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「人質」 (Hitojichi)
“Hostage”
Well that’s certainly attention-grabbing now, isn’t it? I don’t know what it is with idealistic heroes this season, but there seems to be a lot more of them in spring 2012, and I’m really loving the juxtaposition of “justice” as an ideal and its worth in reality. Kouga embodies this aspect quite nicely – I’ve been quite harsh on him but in retrospect, he has the most potential to mature and change from a naive, idealistic boy to a more pragmatic (and probably a little jaded) man. It was interesting since I’ve been waiting for someone to confront Kouga about his overly rose-shaded view of heroism and justice and this episode finally delivered that moment; Hayami poses the ever-popular question: do you use your heart, or your head? Because that’s essentially what the problem comes down to – anybody would whole-heartedly want to save as many people as they can, but it’s not what reality permits. In reality, you cannot save everybody. It’s a topic that continuously comes up and challenges characters like Kouga, and in this season in particular, there’s a variety of characters that take different stances on this particular issue – most notably Emiya Kiritsugu of Fate/Zero and arguably Saber of the same franchise.
Once I realized the gravity of Hayami’s smack-down, any smugness I expected out of the moment evaporated; Kouga is still a frustrating character, but his ideals are who he is, and it’s what defines him as a person, and betraying those ideals by giving them up so easily would essentially mean betraying himself. It’s doubly sad because one day he’ll have to give it up – it may come naturally or through force, but one day Amagi Kouga will have to face reality one way or the other and if you think about it, it’s actually an undeniably heartbreaking event. Growing up is never easy, and once he realizes he can no longer hold onto his ideals, what will become of him?
I will never be as fond of Kouga as I am of Jin probably, but this episode went a long ways in redeeming him in my eyes, and I’m even starting to grow some respect for him for wanting to forge a path to justice in his own way.
Speaking of Jin, that brand new power-up is looking pretty spiffy on him, and I’m actually really interested in what it will afford – red is supposed to be Zet’s “final form”, and it looks like Jin has reached that thanks to Seiji, so color me excited. Mitsugai isn’t the only one eager to see what a fully-powered Zet can do! The cooperation between him and Alphas is going to be a treat and I’m looking forward to seeing what their dynamics will be like, since it’s been obvious from day one that they don’t operate on an entirely same wavelength. Both are characters that pursue justice – inadvertently or not – and while separately they’re free to achieve it however they want, working together is an entirely different situation that requires compromise. The childhood friend angle is something that could work to an advantage here as it opens the door to some nice teamwork that I wouldn’t mind seeing.
There was also some nice Konoha and Jin moments, although it’s really hard to count Hanako out of the running in this unofficial race of romance; it is her that lives in Jin’s house, not Konoha, and she has consciously admitted her possible feelings for Jin. It still doesn’t validate her petty girlfriend act from last week, but at least there’s somewhat of a better basis for it now. I’m still on the fence about her character since it’s difficult to tell what made her run away in the first place: first-world problems or something more substantial? Not that I’m downplaying the problems of distant families, but given the scope of the show, it’s a first-world problem that doesn’t garner any sympathy.
Preview
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Would anyone recommend me to watch this anime? I’ve read the manga before. I enjoyed it, but the slow releases stop me from keeping up. Maybe ill try it once finals are over T.T
From what I hear, the anime sucks in comparison to the manga.
I didn’t read the manga so it’s enjoyable for me.
I read the entire scanlated chapters yesterday.
The pace is completely different.
I wouldn’t say the anime is terrible… That’s just Zetman manga fans being disappointed because the anime isn’t being faithful to the manga.
I prefer the anime though if you ask me
Its just not very faithful to the manga. I actually prefer the anime since the pacing in the manga is just horribly slow and the story is all over the place. The manga is on volume 17(!) and it still feels like an introduction to the characters.
Aww man Ur missing out! I was like you too I was tempted to pass this show, but I watched 1 Ep. and I WAS HOOKED! Try an EP 1 and 2 ur not gonna loose anything
Reading the manga is like watching a person slowly jog to his or her destination where as the anime is like watching a F1 car speed by.
Because of the episode limit , the anime tend to be very fast paced and a lot of detail , character development and theme is lost in the process.
Overall i would still consider it enjoyable.
I like the maturity that is combined with the superhero theme, which makes it more realistic. The only thing I dislike at this point, is the fact that Zet looks like a Marvel/DC hero, which I just don’t like and don’t think fits in animanga, but such a minor pet peeve won’t keep me from enjoying this.
Well ZET (transformed) does give me a Batman vibe, but a GOOD vibe so I never saw it as an issue cause it fits well with a dark setting nicely
Kouga on the other hand is too naive given the family background, sure its a privileged lifestyle but it’s got some dark vibes too (on the male side) that should have made him aware he’s being childish, he is just too blind to his actions being flawed and hesitates when a situation puts his ideals in question, he must know now at his age that those children’s TV hero shows usually downplay a lot of the darker repercussions to being a hero (Tiger & Bunny an excellent example on how to do it right) and will have the reality of it slap him in the face EVERY step of the way when it comes up to put him out of his comfort zone
The best people to wield power are the ones that never desired it in the first place.
Power to save lives is to be taken seriously, not to be some child’s plaything in a make believe game of ‘hero’
Followed the comments, and I liked what I saw in the first ep 😀
*yeah I also don’t like how he looks like a Marvel/DC hero, same reason I dropped Heroman back then… hope this one somehow pulls through..
Up until now, I enjoy it a lot though, it’s only the exterior which is like an American hero, the rest is more like a gory smash ’em up game 😀
The first episode piqued my interest so I decided to read the manga (which I would absolutely recommend). It’s a shame it’s only a 1 cour show. There’s so much being left out and jumbled up because of the time constraints.
This show looks good and it feels a lot more raw and gritty than most other series. There is also some remarkable… fanservice? I smiled a bit about the sound effect in this scene.
I dont recall Zet being red in this part of the manga, my memory could be wrong. This is pretty much a sign that the anime will be straying from the manga from here on. Jirou should not even be involved at this point.
Really curious as to what they are planning to do with this show. With 6 episode left I hope it comes to a decent conclusion. Its a shame the manga has no new releases since January.
I’m surprised more people aren’t watching this. I was hooked after the first couple episodes unlike jormungand :p
In this generation of anime viewers, its ALL about the “moe”, now don’t get me wong I do appreciate some of the moe shift in the passing years, what I didn’t like is that all the dark themed animes hardly get noticed (if there any to be found for that matter) and are surpassed by plot-less anime series with no action and with enough panty-shots with the selling point that the characters are “moe”
I love comedy themed shows but there’s a limit to rehashing those concepts
Man do I miss the old days (when the hell did I start talking like a old person!?) watching three or more complex plot heavy dark/action/horror type shows per SEASON, now I’ll be lucky to even get one per season these days, Fate/Zero is keeping me entertained while Another last season filled the mystery/horror aspect for me, Tasogare Otome x Amnesia seem to have the best of horror/mystery/drama plus moe, Sankarea is amusing, funny and dark and Jormungand is serious and funny at times with gritty action, serious themes on morals and war economy (MGS anyone?), while Eureka Seven AO is a breath of fresh air from the usual fair so I’ll take what I can get
The fact still stands that there is FAR too much Harem, Moe, and School Drama type anime released with little to no originality (barring magna adaptations) for at least three years and its starting to stagnate
Nothing is what it used to be, just look at the music and movie industry
(tried to reply but ended up as a separate post, don’t even know how THAT happened)
In this generation of anime viewers, its ALL about the “moe”, now don’t get me wong I do appreciate some of the moe shift in the passing years, what I didn’t like is that all the dark themed animes hardly get noticed (if there any to be found for that matter) and are surpassed by plot-less anime series with no action and with enough panty-shots with the selling point that the characters are “moe”
I love comedy themed shows but there’s a limit to rehashing those concepts
Man do I miss the old days (when the hell did I start talking like a old person!?) watching three or more complex plot heavy dark/action/horror type shows per SEASON, now I’ll be lucky to even get one per season these days, Fate/Zero is keeping me entertained while Another last season filled the mystery/horror aspect for me, Tasogare Otome x Amnesia seem to have the best of horror/mystery/drama plus moe, Sankarea is amusing, funny and dark and Jormungand is serious and funny at times with gritty action, serious themes on morals and war economy (MGS anyone?), while Eureka Seven AO is a breath of fresh air from the usual fair so I’ll take what I can get
The fact still stands that there is FAR too much Harem, Moe, and School Drama type anime released with little to no originality (barring magna adaptations) for at least three years and its starting to stagnate
Nothing is what it used to be, just look at the music and movie industry