(CR) Active Raid (seasons 1 & 2)

[ValvraveTruth]

This is hilarious, Lico not only turn into an apple, it is also happening in official website/character/ed song. It gets me thinking why apple?

Of course if Lico turns to an apple (everywhere), then it also hint that she will turn back to normal at the last episode. The problem is if Mythos who created Lico is defeated, what will happen to Lico as part of the evil conspiracy?

[Master_Yoma]

Well its seem that they where all out smarted by Mythos

[Chosen_Hero]

(Watches episode) ... and now I await the reveal that it was all part of a Templar master plan, not bad using your enemies favorite phrase as part of your plan.

Also, we have just witnessed the birth of Engrish, Latin version.

[shmaster]

A random idea. Could that girl showing up every episode be "Monkey"?

[ReddyRedWolf]

I'm trying to piece Mythos' motivations. Is it about the cult that committed terrorism that led to his sister's death. Or is it he feel he is an outcast taking out it out on the world for maximum damage?

As for the governor being hospitalized it would surprise me if he was detained in connection to Logos.

[Iron Maw]

Originally Posted by Shlugo

A country that puts the control of everything in a single system.

A government so incompetent and obstructive that they can't even get their shit together while the country is literally held hostage.

A military that uses Wilwear with online connection while knowing that the whole system got compromised.

Mythos didn't exactly had a lot to contend with, now did he?

Eh, I don't know about that. If anything the Orochi system seemed almost needlessly complex, and technically it's not even one system but multiple ones that required Logo manipulate the government in a series of unrelated incidents for year or two just to get some clue where any of the parts were located using the best tech available. He certainly didn't just walk in and grab it. A normal terrorist certainly never get anywhere this close. I'm more baffled that wasn't more fail-safe beyond the "ro" self-deleting in case of a breach for "O" & "chi".

But really I find Mythos' hacking and knowledge more unbelievable than anything else.

Your spot about the second point, but that's kinda big theme in this series. Ultimatey it's current governors fault for that.

Originally Posted by shmaster

A random idea. Could that girl showing up every episode be "Monkey"?

Eh, there is a "Monkey"?

[Faux Mecha]

so the ED song was still intact despite Liko turning into an apple but the next episode preview music got badly glitched out? could have sworn it sounded like an unintentional dubstep noise.

[Tenzen12]

I don''t know about monkey.. But if it was Donkey we would get full cast of Town musicians of Bremen

[Benigmatica]

If there was a Monkey within Logos' ranks, I would consider Mythos as Momotaro.

Still, the fact that this teenage hacker controlled Japan is very alarming. On the other hand, I wonder if Mythos is part of a bigger picture for Logos since he's just controlling the country? Are they any hackers like him around the world?

[Wandering Soul]

Originally Posted by Shlugo

A government so incompetent and obstructive that they can't even get their shit together while the country is literally held hostage.

That seems to be one of the themes of this series. Despite everything going on, the government still has time to argue about who is going to do save the day and oppress Unit 8.

[Stark700]

Well that resolved. Glad to see Liko back but the fight itself felt kinda funny. Maybe it's because of the silly moves or resolution. Rather, I am at least glad to see a happy ending.

Yeah, this show was kinda average for me. I liked some episodes while others really felt like a chore. Happy to see Liko back though.

Spoiler:

I hope the second cour improves.

[justsomeguy]

Well, that was an underwhelming ending for the first cour. Good that they finally gave Mythos a backstory to explain the huge chip on his shoulder, but there are some holes in it. If he was denied an education, how did he become such a skilled hacker? And there were enough concerns to prevent him from going overseas, yet not enough to monitor him for illicit activity?

As material leftover for the second cour, there are unresolved storylines involving the corrupt governor, Unit 8's reputation with the government, as well as Bird, who made a deal and got away scot free. Mythos had a legitimate grudge, but Bird seems to just be a total asshole who does things for the lolz; I'm pretty sure he'll be back, unless the second cour introduces a new group of antagonists and (god forbid) a copy-paste storyline of the first cour.

At the halfway point, I'm pretty sure this show will turn out to be 7/10 in the end. It's underrated, but also completely generic and predictable. At least it's delivering with almost every episode, which is more than I can say about certain other two-cour shows.

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by justsomeguy

Well, that was an underwhelming ending for the first cour. Good that they finally gave Mythos a backstory to explain the huge chip on his shoulder, but there are some holes in it. If he was denied an education, how did he become such a skilled hacker? And there were enough concerns to prevent him from going overseas, yet not enough to monitor him for illicit activity?

Mythos' backstory is very bizarre and weird, even for conventional "main anime antagonist with a secret sob story".

Mythos is still a very good antagonist in many ways, but the believablity issues with his backstory hurts his character some. For me, it means he's a good solid main antagonist, but not a great one.

Which is reflective of Active Raid as a whole - Good fun flashy action-packed show, but with enough questionable plot elements that it falls short of greatness.


One interesting final tidbit is that Bird now seems like a bigger a-hole than Mythos, yet Bird seems to get the better ending of the two. Bird outright won - He got his uber-trollish amusement at the expense of an entire country's people and he got away with it! Meanwhile, I can only presume that Mythos is going to get a very long jail sentence, unless he lucks out and gets something more comfortable in return for doing computer/IT work for the government. Mythos certainly seems to be the most talented IT guy in the entire country, so the Japanese government might as well put that to good use.

[ReddyRedWolf]

I didn't spot Pickpocket girl in this ep.

Anyway the reason why Mythos is so mess up in the head is that his parents made him a cult leader and they committed mass suicide along with terrorism. Yep that would make you on the powers that be's shit list.

Given he was only five years old at the time I would've have him change identity and adopted to a foster family. Problem is he is so messed up in the head he keeps changing his family and being an edge lord.

Given his background and the late terror incidents I understand the government ignoring protection of a minor for the greater good.

Thing is one of his accomplices already already committed murder I can see the government making him an accomplice and have him in trial as an accessory to give him the death penalty.

Despite what Unit 8 did giving a bit of hope I can see it in vain. The government won't let him see his sister. His sister may not want anything to do with him as she wants to put her terrible past behind her.

As for Bird if I'm the Japanese government I'd have a Red Notice on him tagging him as a terrorist. I'd pass the intel not only to Interpol but other intelligence counterparts and police agencies particularly other ACTIVE teams who could be dealing Bird in the future.

[ValvraveTruth]

Originally Posted by ReddyRedWolf

I didn't spot Pickpocket girl in this ep.

The girl is part if IT team this time helping the goverment hack into Mythos orochi authority. You will spot her at the mid lower screen when the prime minister came into the room.

[Cloudedmind]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

Mythos' backstory is very bizarre and weird, even for conventional "main anime antagonist with a secret sob story".

Mythos is still a very good antagonist in many ways, but the believablity issues with his backstory hurts his character some. For me, it means he's a good solid main antagonist, but not a great one.

Which is reflective of Active Raid as a whole - Good fun flashy action-packed show, but with enough questionable plot elements that it falls short of greatness.


One interesting final tidbit is that Bird now seems like a bigger a-hole than Mythos, yet Bird seems to get the better ending of the two. Bird outright won - He got his uber-trollish amusement at the expense of an entire country's people and he got away with it! Meanwhile, I can only presume that Mythos is going to get a very long jail sentence, unless he lucks out and gets something more comfortable in return for doing computer/IT work for the government. Mythos certainly seems to be the most talented IT guy in the entire country, so the Japanese government might as well put that to good use.

Yeah, there's just something about the whole thing that didn't quite click with me. Maybe it was the speed in which all this information was given to us, and just the speed in which everything happened in general. But it just left me a bit wanting. In the end it looks like Bird is the "true mastermind" behind it all as does seem to get away scott free.

[Master_Yoma]

So it all start becuase of a cult and a sister complex and with such a cop out ending

6/10 maybe anther season

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by Cloudedmind

Yeah, there's just something about the whole thing that didn't quite click with me. Maybe it was the speed in which all this information was given to us, and just the speed in which everything happened in general. But it just left me a bit wanting. In the end it looks like Bird is the "true mastermind" behind it all as does seem to get away scott free.

Mythos and Bird both received the bare minimum screen-time necessary to be good main antagonists. To be great antagonists, they needed more focus than what they received.

They were both very effective antagonists when it came to competency/threat level and good drama/theatrics. I typically found their scenes fun to watch, as they tended to be pretty punchy with good dramatic lines and fitting BGM. And there's no question that they posed an excellent challenge to Active Raid's heroes.

But there wasn't much character personality substance behind their strong style and competency sizzle. With Mythos, it really does feel like too little, too late, too rushed. It would have helped if that copy of Mythos' little sister had actually been given a good conversation or two with Mythos.

[Darthtabby]

For the most part I thought this was a strong season/cour finale except for the very last scene, which had a "is that it?" feel to it. Also the CGI of mythos standing their lashing at the three Unit 8 members who were surrounding him. Most of the action in this episode was pretty good, but that particular bit just looked totally lame. Hopefully they'll replace it with something a little less static for the bluray release.

[Cloudedmind]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

Mythos and Bird both received the bare minimum screen-time necessary to be good main antagonists. To be great antagonists, they needed more focus than what they received.

They were both very effective antagonists when it came to competency/threat level and good drama/theatrics. I typically found their scenes fun to watch, as they tended to be pretty punchy with good dramatic lines and fitting BGM. And there's no question that they posed an excellent challenge to Active Raid's heroes.

But there wasn't much character personality substance behind their strong style and competency sizzle. With Mythos, it really does feel like too little, too late, too rushed. It would have helped if that copy of Mythos' little sister had actually been given a good conversation or two with Mythos.

Yeah, the show took it's time setting them up as these really competent antagonist, only to have Mythos at least, crash and burn in one episode. I guess I just wish the show had taken just as much care deconstructing Mythos' character before taking him down. From the very small tidbits of Mythos' past we got in a prior episode I kind of figured this was mostly a revenge plot at it's core. But the "I just don't/didn't want to be alone" aspect felt like it came out of left field. And, then there's Bird's sudden heal turn (I'm sure there's a more accurate term for what he did, but it's the only thing I can think of at the moment). His motivations got even less screen time, if any at all really. Perhaps they wanted to save that for next season, and leave him as mostly an enigma for now. But I agree that a little more insight into their motivations would have probably made this go over better for me.

Although, I guess if I really think about it. I shouldn't be to surprised about Mythos' reasons at least. Clearly he missed his sister, as he bothered making a holographic projection of her, and then he paid people to be his pretend family. But the reason for that could just as easily have been he just didn't want to look to suspicious. A minor living alone in a giant penthouse might raise some red flags and all that.