|
This was a very good ep, IMO. Nice to have it confirmed that Amata and Kagura are one and the same, but I would have liked to see that earlier in the series or after more interaction between the two. At this point I can't see much of a way for Mikono not to be Silvia, what with her talk to Fudo. The Amata-Kagura thing is a fairly simple plot twist, and it works fine, but I'm still a little disappointed. There were so many creative possibilities for them. Personally, out of people's suggestions I rather liked the Amata=Silvia theory. The Mikono and Zessica = Silvia theory was good too. But there's still hope for the Zessica=Touma theory. Whatever happens, I seriously hope that Mykage isn't Touma. To me, those two are different types of fabulous villainy, no matter how alike they look.
One rant to get out of my system! Here:
I still really hate what the writers have done with Zessica. It's unfortunately true that her role has been reduced to nothing more than angsting because she loves Amata. I want to make a point of blaming the writers and not the character, because Zessica really had a lot of potential which hasn't been tapped into at all. Even despite the writing, she still manages to show good qualities. But what has happened is a total waste even more for knowing that Zessica could have been so much more as a main character. She's supposed to be one of the main cast, and yet we don't know anything about her past. We know more about Mix and Shrade's pasts than hers. I re-watched a few of the earlier episodes, before she was all-Amata all the time, and she came over so much better. It's such a pity.
The scene with her sacrifice in this ep was very sweet, but it can't make up for the hack job the writers have made of her. There's no way she's dead, so I can only hope that the writers have something in store for her other than mooning over Amata.
At this point, as a Zessica fan I think the worst thing that could possibly happen for Zessica's character would be if the writers went "Surprise! We decided to make Zessica/Amata happen after all. Zessica, please accept your happy ending!". Because the thing that's wrong with Zessica is that her love for Amata has become the only thing defining her as a character. Handing Amata to her won't do anything to salvage her. The writers can't take back their mess, but they do have a chance before the series ends to treat Zessica with the respect she deserves. At the least, give the girl a chance to move on and accept the situation.
Like people have mentioned, the main problem with Aquarion is that the writers hit the pause button on character development, interaction and plot for so long. Amata and Mikono's relationship? Pause button! Zessica's character development? Paused! Paused while on the lovelorn angst setting, no less. Poor girl. This is all just bad writing. Don't tell me they couldn't have made this series work without having to artificially freeze the character development and not-so-artfully preventing people from talking.
Speaking of freezing the plot, I am pretty sure that if this thing played out in a world where the writers weren't doing their best to stop the characters communicating and advancing the plot sensibly, this Altair vs Vega thing wouldn't have happened. Because Izumo, who is a sensible type, would surely have tried talking to Vega before kidnapping people. Rare iguras probably have a good chance of surviving the trip to Altair. "Come to Altair and we'll worship you as a goddess if you stay a woman, and if you don't we'll let you live in the most luxurious way we can provide for you, or return you home to Vega." If there were any women who wanted to be men, they would get a good deal. And hey, maybe the turning into a man thing is reversible? We don't have any info on it yet. Yunoha and Zessica got better when they went back to Vega, so it's not as if the process can't be observed and avoided in time. Bring all the rare iguras through at once, see who gets sick, and send them back home before they turn into blokes. Done, and without having to waste much energy on travel.
(And if it's not reversible, I'd still like MIX and Andy to get a happy ending together.)
Some of the discussion on the past few pages about how Mikono is the "worst of all women", some sort of evil temptress slobbering sexually 24 hours a day over Kagura while leading poor bewitched Amata on, is patently ridiculous. And the suggestion that Amata is obliged to date Zessica just because she wants him is also ridiculous.
|