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「楽園」 (Rakuen)
“Paradise”
There was definitely no shortage of surprise developments to make this episode befitting of a finale, but I admittedly found the impact of them all much less than it could have been. I attribute that primarily to quickly tying up all the loose ends and leaving little time for anything to sink in, such as the deaths of various characters. In Barrot’s case, it was almost comedic when an expressionless Phryne stabbed him for gloating about having her as his plaything, whereas Sunda’s happened off-screen so there was always lingering hope that he’d make it out alive. Sadly he didn’t, much to the dismay of Sunda fans out there who were worried he might be killed off. (Oh how right you were.). The same goes for Dias taking out Moeran with him, which was pretty significant yet didn’t seem like it because it all happened so quickly.
Ultimately, it was the lack of build-up toward most of these shocking moments that took away from them. I actually had to look back through the episode to really get a grasp of everything that happened, because I was only really concerned about Barrot’s revelation that a normal girl became the key (i.e. God) of the Fractale System followed by Phryne’s decision to restart it. After all, this was the big moment to see if the ten episodes before were going to amount to something big. However, whether or not they did is a different matter, since I still can’t shake the feeling that the ending was “incomplete” even though it was conclusive. There’s been little to nothing revealed about the workings of the Fractale System, including the restart mechanism in space that was used, as the story went on to emphasize that the original Phryne was just an ordinary girl with a stuffed rabbit named Nessa instead. What’s more, there was no indication as to what was going to happen to Phryne and Nessa during the restart process either.
Incidentally, that’s one of my gripes with this finale. I didn’t even get an opportunity to be surprised because I was still looking for answers as to what’s going to happen. If for example, I were led to believe that Phryne, Nessa, or both of them would die in the process, I would’ve been more emotionally invested in what unfolded. Instead, I was as dumbfounded as Clain, as he watched on while Nessa faded away in a flash of light. The spectacle also left a lot to be desired about Phryne’s decision to fulfill her purpose, since I was anticipating she would sacrifice herself to save Nessa and not take her with her. Once the epilogue showed that Phryne merged with Nessa’s personality has been in a coma for the past year, I had to start wondering if anything was accomplished in the story. Sunda died fighting just to feel like a free man, whereas Phryne did exactly what the Monastery wanted anyway (…and there was no danger to her life).
Looking back, the only thing that put a twisted spin on the progression was Barrot’s implication that he slept with Phryne to recreate the feelings of “love” that the original Phryne experienced, making her the perfect 16-year-old vessel to the 10-year-old soul housed in Nessa. Why the decision to make that a plot device is beyond me though, as it simply served as a means to garner more viewer hatred towards Barrot to no particular end. Instead of bringing attention to that subplot, I would’ve liked to see the story touch upon more of the history behind the Fractale System so that everything we did learn about it wasn’t simply explained to us in the very last episode. I still feel the scope of the premise is still fairly vast, but unfortunately we were only privy to see a very small portion of it through Clain’s eyes.
Epilogue
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Final Impressions:
Regardless of director Yamamoto Yutaka ill-advised move that put himself under the microscope, I really feel that Fractale had a lot of potential that was never realized. It’s still a good series, but it never took strides towards becoming a great series. That’s partly due to how the story didn’t make better use of the fantasy world that it takes place in, but also the character interactions that never developed as much as they could have.
The finale took some steps to remedy the latter case by stressing the close-knit relationship that main trio have, yet maintained the stubbornness in Phryne that prevented it from really taking off. Rather than having a more predictable ending where Phryne falls for Clain and abandons her purpose, or where she sacrifices herself to allow Clain to live on with Nessa, we were left with a very “safe” conclusion that didn’t delve into themes of love or self-sacrifice. The biggest kicker is that the Fractale System remains for the time being, which goes back to the thought I mentioned above about how it doesn’t feel like anything was accomplished. No world-changing turn of events, no powerful themes, nothing.
What the series portrayed well was the lighter side to the story, which was really enjoyable from a slice-of-life standpoint. Phryne’s tomboyish personality was always a handful for Clain as he found himself helplessly attracted to her, whereas Nessa’s innocence provided the missing link to bring them together. Sunda, Enri, and the rest of the Granites family provided a fun environment for all their antics to take place, while the overarching plot surrounding the Fractale System continued to make progress alongside it. In contrast, the third, fourth, seventh, and eighth episodes left lasting impressions by bringing the darker side of the main plot to the forefront, and provided a good balance between seriousness and lightheartedness.
Be that as it may, for a show that I don’t perceive to be slice-of-life, an ending where the serious side of the story fell short is a bit hard to overlook. That unfulfilling final impression also has a retroactive effect on the series as a whole, which is why I can’t help but feel a little disappointed. This has absolutely no bearing on what Yamakan made a fuss over either, and only what I took away from my first-hand research into the production staff, premise, and promotional material. Still, I feel that the series is worth watching for all the good points I mentioned above. Just don’t go in expecting too much of an epic tale since it never really strives to be.
I agree with you Divine. I thought this series has a pretty good potential to make it a really good fantasy series, but unfortunately the sudden change in art design followed by the lack of plot depth and details, and unexplained story just wasted it all. I enjoyed the series nonetheless and was surprised it ended at 11, hmm I guess I am always used to 12 or 13ep series, that I thought it was odd to end it at 11 alone, same thing with Hourou Musuko.
11 episodes is pretty typical for noitaminA series. There’s a good chance that Anohana and C in spring will be 11 episodes too.
i’m with you both on that. The show could have and should have offered a lot more, cause the idea behind it was really interesting. But it infuriates me that they did not explain virtually anything about fractale, why was it established, why did they need a 16 year old girl to begin with. Because of that the final episode, even though it was by far the best one, left me a little bit cold…
Same here. Was a decent story but not a great story. I would rate it a 3 star (out of 5). Worth your time but could have been much better.
I just wished that when the promos promised to ‘discover the secret of the Fractale System’, they actually meant to discover how it worked/why it worked/why it was invented in the first place, etc etc etc. *sadly disappointed*
however, I liked the series anyway, and it’s been a good one to watch, just not to rewatch.
Ugh….I just finished this episode and I was also quite disappointed at how much they tried to stuff into this final episode. But you took all the words out of my mouth Divine.
Show Spoiler ▼
I didn’t see Fractale living the hype Yamamoto Yutaka mentions. Fractale was fun to watch and but did have it’s weak moments. Would of loved seeing a more expanded ending because that one year ending didn’t really feel like time had passed. It was more like things happened the next day and Phyrne just woke up from an 8 hour sleep.
I agree, so much potential gone to waste.
It feels like they just packed in another 10 episodes worth of stuff.
Too bad it was my favourite series alongside Bakuman
I still can’t wrap myself around the meaning behind “Phyrne learned of love”. Does it necessarily imply sex?
I am also in two minds about that. In earlier episodes it was clearly hinted at the fact that she was a virgin so she could fulfill the role of the key. Maybe its ‘just’ that the pervert was molesting her and sexually abusing, after all you can do a lot without actually getting to the real thing…
My thoughts on the episode and the series aside for a moment, was I the only one who watched this scene:
https://randomc.net/image/FRACTALE/FRACTALE%20-%2011%20-%20Large%2009.jpg
And immediately thought of this:
http://radprofile.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/img_35.gif
“Ooooh, your tears of unfathomable sadness… mm, so yummy”
Here’s what I got. Phyrne was a 16yr old girl that the original Fractale used to create the system. Phyrne was molested as a child so she regressed to a 10yr old mindset which is why her doppel, Nessa, is so childish. The Fractale system needed a reboot much like how computers get laggy if you don’t restart in a while. The system needs a password to restart much like those biometric fingerprint scanners on newer laptops. The Temple needed to recreate the biometric password, Phyrne, exactly to restart the system. The space garden is pretty much an overly glorified bioscanner that somehow requires perfect body and personality matching to authorize the reboot. Therefore, the 16yr old body of Phyrne merged with the 10yr old mind of Nessa creates the copy of the original password/key.
That is basically my take on this setup. Overall….IT MAKES UTTERLY NO SENSE WHATSOEVER. Why the **** would a Holographic VR network require a normal girl to “collect data”? Why would Phyrne need to be a virgin or was she even one?
Ugh, this series was illogical. It’s better to ignore the setting and just stick with a boy-meets-girl concept that usually works great in tons of series already. All said and done, meh, I liked it…kinda.
Nice explanation mate, I like your interpretation. It does not explain it all, but it’s probably as good as it gets. I’m still wondering why did they need the original Phryne in the first place to create something like fractale. Especially that from the looks of it, it was created in the early 21st century, akin to present times
I can add that probably data for body (DNA) and mind for original Phryne were separated under some dual key arrangement…
One final plothole is how the heck did Clain escape the orbital elevator after the bottom terminal at temple was blown up?
Also I commend Diaz and his crew for the determination in destroying the temple.
Nice “worthy opponents” moment with Moeran!
Barrot got what he deserved! He must have been similar kind of monster to original Phrynes father…
The final conflict resolution is rather nice, final reset giving mankind time to reverse to old methods of living under LM guidance…
I half expected Dias and Moeran to start making out. The mood during that scene was so very weird.
This is my understanding of it as well.
To add on what xcswmboy said:
Barrot discovered that Phryne was actually 16 years old when she was made the biological key to the Fractale System, but the Monastery’s been creating 10-year-old clones based on Nessa’s appearance and personality. Upon learning that, he kept one clone and allowed her to age six years to test his theory, hence why he kept referring to Phryne as his “vintage”.
I didn’t think this part was ambiguous though. That’s why I didn’t get into it in my post.
Um, and where did come the Arc Priestess? Or the older Priestess? They are all Pryhne Clones. So, this “Wait until She is 16 Years old”. this was not all to this. Why they where allowed to getting old, and not Disposed like the “10 Years Old Clones”?..
So much Questions open.. To many
The older priestesses like Moeran weren’t molested by Barret, so they didn’t have the same body and trauma characteristics.
If the bits of fantasy were removed, this might have had better reception as a decent slice-of-life. Have to say I share your sentiments on this ending falling a bit short, though of what, I don’t know. My expectations for the series gradually dwindled and while I still enjoyed the show, I don’t think I ever really expected it to become what we were told it would be.
So with that being said … any theories on where Yamamoto Yutaka goes from here?
Seeing how he put his career on the line and it has disappointed us so much, I’m guessing he will retire. You don’t put your career on the line unless you’re willing to deliver no matter what.
This show tried cram too much into a few episodes. I’m sure if they’d kept the pace they had during the first half of the season, they would’ve gone ahead and accomplished what they wanted to. The whole clone factory bit could’ve been stretched some, as well as the explanation for the system as a whole.
They could have taken an episode alone to flesh out the original Phryne’s story and tied it to Clain’s SD card from ep 1. Taking all the data and figuring out more to this “secret” they kept hinting at.
Also, they never touched on Clain’s mother. I’m sure she also could’ve had at least an episode to herself just like his father did. This could have been used as a way to touch more on Phryne’s personality and why Clain fell for her.
Overall, the story is good, but it just left too many plot holes open in my opinion.
I wouldn’t say they were plot holes, so much as unexplored story elements. A plot hole is a gap or inconsistency in the storyline.
With regards to the small portion that was covered about the Fractale System, everything makes sense. It just feels like they should’ve got around to more of the underlying story to really bring it all together. This is actually why I said the ending feels incomplete.
could they fix all the shortfalls of the anime in the manga? Sort of like a fractale sp1.
The only time I was a bit enthusiastic about fractle was episode 3. — Where they emphasized gore and bloodshed.
But after that…
From episode 1 this show could still uncover its potential, but instead there was a steady decline when compared to other possible scenarios. The overall quality of the show is not bad, but while watching there presents a constant feeling of what it could be.
As for its final episode, not only it left many ends loose, but also it didn’t solve the contradictions between multiple hints and events in previous episodes.
IMHO, it even leaves a possibility for a far better remake (but it is unlikely to fit in 11 episodes) with a different plot.
i, for one, loved this series. maybe it’s because of the contrast between the art and the dark undertone that the story had. it’s like seeing something like winnie the pooh walking towards its tree(?) then seeing body parts hanging inside it once it was opened an pooh walking in it casually.
So he literally fucked God?!
So many plotholes award.
Yet it was quite enjoyable.
So now, it is Star Driver end tomorrow and Madoka somewhere in april…
You hit the nail on the head with this review. I think it might be because the series had a similar feel to Eureka 7/Xam’d which created some predispositions in the first few episodes. It had some good character development but if you consider the pathetic (and overly repeated) attempts at comedy, a disappointing ending and a poorly constructed storyline I can’t really consider this series any more than averagely good. I wouldn’t go as far as to say I regret watching it, but it was definitely disappointing considering the high expectations I had at the start.
As for the this episode, I think the writers were going for the “best” moral ending. The fractal system survives on (which is good for all that rely on it) but as they said in the episode it will never restart again. This way the civilians will gradually be forced to migrate to a non-fractal way of life as the system degrades over time. It doesn’t create as much impact as destroying the system all together but if that were to happen Phryne would be left with the guilt of possibly millions of deaths which doesn’t exactly suit the light-heart feel of the show. Thats what I think anyway.
WOW, everything happened so fast I dint even have time to consider what had just happened… So we never got the epic adventure that we are expecting but it was a nice ride. Somehow I cant stop smiling when Phryne woke up with her original personality and memories of her time with Clain. Sweet ending for a series that was a bit of a let-down, try harder Yutaka, don’t quit with that vision of yours!
This was the one Anime I was really looking forward to this session
The story line had a lot of potential. Unfortunately it suffered from a poorly written script.
I enjoy this series but this last episode is disappointing. I expect more from it, I feel like it doesn’t actually explain anything, especially why it has to be Phryne and not just some random girls. Surely whoever make this system can think of any other key to use instead of using a girl?
The Phryne Cain knows is one that was perverted by Barrot and I believed that she ceased to exist when the key, Nessa – the original Phryne’s regressed personality, infused her body. That what i think after watching the waking up scene. =/
I interpret it as a merging of memories and personalities, not the cessation of one. This is by far more in line with my CLAIN HAREM hopes …. >.> …. also because it works with the “I’ll bring phryne and nessa back” idea
Fractale I am disappoint. It would’ve done better to focus on the setting than the kids. I hope the manga goes for an alternate end.
I agree with divine and the rest and have to say that I was disappointed with the ending, but I do agree that Fractale was a good series altogether. If the director quits now, all that potential will be lost. He had something going, that could have been great, with the exception of the ending. Next time I’d like for him and anyone else to avoid all the drama just to get what he wants.
I was rather expecting a “Nessa disappears” type ending, perhaps I even went a bit far with it since I thought for sure that they would some how show a time-leaped epilogue with Clain and Phyrne having a daughter called Nessa.
Well, from what i speculate is that Phryne and Nessa was a single regular human. There was no God to begin with but an misinterpretation of humanity on a science project of immortality after hundred of years ago. I believe that the project of immortality was to separate the mind and the body and combine the original mind with a new body that you could get from the cloning technology.
The original Phryne seemed to have a split personality, so that got out of her was Nessa. Therefore, he personalities that got merged was in the present are the current Phryne and the old Nessa. The original’s Phryne personality is pretty much lost.
As for whether immortality was a success, in a way it is and in a way it isn’t. Each clone has his/her own mind and personality and when merged, a new one is born. You retain your old memories but you are not yourself anymore. Well theoretically, it could end up with split personalities.
Back the story, too much blood was shred on a fight against something that was unknown for so many lives and years. It almost feels like a reflection of religion in our reality. I might be completely wrong since it is a personal speculation that is why i would have preferred them to explain things more throughly.
By the way, the biggest disappointment i got from this series is that from the beginning until the very end, they never got to explain throughly what the Fractale system is and what it does to improve people’s life.
What i understood is that the system is based on the belief of the existence of God. They used technology and nano-machines to brainwash people so that they can broadcast illusions or virtual realities. People think that they are living in a happy life.
But it never bothered to explain on how people actually get their food supplies or medications from the Fractale system.
I loved the ending.I felt that it wrapped things up pretty well.Sure they didn’t explain how the Fractale system works, but they never explain how things like where the energy in Saiyans come from and how they get stronger from near death experiences in Dragonball Z.Like the grandpa said, even though Fractale restarted for one more year, the temple is gone and it won’t be able to restart again.
What they should’ve explained is how Sunda gets killed off screen while Clain was able to make it back down to earth after Phryne and Nessa merged.I thought some sort of explosion took off where Sunda was and that whole building blew up.
Phryne and Nessa merged, but it seemed to me like that original Phryne’s personality was mixed in with the current Phryne instead of Nessa because the voice changed.If it was still Nessa they should’ve just kept her voice, it makes my day brighter from hearing it.
All in all happy end.
Well it might be on your perspective but not quite for me. Let’s put it this way. For DragonBall, the plot was to save the world from the enemies that are trying to destroy it so you beat the enemy and that is the resolve.
But when you have a story that is a mystery and the drive of the story is to understand what the mystery is about, the resolve you expect is an explanation about the mystery. But the mystery did not get resolved so it leaves the audience empty handed and unsatisfied.
Thing is, Dragonball Z was created in mind for younger audiences; it’s less about actual story and more about action and fight scenes, because that’s what appeals to younger boys.
Fractale is a bit closer to seinen, so it’ll have more focus on actual story, and requires some actual thought to comprehend, other than just “KAMEHAME HAAAAAA!!!!!”
Also, it’s a bit unfair to compare a ~300 episode classic series based off a popular manga to a recent 11 episode original work. For those 11 episodes, we’re left with a vague explanation on how Fractale works, which still has holes in it.
Again, I’ll have to say Fractale is a GREAT ANIME with untapped potential. Surely, the Fractale universe alone is interesting enough but to be honest, they failed to elaborate it and there were many missing keys and mysteries. Why? 11 episodes are NOT ENOUGH for something as big as Fractale. They could have made it better if it was at least 24 episodes long. Still, I don’t really like the ending that much but I don’t hate it either. Phryne and Nessa’s personalities and memories were joined, creating Phressa (that’s a joke :P). She woke up with Nessa’s cheerful and lively personality but I believe she still has Phryne’s personality and memories. Phressa’s line (You’re like a baby) is proof that she still has her memories. Remember at the early episodes where Phryne tells that to Clain too? Nevertheless,I still wish they ended Fractale with a BANG!
Has anyone read the light novel, apparently they are still ongoing with the manga following the anime and the light novel being alternative Fractale storyline. Hopefully the manga will not make the same mistake as the anime with all that left out information, and wonder what’s the difference in the light novel since i haven’t found any translation hence my eyes can’t identify funny looking characters all over the pages 😛
Looked like a ghibli film, disappointed like a mediocre ghibli film.
Might just be the feel that they ran out of time to explain a lot of things, but the execution should feel smoother, too. Convoluted, mysterious, silly world initialized so long ago, that the prior world has been forgotten.
No real emotional epicness, just…. stuff happened, moving on :/. and so, we move on, forgetting this hyped series.
Like everyone else has said: this show had potential but did not deliver. The 11 episode constraint might be to blame. Since this series was overhyped, I’m very disappointed with the results. But I didn’t think it was down right terrible.
Ehh, I guess this was a good series but it still had lots of holes that just aren’t getting filled in. I agree that nothing was accomplished in the ending. “Oh yah! The church was destroy and now the Fractale system can’t restart itself.” Well that was a tad bit obvious to me. So now we reach the ending where Nessa and Phryne merge. A little weird to hear Nessa’s voice through Phryne’s body. First time I watched it, I seriously thought that Nessa became the mind and Phryne, the body. Then I heard whoever it is talk like Phryne and I was surprised. Overall, the series was good but not enough for a second season.
I nearly dropped this serie at the third episode but for some reason continued watching and I dont regret it. The 11th episode was realy great and my fav one. Still I had like to know more about the original Phryne, and fractale birth. Something like the first half of an episode then get back to the story.
As many of you said this Could have been much better. Hope they do something like Fullmetal Alchemist with brotherhood. I don’t blame Yamamoto Yutaka as he put his carrer and heart in this
show. He tried to do what he thought was right, but fail. Someone working for the good of a anime isn’t a bad guy.
I stopped at the third episode. I plan on running through it today though.
I was very satisfied with the end of this episode. But they could have done this episode to a two part episode. It became a bit much to follow what was really going on! As for the anime it was a good ride. But I can’t wait for the next season, should be some good anime there.
SUNDA DIED = SAD ENDING.
That was the only part that really affected me emotionally in the episode.
And I can’t be the only one who thought Phryne looked creepy when she woke up and started speaking with a Nessa voice and wide eyes at the end.
While the episode did not delve into the story and background of Fractale as many would hope, I did feel very strongly at the end of the episode. Especially the moment when Clain sees Phryne wake up. He loved Phryne, but it was not her. Sure he likes Nessa ,but this has to be heart breaking. The person you fell in love with at first sight has had their personality replaced. Especially when Nessa tells Clain that she loved him at the first moment it must have been bittersweet. The person you love loves you back but yet it isn’t really her.
Also the fact that nothing was explained made some sense to me. It was sort of similar to the Angel Beat ending. Just moving on and having Nessa and Phryne merge with no idea what would happen. Having the willpower to just go on and not know what happens next is amazing.
Still, even with my strong emotional attachment to this episode I would have liked a bigger universe :/. What happened to the guy with the portable armor suit at the end of ep 7? Overall a great anime to watch ,but not the groundbreaking anime I thought it would be.
I can’t help but thingke the ending was weak. At the end, everything had gone back to how it was before, excpecnow more people were dead. Fractale wasn’t destroyed, but I guess TM’s goal all along was just to stop the temple, but then why were they after the Key…?
Really, at the end, the only real things that happens is that Phryne and Clain fuse together, and she wakes up, so I guess they’ll be able to be together in a way.. but it hardly feels like the journey was worth it, you could have had Phryne com in episode 1 and just stay and have a similar ending. There really wasn’t much reason him to leave at all if things turned out like that.
I dunno, I guess it all makes sense, but it’s all so weak. Fractale barely has a purpose n the plot, we build up a bunch of bad things about it only to… just restart it. The Temple itself is the only antagonist, Fractale doesn’t even have to exist for the main plot to be resolved. Only reason it’s even around is to provide some story for filler episodes. It just feels like such a waste.
We know so little about Clain, he’s such a weak chaacter that just goes with everything, I never really got the impression what his drives were. It’s just… whoever was writing this really just wrote the characters into situations “just because” we rarel have much idea aobut why people want to do the things.
And they tried to go for a whole neutrality thing on whether or not Fractale is good but… it just makes the story all the weaker. Had Clain’s character been more interesting, it would have held the story up, we’d want to figure things out alongside Clain, and even the contrived love/friendship stuff would have been all the better.
It’s all such a WASTE! It’s like what happened with Sucker Punch: Really cool ideas and concepts, but held back by a poor story and character development.
Not going to lie, really hated this show by the end.
So the Phryne Clain loved is gone, but he has Nessa in Phryne’s body. Not quite the ending i was hoping for, but the whole series was rushed and unsatisfying.
I am disappoint. Don’t look like there is a season 2 either. Fractale is just done.
No, the Phryne Clain loved didn’t really “disappear”. Nessa, being the original personality of the REAL Phryne, is the dominant one BUT Phryne’s personality is still intact. In short, their personalities and memories are joined together but Nessa’s is dominant because it is the original personality. Phryne had a line saying “you’re like a baby” which is quite obviously(for me) the Phryne Clain loved. She also said that to him in the early episodes.
Well, it was a Good start. Something with Life, New and made me hungry for more. But since she got Capture first time from the Temple, from there on it gone offtrack for me. The ending was much confusing for me. So if i have to give points from 1 to 10. Where 10 is Godly. i give it 8
Sry, Mr. Writer. But the end was to Forced, and to much “Mental” Tracks. The time for Evangelion endings, are for Mechas Animes 🙂
The dude staked his career on this show…………..ouch.
If this was the end of the fractale story, then it would feel disappointing. But, maybe there will be more to it. The aftermath as fractale slowly degrades could make for a new story, especially since the temple is gone now. New power tries to take over, people attempt to create a new god entirely. Fractale could still go on to become a large story, with this particular anime only being one story in a collection of stories revolving around fractale. So i’d like to think.
After the initial eps, I was expecting a fully fleshed out world like last exile. But given the time constraints I was satisfied that it ended up the way it did. The attic/bedroom scene was sweet. Stuff like that always get me. Long live anime.
The series was pretty interesting and I think it had a fair bit of potential. The ending was way too rushed though. It could have been much better if it was fleshed out a bit more with some additional episodes. A proper 12-13 episode series would’ve made Fractale a much more complete series and could’ve done something about building up to the deaths of Dias and Sunda. While I enjoyed the series which had its moments, with such a rushed ending it feels half-baked.
I am rather impressed with this anime, even though it had many faults. The characters were likable and the story had a spun to it, that made me stay eager for every week. If they could have made couple more episodes, it would have been so much better, like explaining everything imo.
The only thing I remember from the finale is the epilogue, which was my favorite scene in the series. The rest of it…. I could care less.
For all the noise I was hearing regarding Fractale I can say I’m Disappointed a slow start and weak finish to many plot holes.
A-1 tried too hard…trying to stuff a lot of information into 11 episode while still having the series make sense.
I would be very surprised if there’s no more explanation on their BDs…
You’re overthinking in Divine, honestly you know all you need to know already. The fractale system works by taking the emotional thoughts of the original “God”, the 10 year old Nessa who’s always happy and so on, and pushing that onto the people through the satalite network into their subconcious etc. So everyone feels happy like they’re high on life and has no care in the world.
It also made it clear what would happen to the two of them when you watched the video, it’s obvious, the original Phryne had her imaginal friend Nessa and through her troumatic (yes rape, no damn love involved) she sufferend a mental split, The dude made it clear when he was talking about it to Clain, she reverted to a 10 year old “Nessa” and blocked out the harsh reality that happened. They then took that personality and used it for the system. The reboot was more or less to repeat the same process, thus all the same shit the current Phryne had to go through again.
The part about the events being sudden, and not having build up, I think build up is overrated. The effect of having someone die unexpected and quick works just the same way, it’s done in movies and other shows so I don’t see why anime should have to be different and try to televise (or w/e you wanna call it) what’s going to happen before it happens. There’s no need for a show to hold your hand through every damn event till the ending.
As far as rebooting fractale or not, that’s up to each viewer to think about, the show doesn’t make it clear if it’s a good thing or not, it’s a moral question you as the viewer have to side on on your own. Be free or be locked into a system that makes you feel happy and not want anything more in life just so you can have peace. It’s up to you.
Could the show have done more? Sure it could, so can every other anime out there. It could have been a bit darker and more emotional I suppose but I for one think it was enough without falling to the level of some over-the-top shoujo d0rama fest that makes viewers want to /wrists.
I for one quite liked it, it could’ve used 1 or 2 more eps maybe, but that’s fine.
I found the series wonderful and lightly comedic as well as sprinkling themes of friendship, family and self motivation/determination were good.
That being said the plot of the Fractale system, and the mystery surrounding it should have been the focal point of the series and should be interwoven with the themes. Im not sure if it was the production staff or the writers or wat-not but it definitely didnt develop or conclude the way i wanted it to. From the time we found out phryne was the key and the climax hit that she was just a number in a line. There should have been more stress and importance on uncovering key system. The revelation that it was a normal girl who was the original “God”. should have been more hard-hitting and dynamic.
Other series i have seen go this way and end, predictably, but still end well. Examples are, Evangelion, Full metal Alchemist, Ergo Proxy, Rahxephon, Eureka 7, Big o, Blue gender and many others. Were the fate of the world has to restart usually its a bigger impact than what this show did. Im with divine on most things,i thght there would be more build up and climactic revelations.
It might have gone something similar to “they grand preistess revelation that she was also a phryne shld have caused her to stay cracked and go into murderous rampage, the face that no-body knew that it was a girl who was the orinal key, clain shld have had more emotion and reaction to it all, he shld have made up his mind to neglect fractale to save the one he loves only to realize he had to loose her to save the world, sacrifice shld have been done. Phryne shld have changed system so fractale is no longer needed but Neesa n clain needs to live on, Neesa cld have even survived with clain with phryne’s eyes and a real body to grow/eat and everything. They should have emphazied characters deaths more. All the while, while stuff was blowing up around them”
All this i thk should have taken 2 more episodes at least to reveal and therefore increase the dramatic affect, in my opinion they started downplaying everything after ep 8. And they skimmed over alot of stuff. The way it ended they didnt even need to reveal the original god, the rape, or any of that stuff, it didnt matter the way they wrapped it up.
In the end it was a good series but the premis and plot were set-up to be something much better and different from a slice or life anime meets a little sci-fi.
I’m marking this show down as a 7. Can’t see myself re-watching it, which says quite a lot..
Well I liked this show overall but the ending was too much rushed, like some already said 26 episodes would have been better. Or even 2 or 3 more could have wrapped things up more nicely. And damn Sunda, it was so obvious he would die I would thought they would let him live, but no. He was a true bro, it’s been a while since I someone make a man out of someone else (Clain) by telling to grab his gun and do what he must do. And how he Bright slapped him last episode.
Agree with what you said… it seems like nothing was achieved in the end with the fractale system restarted
The setting of the series has a lot of potential but there wasn’t enough ambition to up its level from good to awesome…
Nevertheless, I enjoyed Fractale while it lasted, but I doubt it has enough oomph to become a fan favorite
Yeah, but at least that would be the LAST system restart as they stated since the temple was now destroyed.
Nessa did not wipe out Phryne’s personality. What happened was that the original Phryne from ancient times (relative to Fractale of course), developed/regressed to a more innocent personality (Nessa) as a defense mechanism from the trauma of being molested. The Fractale system is based upon the regressed personality, and required for any clones of Phryne to undergo the molestation before merging with the post molestation personality. The flashback where she said that she was just an ordinary girl, very much supported that the repressed personality was unaware of the molestation and thought of herself like other regular girls. The current Phryne is basically what the original Phryne was like after being molested, retaining innocence through the regressing in her personality.
If this show had been 12 or 13 episodes, I’m sure all those leaps and bounds it never took could have been made. Either way, I enjoyed it very much.
Oh, i get the it, Reset = Under New Administration. Hopefully a much better than the previous one, making the whole process of taking down the previous one worth its time.
so is it worth Watching this???
I’d say it’s still worth it though it failed to live up to expectations. Regardless, this is a GOOD ANIME. The director made us expect something really BIG that’s why everybody got disappointed, everybody was expecting it to “revolutionize” anime but it was like most other animes, with a great plot. I bet if this was at least 24+ episodes this would have been a BIG HIT.
The pacing was too uneven. Could see the potential of the stopry there but the flow was terrible. Some of the earlier slow episodes could have been used to expand on important points rather than “atmosphere buidling”.
The director staking his job on this made a pooor decision but he should also look at his contributions to the mess.
This series needed two cours. It had a lot of great elements, but not enough time to tie them together in a way that made sense.
Just finished it and basically have the same opinion on it as everyone else. OK anime, but lots of wasted potential. The world they created really was interesting, but they really should taken time to explain more indepth how it came to be and how it worked.
Even though the whole molestation theme was an interesting revelation to tie Phryne and Nessa together, it felt like if they didn’t need to add that in, the story would’ve felt the same. I’m more interested now to see how the people survive when Fractale no longer can be reset.
( ;A;)
inorite?
I wish this is a 24 episode series then probably, just probably all the criticism given to it are address very well. I got this feeling that the 11 episode it is given is not enough to flesh out what director Yamamoto Yutaka had envisioned for this series. Overall, I think Fractale is a well done series, for the most part it is lighthearted and at times serious, I specially like the concept of the FRACTALE system, it really has the Ghibli-feel on it. However, that thing aside, the series didn’t really try to dwell deeper into the system and explain things, at times I thought the series is going nowhere, good thing the last few episodes is good enough to reverse my initial impression of the series, but still again, this series ended with a lot of things to be desired, lot’s of questions unanswered and lots of concept not tackled, it has an incomplete feel on it. Still I will give this series a rating it deserves – 8/10.
I feel it rushed too, but I guess I figured out some things. Be warned, SPOILERS ahead.
The real Phyrne or “God” was (I guess) 10 years old when she was sent to work at Fractale. She was a playful, happy girl, playing with a stuffed rabbit called Nessa. As later revealed, she was nothing more to the Fractale than a key, a tool. 6 years later, at the year of 16, she may felt like it was enough of the Fractale System, so she either died in the terrible feeling that she was nothing more than a tool, or she killed herself. Fractale couldn’t let their system fall apart, so they tried to recreat her, with nearly zero success. Later, Barrot realised where his encestors failed: they wanted to recreat the 10 years old Phyrne. He said, that they need the 16 years old one, who has lost all of her hope and love towards the world, and than make her happy again. (Okay, this part is kinda messy, I know). During the cloning process of Phyrne, they also made a clone called “Nessa”, the warmhearted “spirit” of Phryne. The name “Nessa” came from Phryne’s rabbit, who is also called “Nessa”. This name represents the young, happy self of her, because she was playing with it when she was around 10.
Aaand, that’s it, I know, it’s not much, but at least we can understand why did they wanted to do i like that. But why did she choose to save Fractale instead? What did Sunda want? And many other questions left unanswered. I think I will read the book instead. But I enjoyed the show, and it’s deep meaning.
I hope you understood me, If not, let Me know. I am not an English expert, but I am trying my best. 🙂