(L) No. 6

[CMGOR]

There is an interesting review comparing the Hamlet and Ophelia scene played by Nezumi, and the relationship between Nezumi and Shion. The reviewer also discussed the symbolism behind the wasteland scene during the dancing. I did not know there were so many symbols in this episode.
http://moesucks.com/2011/08/05/no-6-ep-5-act-3-scene-i/

[Lange Neus]

I don't care about the whole BL discussion or the genre in general (cheesiness plagueing the genre is a major turn off).

However, nezumi in drag? I'd board.

[Kaioshin Sama]

I had a whole post written up, but this goddamn secondary mouse I'm using at the moment won't stop registering multiple clicks so I lost it when I closed the actual episode. Maybe this helps with my point though, because damn is this show starting to frustrate me. Again there's very little plot movement other than what's going on with Safu in No.5 and the voice that only she and Nezumi can hear apparently. Also apparently it somehow told her about Nezumi after laying her out flat.

On top of that apparently Dog girl and Rikagi are now fine with Sion after all that transpired last episode with no reason given at all. Everything is just magically okay now. I'm sorry, but that's a bit of a real plot hole right there that could have used a interstitial scene to show how they patched things up. And then there's the play scene with Nezumi which I'm not sure if I'm supposed to take as a joke or played straight considering Shakespearean plays have historically featured female characters played by male actors. I'd normally take it played straight, but then you've got the whole pointless dance scene between Sion and Nezumi at the end which is just really taking their relationship out of friendship territory and into full blown BL territory for no good reason. If the point was to show their trust in each other then I kind of got that at the end of the 1st episode before they muddied the waters in terms of what kind of relationship they actually have and how far it's supposed to go. Considering they've had an awkward and unnecessary argument in each of the past two episodes though I'm not even sure how they could still have a strong relationship at all.

This could all of course be remedied if as Nostalgia Critic might demand the show would, "EXPLAIN DAMNIT, EXPLAIN!" So far as of the last two episodes No. 6 has been piling seemingly unrelated and confusing scene on top of seemingly unrelated and confusing scene with little to no cohesion between any of it all and I can't help but wonder if it's the 11-episode noitaminA format screwing with an otherwise potentially great story yet again. I continue to lament how in order to get a regular dose of maturity in my anime it has to be through an incredibly restrictive time slot that screws it all up for me anyway. Damn...this show started off so darn well and I really thought it was going to break the curse of the noitaminA slot, but now I'm really not sure. Safu goes back to No. 6 next episode so hopefully the show will start to develop a cohesive narrative at some point soon and move on with the plot cause right now it's in a really bad rut. It was going so well too just as of 2 weeks ago.

[orion]

Originally Posted by Kaioshin Sama

I had a whole post written up, but this goddamn secondary mouse I'm using at the moment won't stop registering multiple clicks so I lost it when I closed the actual episode. Maybe this helps with my point though, because damn is this show starting to frustrate me. Again there's very little plot movement other than what's going on with Safu in No.5 and the voice that only she and Nezumi can hear apparently. Also apparently it somehow told her about Nezumi after laying her out flat.

On top of that apparently Dog girl and Rikagi are now fine with Sion after all that transpired last episode with no reason given at all. Everything is just magically okay now. I'm sorry, but that's a bit of a real plot hole right there that could have used a interstitial scene to show how they patched things up. And then there's the play scene with Nezumi which I'm not sure if I'm supposed to take as a joke or played straight considering Shakespearean plays have historically featured female characters played by male actors. I'd normally take it played straight, but then you've got the whole pointless dance scene between Sion and Nezumi at the end which is just really taking their relationship out of friendship territory and into full blown BL territory for no good reason. If the point was to show their trust in each other then I kind of got that at the end of the 1st episode before they muddied the waters in terms of what kind of relationship they actually have and how far it's supposed to go. Considering they've had an awkward and unnecessary argument in each of the past two episodes though I'm not even sure how they could still have a strong relationship at all.

This could all of course be remedied if as Nostalgia Critic might demand the show would, "EXPLAIN DAMNIT, EXPLAIN!" So far as of the last two episodes No. 6 has been piling seemingly unrelated and confusing scene on top of seemingly unrelated and confusing scene with little to no cohesion between any of it all and I can't help but wonder if it's the 11-episode noitaminA format screwing with an otherwise potentially great story yet again. I continue to lament how in order to get a regular dose of maturity in my anime it has to be through an incredibly restrictive time slot that screws it all up for me anyway. Damn...this show started off so darn well and I really thought it was going to break the curse of the noitaminA slot, but now I'm really not sure. Safu goes back to No. 6 next episode so hopefully the show will start to develop a cohesive narrative at some point soon and move on with the plot cause right now it's in a really bad rut. It was going so well too just as of 2 weeks ago.

It's not noitaminA's fault. Another element just got introduced that's all. If you truly want to be spoiled it's on the Japanese wiki. What's happening isn't as linear as people originally think.

The lasting problem that Rikagi and Dogkeeper had was with Nezumi, not Sion.

As for the BL undertones, well.. it's in the novel.

[Kaioshin Sama]

Originally Posted by orion

It's not noitaminA's fault. Another element just got introduced that's all. If you truly want to be spoiled it's on the Japanese wiki. What's happening isn't as linear as people originally think.

The lasting problem that Rikagi and Dogkeeper had was with Nezumi, not Sion.

As for the BL undertones, well.. it's in the novel.

Sion kind of punched Rikagi in the face, that doesn't seem like a good way to leave a continuing good impression. Also I figured since Sion is so strongly associated with Nezumi (as this show has taken every possible stride to point out well after the fact was established) that Dog girl would see Sion as an enemy now too. Again a small scene explaining it all would be nice. Even just Rikagi saying to Sion that he'll forgive him and continue to look out for him because he knew his mother would have been nice.

For all the time they spend on re-establishing the fact that Sion and Nezumi are really close and depend on each other they could have spent just a little on devoting some time to more interstitial scenes to show how we get from point a to point b in these last couple episodes. Episodes 1, 2 and 3 all had scenes that flowed well into one another and they for the most part picked up where the other ones left off even with the time skips. Also if the plot isn't linear shouldn't that have been made more clear? Again this seems like very VERY basic storytelling stuff that this show has gotten all wrong in the last couple episodes. Frankly my impression of the show is now a little worse off that you told me that.

Also I'm not at all against the BL undertones, I just don't understand how enhancing them at all contributes to the story considering it was running very smoothly with it just being a very close friendship and now that we've added a wrinkle into their relationship with this I just hope it all gets ironed out for the purposes of enhancing the narrative at some point. I really couldn't care less if it was in the novel or not, I just want it to have a purpose in the plot now because as I said I was enjoying it fine when it was just a friendship. Frankly I'm not sure there's time for a love triangle or whatever they are going for, but we'll see.

[orion]

Originally Posted by Kaioshin Sama

Sion kind of punched Rikagi in the face, that doesn't seem like a good way to leave a continuing good impression. Also I figured since Sion is so strongly associated with Nezumi (as this show has taken every possible stride to point out well after the fact was established) that Dog girl would see Sion as an enemy now too. Again a small scene explaining it all would be nice. Even just Rikagi saying to Sion that he'll forgive him and continue to look out for him because he knew his mother would have been nice.

For all the time they spend on re-establishing the fact that Sion and Nezumi are really close and depend on each other they could have spent just a little on devoting some time to more interstitial scenes to show how we get from point a to point b.

Rikagi did forgive him after getting punched. The very next thing he did was to say that he would still take care of him. Dogkeeper never had a problem with Sion. Sion is her employee. She had stopped fighting Nezumi when Sion approached. It's all about Nezumi.

[Kaioshin Sama]

Originally Posted by orion

Rikagi did forgive him after getting punched. The very next thing he did was to say that he would still take care of him. Dogkeeper never had a problem with Sion. Sion is her employee. She had stopped fighting Nezumi when Sion approached. It's all about Nezumi.

When was this? I must have gotten some brutal subtitles or something cause I don't remember it coming across that he forgave him at all. I'll take your word for it, but that still doesn't help the rest of these past two episodes very much right now. I really hope the 6th one gets back to the strength in narrative and flow of the first 3 cause honestly it almost feels like I'm watching a different show right now or that all of a sudden they just brought in an entirely new creative team to handle episodes 4 and 5.

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by Kaioshin Sama

I really hope the 6th one gets back to the strength in narrative and flow of the first 3 cause honestly it almost feels like I'm watching a different show right now or that all of a sudden they just brought in an entirely new creative team to handle episodes 4 and 5.

It should be noted episode 4 and 5 departed quite a bit from the novel, putting scenes from different volumes together and adding new material. It's only logical it would feel less cohesive than the first 3 episodes, which followed the novel more closely. The overall plot is probably going to be the same but the need to cut down material will make the storytelling suffer not matter what they do about it. It's ultimately impossible to adapt 9 volumes worth of novel into 11 animated episodes without making a bit of mess with the continuity and consistency.

[LostSome]

I would probably enjoy the anime more if I didn`t read the novel beforehand.

Some part of the novel that I found very powerful in the novel and was very looking forward in the anime are missing...
But I guess we can`t have Sion scaring kids with his scar.

[Lange Neus]

Originally Posted by Kaioshin Sama

When was this? I must have gotten some brutal subtitles or something cause I don't remember it coming across that he forgave him at all. I'll take your word for it, but that still doesn't help the rest of these past two episodes very much right now. I really hope the 6th one gets back to the strength in narrative and flow of the first 3 cause honestly it almost feels like I'm watching a different show right now or that all of a sudden they just brought in an entirely new creative team to handle episodes 4 and 5.

Just pinching in seems you seem to make a strong point about how they are supposed to be on unfriendly tems with sion. Even if this were true, it doesn't have to be a reason to cut ties with him. It'd be strange, even, given they also act as information brokers as well. As proof of this they still deal with nezumi even though they're openly hostile to eachother.

[Archon_Wing]

It uses the whole body, and takes a lot of stamina. Oh my. I must admit that I was laughing immaturely.

Anyhow, this was kind of a funny episode; with that play and Safu acting silly. I'd wish for some more progression and less of them staring at each other in certain ways, but hey. Those bees sure are getting nasty and judging by the episode preview shit's gonna hit the fan. Dog person is kinda annoying and will probably need an ass kicking soon. Sooner than later me thinks.

[orion]

Originally Posted by Kaioshin Sama

When was this? I must have gotten some brutal subtitles or something cause I don't remember it coming across that he forgave him at all. I'll take your word for it, but that still doesn't help the rest of these past two episodes very much right now. I really hope the 6th one gets back to the strength in narrative and flow of the first 3 cause honestly it almost feels like I'm watching a different show right now or that all of a sudden they just brought in an entirely new creative team to handle episodes 4 and 5.

Ep. 4 10:45-10:50, CR version. Rikagi says he's sorry and still wants to look after him.

[Guardian Enzo]

Originally Posted by orion

Ep. 4 10:45-10:50, CR version. Rikagi says he's sorry and still wants to look after him.

Rikagi is still in love with Karan, methinks.

[LostSome]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

Rikagi is still in love with Karan, methinks.

Somebody actually cares for Rikagi ?
If he can`t find himself a good time in the business he`s in, I do feel sorry for him.

[ttdestroy]

I find this show to be inadvertently hilarious at times. Rat pretty well craps his pants when Sion closes the distance between them like it was natural.

So any chance that Rat is actually a woman?

[Friera]

Originally Posted by ttdestroy

So any chance that Rat is actually a woman?

With that voice? Thats a very masucline woman....

[orion]

Originally Posted by ttdestroy

I find this show to be inadvertently hilarious at times. Rat pretty well craps his pants when Sion closes the distance between them like it was natural.

So any chance that Rat is actually a woman?

Zero chance.

[LostSome]

Originally Posted by ttdestroy

So any chance that Rat is actually a woman?

I have a very scary imagination and I can`t see it.
Even after seeing him in a dress.

Besides, didn`t we saw him shirtless already ? I think so...

[Shiina]

Spoiler for Episode 6:

And now we're finally finished with the plot up to volume 2. Yeah, I'm just a tiny bit worried about the pacing here.

Main thing of importance here was obviously Safu getting kidnapped. Other than that and more confrontation between Nezumi and Shion, not much else happened. I'm conflicted, it's nice that they're spending time on the smaller events from the novels that didn't really contribute much plot-wise but were still great in terms of narration/character development, but I wish they'd hurry up with the plot. It looks like they're covering the rest of volume 3 next episode, which leaves... 4 episodes for volumes 4-9. At this rate I really am hoping for something anime-original, because that's not going to work.

And that Eve end card was gorgeous. Eeeeeve~

[EroKing]

Things not looking so good for Safu my waifu