at any given time, so long as they die first. Even so, hopefully another villain will be introduced soon. As troublesome as a rogue warlock can be, without any real plan or ambitions of his own he’s hardly the intimidating force to hinge the rest of the season on.
Preview
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The back and forth bickering is the best part of the show.
It’s not that I’m against them bickering, per se, I just wish it was more consistent with their characters as they were introduced. Tilarna didn’t seem to me like the type to kick people when she’s upset, and the whole “Is that sarcasm?” bit felt weird since it obviously wasn’t. Rather than a natural back-and-forth, it’s more like she’s zeroing in on things that don’t warrant such a strong reaction, while ignoring the things Matoba does that would usually earn him some kind of comeuppance or protest.
1,Vampire herself was a curious case, she was kinda dignified, but still beast needing blood to power her unlife. I could imagine in a luckier story her getting fed by a blood bank and becoming “normal” by San Teresa standards, but it would be a stretch. I loved how her illusions were countered by modern electrooptics, and how she was horrified by firepower of the SWAT.
2.Police chief is standard trope of vitriolic boss with hidden heart of gold. He would chew up his subordinates but will have their backs in confrontation with outsiders or higher-ups. Bogomil from Beverly Hills Cop series, anyone?
3.Our warlock enemy is confirmed alive and well (never found the body, trope!). Furthermore he is interested in some kind of ancient prophecy regarding the gate that connected Earth with Tilarna’s world. Zelada definitely has some kind of plan or agenda, and we will eventually find out…
It’s really a treat for my eyes, seeing a non mc swat teams actually do something useful.
Gotta agree with that one. The banter and teasing between the 2 is the main attraction of this anime for me.
Somebody should scream something about blak po-lis chief being stereotyped.
I want to scream in how short lived that vampire was. What was the point?
sad she wasn’t taken alive for science
That was my FAVORITE PART!! Episodes paceing just couldnt be bothered,
eh ya sum vampire?
Ya got sum kinda scruples, some kinda pride?
Meh, be GONE with ya! And get run over by a friggin train! Lolololo!
NEXT!!
Shane Black wrote this garbage sitting on a can after bad coke which is the only one he could afford after his latest travesty of a screenplay wore off.
Is the vampire really finished? Or might her remnants reform and regenerate? She’s an interesting character.
Zimmer is a pretty good chief. He doesn’t leave any room for confusion as to whose opinion counts.
I like the banter between the two but I do feel that the dialogue is occasionally clumsy — especially I think that some of the retorts are basically ‘Oh yeah?!’. But overall it’s fun and their developing relationship is fascinating to watch. As to Tirana’s responses… she’s an alien and she’s a noble. She’s gonna have a different take on things and it’s part of her charm. I don’t really feel that she’s being undermined. The first time Kei commented on her K-9 capabilities, he did so in a somewhat derogatory manner, but the next time wasn’t like that. I think he respects her abilities and is beginning to respect her beyond those and treat her like his partner. I actually think that it’s happening pretty quickly.
Finally, Zerada makes for a pretty good archvillain. While he was always obsequious towards his former ‘master’ Elbaji, it seemed to me like he was actually driving things.
I like how the police was not there just to show how dangerous the Vampire was, but was truly a terrifying force. Seeing the vampire’s grin turn to “Is this hell?” was great.
this episode wasn’t that great for me in my opinion. the vampire just wanted to be somewhere. she wasn’t familiar what earth was like. all she wanted was some friends to eat with. i hope more improvements of the plot comes in the next episode.