(L) Simoun

[Starks]

Spoiler for my theory:

Rimone standing on Amuria's shoulders == Onashia

[wowo]

Spoiler:

That was terrible!
Some really good moments ruined by awkward keyframes, animation, directing, and script.
Hopefully it's because every ounce of energy and time was directed to 25 and 26.

Man, I felt like I was watching a different show.

Subs should be out by tomorrow afternoon.
Sigh. :T

[Starks]

I agree with wowo... The characters seemed "disconnected" from their voices in this ep... I wonder why.

[metronome]

this week's episode doesnt "bite" so much
I could say there is no real conclusion in this episode

just my opinion tho
let's be optimist and say they put all of the effort towards episode 25 and 26
yuun's fans shud be pretty happy because they have seen her more than enuff from ep 23 to 24 not to mention you see "half" naked onashia

and I don't know why I find this part amusing~~

Spoiler:

young alty: baka! -cry- nee san no baka! baka!

the sound is good:P

[wowo]

Originally Posted by metronome

this week's episode doesnt "bite" so much
I could say there is no real conclusion in this episode

just my opinion tho
let's be optimist and say they put all of the effort towards episode 25 and 26
yuun's fans shud be pretty happy because they have seen her more than enuff from ep 23 to 24 not to mention you see "half" naked onashia

and I don't know why I find this part amusing~~

Spoiler:

young alty: baka! -cry- nee san no baka! baka!

the sound is good:P

Spoiler:

Onashia x Yun so could have been drawn so much hotter...
Seriously, recently half the charm of the series are the eye-catches. And last week's pic was hot.
Okay, it didn't have to be hot, but that was a rather anti-climactic end to Onashia.

Also, didn't that Kaimu/ Alti scene look weird?
To me it looked like Alti was beating on Kaimu's chest and Kaimu was having a masochistic moment. :P

I think the real weakness of the series recently is Aaeru.
She used to be so cool, and it turns out she's somewhat weak and kinda shallow.
I miss the red-eye and kicking-Neviril's-gut-with-her words Aaeru.
And Neviril liking Aaeru... bleh. I just don't -feel- it. I wish they just didn't use the word "suki" (like) and called it something else.

[warainagara]

Hey, I cannot help grinning after 24, though.

Spoiler:

Neviril's confession of her feelings for Aaeru was worth more than anything to me.
Finally, my long-standing hope was fulfilled in a visible form, Yay~~~

[metronome]

@wowo

I shud agree to some points there

Spoiler:

I don't really mind about aaeru, since actualy she is just oh well, main character? she did change, like floe said, tho I don't really like how she change now. But may be she gonna be back with full throttle in the next two episodes, after those two pairs do "something".

but I shud agree to you about Nevirill confession's part. It doesn't sound romantic at all

[warainagara]

Aaeru & Neviril?

Spoiler:

The way Aaeru changed in recent eps was not so agreeable to me, either.
I wanted her to change but not her character itself.

As for Neviril, she was usually like that, wasn't she?
Her emotion are not effusive and that's her nature in my opinion.
The confession that is rather impassionate is more of her.
I think the line of confession was also utmost compliment and thanks.
I could recall the episode where Aaeru urged her to shrug off the memory of Amuria, and Aaeru's invincibility we've seen.

[wrex_japan]

Originally Posted by metronome

@wowo

I shud agree to some points there

Spoiler:

I don't really mind about aaeru, since actualy she is just oh well, main character? she did change, like floe said, tho I don't really like how she change now. But may be she gonna be back with full throttle in the next two episodes, after those two pairs do "something".

but I shud agree to you about Nevirill confession's part. It doesn't sound romantic at all

Yeah, I got the same feeling... it seemed kinda unnatural and forced (maybe Nevril means it, but the writing and direction wasn't convincing). Summary and pics for Simoun 24. I wonder what Yuun will really do.

[Starks]

Shame on everyone in this thread for not watching Rozen Maiden...

The parallels are clear ~desu!

[Starks]

and Wap's hand became huge...

Spoiler:

[FatPianoBoy]

I started rewatching the series, and I noticed something interesting.

In the Spring, we see a giant Tempus Spatium statue with the right wing broken off. If you look on the other side of that island, there's a stump that looks a whole lot like it was another similar statue at one time.
Now, fast forward to the treaty signing in 23. If you look at the statue of Animus the Plumbum priestesses are carrying, you'll see that it has the same build as Tempus Spatium, but different wings. If you broke them off near the bottom, you wouldn't be able to distinguish them.
These two points, along with the idea that Tempus Spatium and Animus were once the same deity, make me wonder if that crumbled statue in the spring was in fact a statue of Animus.

I'm not sure how much significance to assign to this, but I thought it was worth sharing.

[metronome]

Originally Posted by wrex_japan

Yeah, I got the same feeling... it seemed kinda unnatural and forced (maybe Nevril means it, but the writing and direction wasn't convincing). Summary and pics for Simoun 24. I wonder what Yuun will really do.

Spoiler:

in the real life, people will gonna think yuun has killed onashia~~

so ok, to become like onashia you just do not choose sex and do not go to different world? that's easy

[Kaoru Chujo]

Okay. I've watched ep24 again. Everybody must know by now that I am not that critical: I either love something or I don't. But in any case I disagree with all the criticisms I have seen.

Spoiler for ep24:

This episode is not a peak. It's either the beginning of the denouement or the beginning of the conclusion. Emotions that are too vivid or too hot are not appropriate at this point. Kyuukoku has lost. This life is over. Everyone is uncertain. Some are being frolicsome, to forget their problems, and perhaps trying to revive their old eagerness to go to the Spring. But there is a pall over everything. The "disconnection" that has been referred to is there to make us feel the situation. And it works.

Aaeru is in complete confusion. She is a peculiar person, for sure. She came appearing to be a single-minded fighter, but as soon as she saw people (and Simoun) she liked die, she lost that innocent charge, at least temporarily. Now she has fallen in love with Neviril without realizing what love is. And jealousy consumes her without her realizing what jealousy is. Suddenly, out of the blue, Neviril says she loves her. Aaeru doesn't know what that means or how to feel. She's in total confusion. Should she adore Neviril or resent her? Sure, Neviril saying that sounded weird, even unbelievable. That was how it was supposed to sound. We are feeling Aaeru's confusion. And we are again learning that the Sibylla Aurea has been dominated by her feelings, even when she does not express them. I loved how Aaeru took a step back as Neviril advanced toward her. Before, Neviril was afraid of Aaeru; now it's the other way around.

Inconsistencies in animation are rather immaterial for me. The story and the people's feelings are what count. And I felt them, especially with Yun, and especially at the end. Her exchange with Onashia was certainly not made as dramatic as it could have been, but once again I think that was intentional. The climax of this episode was at the end, with Yun facing her friends. To have that emotional high earlier would have stopped the flow. Or so I suggest.

Maybe I'm just trying to explain away infelicities in the script, but I think we should remember that these are not actually human beings like us. They have a very different society, and some of their emotional reactions are subtly different from ours. The art lies in making us feel that difference while at the same time helping us relate to the human emotions in these otherworldly people.

All that having been said, maybe people would find it interesting to know who to blame (or credit): script by Okada Mari (also did eps 12, 13, 15, 18, 20, 21, 23); storyboard by Asakura Yumi and the director, Nishimura Junji (they also did 14 together); director Ueda Shigeru (also did 19 and 14); animation supervisor was Ebisu Haruki, whose name has not appeared in the episode credits before.

Starks was asking someone to explain why one might want to hide the cover of OST2. Here is the reason:

Spoiler for OST2 cover:

(click to enlarge)

[toronto]

Wow the OST cover was indeed HOT *drools* Thank you for sharing. I can't imagine Aeru that way hehehe

[Starks]

Can someone PM the erotic insert image?

[Yaya-chan]

Damn... Ok. After 24 episodes I have to say.
I love Simoun AND Kaoro Chujo's reviews.
Yeah, the story and character's feelings are what remain after all.

Oh my. I can't wait till next NeviAer tango >.<
*plays Youen Naru Kizuna no Hibiki*

[oneplusme]

Spoiler for episode 24:

If anything, I think it was Aaeru rather than Neviril who was too understated in that scene.
I loved her "Doushite? Itai..." as Neviril walked away, though. That was lovely. Poor Aaeru is finally learning to grow up.

Yun's "kirei" was wonderful as well. Poor Yun...

[jtrog]

I feel like im "camping 'Stormfeather' in everque...".(patiently waiting for soft sub - no hurry ) Anyhow, watching 24 dry I got the impression the Sibylla were 'Graduating'. If they are setting up for ep 25-26 ending, I hope its a shocker. Not all 'perfect endings are perfect endings. I mean all the good guys living and all the bad guys in jail, like, not always makes a good ending I mean.

"casts 'SoE HoS' buffs on mozilla".

Anyhow that was interesting what happened at the spring, can't wait to 'hear' it.

"picks up 2 peridots from a defeated popup ad treasure chest"...

[m000m000]

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

Okay. I've watched ep24 again. Everybody must know by now that I am not that critical: I either love something or I don't. But in any case I disagree with all the criticisms I have seen.

I'd be inclined to agree - I generally adored this episode. I didn't pay that much attention to the technicalities this time though, mostly because I was otherwise so engrossed in it.

Spoiler:

What for me really did it was both Yun's antics and Neviril's & Aeru's confession and the conversations surrounding that. As a fan of The Yunyun, this episode essentially was something I'd been waiting for the entire series . And I quite like how they went about it. Not everything needs to be pompously grand, sometimes it's the small things that carry far more emotional weight. Nevi and Aeru? It's a culumination of both's characters evolution. Just look and compare to 15-20 episodes back! And really, that's what this episode is all about - culuminating the build-up of the events in the past episodes.

Sorry boys, you'll have to wait for the story's climax till next episode apparently .

I'll have to admit though that after some of those very definitive high-points, the "last day on Arcus Prima" for the girls and surrounding action felt a bit mundane in comparsion to, or, like it'd been sucked all dry of energy by the previous awsome nevi-Aeru and Yun-Onashia scenes .


I can sort of sympathize those who don't like the new 'wishy-washy' Aeru (hah, you Floe's, the whole bunch of you! ), but it's all really just the final summit of her evolution that they've been setting up the whole series.
She came here as an overbearingly brash and positive girl set out to definitively achive her goal. But during the course of the series she's seen and learned things she didn't think of, or perhaps even want to be knowledgable of.
It's hard to keep your brash naivety when the world around you is keen on forcing you out of it.

In a way, the overbearing positivsm of Aeru at the start is just as much of a shell to hide one's true self from the world as Neviril's Hikkikomori -phase. It's just that the later is far less transparent, since it includes going into actual physical hiding .
If you start to look at Aeru's development, it really is just one big red thread with respect to this. She starts blissfully ignorant of people's emotions, either because she wants to be or honestly just is that clueless(probably both). The positive outlook is sort of an extension of that, because deep down, she's not one to wish ill or animosity on others.

But it all comes to change when she has to interact with people, people who don't react as positively as she expects from her own inoculent positive approach to things. Why do people react this way, and why do people have ill feelings despite my no ill will?
She has to learn that means do not neccesary go hand in hand with the end of human interaction, and that there's many shades of gray and not just blacks and whites to human emotions.

It's these shades of gray that are making her uncertain. The more she knows about them, the less she's set in her things of old (recall her backing down from Paraietta?), for she learns that may not, in spite of all, be the most optimal approach to things.


And in particular, the more she knows and learns about her own emotions - sadness, grief, and love - the more she wavers. It's mostly a new thing for her, so it ought to be understandable.
This is probably why a bunch of you don't like as things currently are, because she's still swelling with confusion over all that, particulary after Neviril dropped the bomb on her in this episode .
....But, I'm quite sure you'll get your mostly-old(-but-then-not) Aeru eventually back next episode - Time's running out, after all .



One of the clear reasons that Neviril liked about Aeru was, after all, the honesty and openess of her emotions.
And in that, I'd be inclined to agree that it is indeed what makes Aeru so awsome. Not the overbearing positivsm(for that is but a small part), but the emotions.


As for the confession? Cold? I guess, if you havn't watched the show previously. In-character? Definitively. For me, it was a very warm moment. It is the very culimination for Neviril's internal growth.

You have to realize that for Neviril to even put something like that into words - especially something where she puts herself on the line, it is very significant. Remember she's had an issue with being emotionally scarred because of loss and rejection ("For them, I'm just a tool to take them 'Higher'" etc etc), especially the later, throughout the series.
A direct confession like that from her is essentially saying "I trust and care for you so much that I know you will not do something like that to me". And for someone like Neviril, that's coming a long way. It's definitively not just your average crush confession on the back of your schoolyard - It's the whole character willingly laying herself bare in front of the other, because of their knowledge of each other.

Continuing the 'cold' thing, are people simply forgetting the kind of person Neviril is? She's not one whom you'd exactly expect to break into tearful heartful kiss & embrace when doing something like that, don't you agree?

Generally she doesn't dabble. She's one to ask, expect an answer, but not one to beg or outright demand anything. She's just very regal of a character, no matter the situation - witness her previous scenes where she's comforted Aeru when she broken down, for example. She didn't hop into and embrace her. She didn't break down in bewlidered surprise. She didn't just ignore her, or say a abstract words of comfort. She's not impulsive like Floe or emotional like Kaimu. Not shut-in like Alti or ethreal like Yun. Just delicately regal.

And her walking away with "You don't have to reply. I just wanted to tell you this."? Awsome.
Both because it showcases just how far she's come, and yet that she's still not some Aeru-brick(for lack of better term ) when it comes to being emotionally affected by other people. Did you pay attention to her uncertainity after that? She may have been direct (oh, the irony of that ) in her confrontation, but she's obviously still worried about Aeru's final answer despite saying she needs none. Having done all she can do, she's worried about the part that she can't influence directly. She can read her behind the lines, but the self-denial from her brings an ounce of doubt to the mind.


All that's left now is for Aeru to stop trying to deny to herself that "Naah, I don' wanna play ball with anyone. Really. Honest! Cross my heart and hope to die! HEY! WHY IS NO ONE BELIVING ME!"




And poor Yun. Got her wish of finally saving someone granted, I guess, but what will become of you now? And why're you crying in the next episode preview

...It's not fair when all your kindered spirits just poof away