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Old 2013-02-28, 16:08   Link #2620
Sansker
Manus ad Ferrum
 
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Costa Rica
Age: 33
The sure can fool me with heir training. I mean Nove says Vivio and her friends train in the pool but the translation I read doesn’t make it clear the difference when Nove talks about herself and the kids, so yes my mistake there. But my point still holds despite that: they really do so much intense training to the point it almost looks like they don’t have life outside working, training, eating and sleeping. And I mean that for all the characters. I know that is not the case but really we focus on that “super awesome” trip to… train. Yes, I say is kind of odd you decide to take some rest from work by working out like you are in the army. More natural and quiet moments seems to be something ViVid doesn’t like as the chapter where they finally sit down is boring and they just talk about how amazing the training is and everyone else performs.

No, no much as “normal” kid’s behavior because, what is normal? But more about the feeling I get from the kids. I don’t think they act like humans. They seems to be obsess with training at fighting to the point I don’t think they even talk about anything else and overall leaves me with a sense of emptiness about this kids I need to be knowing. I just know they like to hit each other a lot and their entire lives seems to revolve around that fact. Now keep in mind this is the impression they leave on me. I can see something more but is really downplay in favor of: Loli Non-Lethal Match.

Vivio and her friends look more like characters from a very bizarre manga than actual people and this is when characters start to fail to me. Since this lacks story the focus should be on characters and interactions but this doesn’t add up when almost all interactions are either narrated or play with fighting. Again keeping the fight as the focus but this falls flat when you realize “They have been talking over and over about their awesome training”. Even the moment when Einhart learns more about Vivio when they go to the river is focus on the water training. I don’t want to know more useless information about fighting and magic, I want to know this people I am looking at.

So when I say they act odd is because of that. They really don’t have much to share with us beyond their visually impressive movements. So when they cheer up for going to the library I know I am for a boring moment of reading and exposition about people who are not even an active part of the story: Olive and Claus. I know they like to beat each other up and read books but that is about it for many of them and is not even unique when everyone is like that. Any particular trait they might have is really shadow when everyone acts almost the same: friendly fighters who like fighting. I am trying to say the characters feel flat and boring when at first they seem to have more unique stories to tell.

And last, about Vivio, I am keeping what I say. We never see how she deals with being the clone of Olive. We don’t know if that affects her or if she doesn’t give a crap for real. We do see Vivio refusing to be call “your majesty” and the others just ignoring her protest so: how she deals with that? Is she feeling she must live up to that and being Nanoha’s daughter or is she going her on path? This need to be address and right from the start was a good moment. See how she really relates to Olive and everything so when Einhart appears maybe that shakes her believes and she can really be motive to look answers, about who Olive was and who Vivio is. This idea of a self discovery while also coming in peace with the fact she is a clone of other human being. Kind of like Fate’s arc on A’s but this one more develop and focus. I can actually put myself behind this.

But we get just short references that doesn’t add up. I mean, what does it means Vivio is Nanoha’s daughter for her to feel bad about disappointing a complete stranger who was talking about killing her and beat up her teacher because she is the clone of a person who die hundreds of years ago? Vivio doesn’t act like she feels bad because she lost more like she feels she needed to fulfill Ein’s expectations and she doesn’t like fall under that. And this because she doesn’t take fighting seriously enough when there is no reason for her to take it so seriously. Einhart herself lacks clear motivations now. At first she seems like proving her ancestor’s power could beat up Vivio and Ixpellia by killing them and now… she wants to beat everyone?

And again I feel we could work with that as well. Making Einhart just go through intense training and beat other people because she needs to fulfill that desperation of her family tradition and then this arc with Vivio could help her to be free of her ghost and live by herself thanks to Vivio who cares because she feels is something they both need to get rid of and live by themselves without caring about Olive and Claus legacy to be a burden on the two girls. But that is not what we get.

ViVid just doesn’t take itself serious when it matter and tries to make big and great deals over the pointless fighting with no real drama. Part of what makes a fight good if caring about the result because it affects the characters: here it doesn’t bother them that much. Even if I could say Vivio’s loosing bother her in the end she didn’t learn anything she didn’t already knew and her attitude doesn’t change. And to me, the biggest crime in ViVid is using such great opportunities and just throw them to the garbage in favor of boring you out of your mind with a no story arc and eye candy. Characters are here just to get nude and pose in any possible way, hit each other in flashy yet uncreative fighting sequences and just crowd the page with cute faces. And that I can’t just forgive.
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