(L) Druaga no Tou: Aegis of Uruk

[serenade_beta]

Spoiler for ep12:

Good lord, that was one awesome episode.

The whole fight with Druaga was exciting, and at the end, the two most suspicious people betray (not surprising here). But it turns out there was another tower!
And now, the group has been swept back to Meskia, and Kaaya and Neeba are climbing the new tower.

It was pretty awesome when Jil used Ahmey's stuck weapon and finished Druaga off. Then again, a lot of characters get to act cool this episode, even Melt and his special rod.

And from Pazuz's coffins(?) or something, robots or something come out, including some twintail loli character!
Looking forward to the next season, even though it is in 2009!

[Deathkillz]

Originally Posted by Samanosuke

woah , awesome finale is awesome ?

DITTO!

ep 12 - end

Spoiler:

ZOMG what an end!

Actually this isn't even an end seen as it is just half of what it should really be. Bring on season 2!

But damn...the cliffhanger rivals what we saw in code geass...pure evil

The fight was also epic...and Druaga made a worthy boss, but then it was revealed that in fact he was just a guardian for some dumb door...HOLY!

Jil and Fatina flag raised also...I love ^^

[Conan-san]

To hell with this ending.

ROZEN MAIDEN TRAUMEND ENDING, WOW, YOU LOSE!

[christinemarie]

At the end of season 1

Spoiler for episode 12:

Three Betrayals in one episode
a) Neeba
b) Kaaya
c) Gilgamesh

Gilgamesh is the real villain in the story (as he killed the traitor in his subordinates)
Pazuz's comrade have arrived late in the scene and manage to locate 1 of the coffins !? that I thought destroyed by the Tower of Druaga's entrance Guardian when he was killed by Neeba.
New love team between Jil and Fatima.
New characters that would join them.

Probably King Gilgamesh will have all the survivors in the wanted list and have them killed so that the secret won't leak to others.

[Riker]

Originally Posted by serenade_beta

Spoiler for ep12:

The whole fight with Druaga was exciting, and at the end, the two most suspicious people betray (not surprising here). But it turns out there was another tower!

And from Pazuz's coffins(?) or something, robots or something come out, including some twintail loli character!
Looking forward to the next season, even though it is in 2009!

Spoiler:

Does the 3 betrayals refer to Kaaya, Neeba... and Gil? Or does the whole thing count as the first betrayal and the other 2 in the next season?

Twintail loli eh? Can't wait to see her character design.

Does anyone still remember the flashback where Gil defeated Druaga? Druaga seemed to be smirking as he faded away. Hmmm.

I don't really like cliff hangers, but its better than rushing it and not tying up loose ends. Ah well, overall an enjoyable season. Now off to season 2!


p.s. UTU IS TEH LOLZ in this ep.

Originally Posted by christinemarie

Pazuz's comrade have arrived late in the scene and manage to locate 1 of the coffins !? that I thought destroyed by the Tower of Druaga's entrance Guardian when he was killed by Neeba.

Erm, I think those are the things in the coffins, not his comrades.

[Grey]

What. The. Hell.

Spoiler for Episode_12:

They really weren't kidding with the whole "true fight after Druaga" thing were they? There's a complete other tower, that only Kaaya and Neeba knew about? The heck is that?! I look forward to finding out why they kept that secret. Either they're fools and the writers have no rationale, or there's some really weird mindscrewage and behind-the-scenes conspiracy craziness revolving around that next tower.

Well. At any rate, with so much unanswered, I am curious what will happen in the next season.

[houkoholic]

Originally Posted by Riker

Spoiler:

Does the 3 betrayals refer to Kaaya, Neeba... and Gil? Or does the whole thing count as the first betrayal and the other 2 in the next season?

Spoiler:

I would say that they count as 3, as they seem to each represent one of the 3 most devastating type of betrayal that one could possibly suffer in life.
Neeba: Betrayal from family
Kaaya: Betrayal from friend/lover
Gilgamesh: Betrayal from idol/mentor

Also the betrayals all involves people who knew about the secret of the tower. Obviously we know that Neeba found out from the Succumbus, and Gil knows because he climbed the tower and has the rod, and he seems to also know that Kaaya knew about the secret and her true purpose in climbing the tower, probably because Kaaya is related to Gil. Of course Jil hasn't quite found out about Gil yet, so that's going to hit him in season 2 I would think.

Though I predict that things really is not as bad as they seem on the surface and that the 3 all had their reason to do what they did. I think it may actually have something to do with the curse that was mentioned earlier in the series.

Either way it feels really like a story from typical JRPGs, as most JRPG stories usually has a turning point when all goes to hell and the original purpose of the hero is turned upside down in a single moment.

[Tatiana Razajev]

Okay I just finished watching the final episode and here's my opinion on it. As an "ending" it's meh because it gives you the "That's it feeling", but as a cut-off point while waiting for more, it's pretty good. That's the best way I can put it. I am so look forward to this second season.

Spoiler for 12:

In any case I hope that both Coopa, Melt, Fatina, and Utu will all go along with Jil. It would be pretty nice to see a mixture of the two parties working together for whatever reason. Either way hopefully Jil's experience will allow him to form a group with whoever and lead them to victory. Jil's "One More Time" line at the end sums up everything.

[Nemuru]

Season 1 is over!!
Although this knowledge should be left in spoilers ^^ for others.

Spoiler for Episode 12:

Epic ending, or not ^^.

The OP with the dates did meant a continuation, I'm glad theres more. Druaga has been one of the more enjoyable series this season its not everyday you see a genre like this that has managed to be captivating and encaging as Druaga.

Coopa and Melt moment about Coopa contiuning to serve Melt in the afterlife is both touching and admirable.

lol moments with Ethane ^^, Jil is certainly becoming quite the guy. I've have never thought of Jil being a baka but this episodes shows his mature in more than one way. He's certainly come a long way and his strategy in the final fight are very thought out.

Neeba is an ass as always, as expected he betrayed his friends to point he was willing to kill them.

The 3 coffins raise an interesting question, to those who thought they were to 3 knights badluck. twintail loli makes me think of Yukari Tamura, she could play any tail twin ^^.

Stuff to foresee, Jil x Fatina a potential in the future
The ressurection of Ahmey is potential the one wish we would be likely to see. Although I wish they wouldn't bring back the dead but Jil is the kind of person thats wants everyone to be happy so its not out of the question

EDIT 1

was reading the commentary at CR, sif all this Kaaya hate.

[Skane]

Interesting to note that the title for the next season is "The Sword~" instead of "The Aegis~". Which ties in nicely on Jil's change of motives, from wanting to be a protector, to that of an aggressor.

Cheers.

[frubam]

Damn, that was one impressive episode.

Spoiler:

That battle was Jil at his most epic-ness, he's really improved from the first few episodes. The ending was totally wtf, I didn't expect a cliffhanger ending. Looks like GONZO succeeded with this one, imlo .

Originally Posted by Deathkillz

Jil and Fatina flag raised also...I love ^^

Yeah, i saw that too, I assumed that's why Fatina didn't know why she "disliked" Kaaya, other than the hiding secrets aspect.

[Deathkillz]

Originally Posted by Nemuru

EDIT 1

was reading the commentary at CR, sif all this Kaaya hate.

Personally I don't hate her at all, but her squeaky clean "nice girl" image has been crushed (though I saw that coming from a mile off).

Fatina is still my top girl though at the end of it (good to see her flag raised).

[DragoonKain3]

lol @ Kaaya hate. C'mon, how much foreshadowings does one need to get the picture that she is one of the betrayers? XD

Gil on the other hand... knew it was a bit suspicious about him not being able to die. Probably another Gendo/Noein type of character, and I really look forward to his role in the next chapter.

Thing is, was that really Druaga in the tower? Neeba said it was merely the guardian, and I do think that the 'true' Druaga will be on top of the next tower.

And hmm... couple partner swapping? Just as mose people say that JiXFatina is becoming more of a possibiblity, the other is also true... this also raises the NeebaXKaaya flag as well. Them going up the tower hand-in-hand is pretty damning lol. XD

All in all, a great series. If this ever gets an R1 release with a dub, I'd be the first one to buy it.


Looking back at eps 1, when they mentioned that armies of armies couldn't beat Druaga, the moment they mentioned Druaga, a silhouette looking awfully like Gil in battle armour is shown. Makes me think that maybe eps 1 could be a summary of what happens in the next chapter of the series. Must think about that a bit more...

[FuzzyWuzzy]

Who's the guy that is dead in the scene with King Gil?
Nice episode!
Loved it!
Still no 3rd betrayal!

I'm definitely looking forward to the second season. It will probably start off with us seeing Jil with new allies and they are going to get married and live in a nice town then we all know what will happen next.

Also we probably won't see a second season till they come up with a druaga game probably.

[lightbringer]

Lol. Owned. DnT ended in style, and Jil was as awesome as expected.

Spoiler for 12:

I was wondering what kind of surprise they had in store for the last 5-10 mins, but this was pretty good. It's great that there's a second season since this show has turned out to be above average despite rather poor production values (or maybe that impression is just coz of YouTube?), but having to wait a year sucks (had enough of that with Code Geass) and it's not like much was resolved in that last episode.

Jil and Fatina may make a new pair, and imho they look great together, but it's not like Kaaya doesn't like Jil anymore, just that she doesn't want to involve him in the rest of the journey since it's probably too dangerous. Neeba on the other hand... I think Fatina pointing her gun at Neeba and Neeba making his "me iz teh ev1l" speech has pretty much buried that pairing forever.

But anyway, seeing as how Jil says "once more", I'm not worried. But I do sincerely hope they don't spend the first 5-6 episodes of the next season on climbing those lower levels again. But wait, what's the point of climbing the tower if Gilgamesh has the rod? Or is he the final boss who will now magically teleport all the way to the top and await the heroes there?

[frubam]

Spoiler for ep 12:

So, the Succubus(what's her name?) is supposed to serve the one who awakened her, i.e. Neeba, so I'm assume that Ki is supposed to serve Jil(which IS what we see I guess). Yet, the Succubus and Ki seemed like they were working together. If Ki is working for Jil and the Succubus is working for Neeba, I wonder if Ki is gonna end up opposing the Succubus, or are they just using Jil and Neeba for their own ends? Man, i'm curious

[Mirrinus]

Spoiler for episode 12:

So, I'm not the only one who saw that as "Sorry, Jil, but your princess is in another tower!"?

It's not a bad episode by any means, if it were in the middle of the season or something. But as an ending to a season, well, I just don't take things like it too well. I like for my seasons to have endings that wrap up at least some of the plot threads, not leaving everything dangling with no resolution. Especially if it's not going to continue within a season or two, because I can't really be expected to remember everything and keep things fresh for the new start.

Yeah, I'm rather disappointed. The predictable nature of the episode didn't really help. And the part about the Druaga being a fake, and nothing more than a mere guardian, just made me feel really...cheated. So much sacrifice and toil, just to get the key to the next dungeon? And all the characters end up at the very first city again? That's just...irritating.

I can definitely see all this happening in an RPG. But it would probably be in the middle, where you can continue playing the next quest immediately. Otherwise, you end up with something like Golden Sun's ending, which was quite disappointing (although Golden Sun 2 redeemed it). That said, I think I could have enjoyed this show more if they just stuck it as 24 episodes, without this cliffhanger nonsense.

To hell with this ending.

ROZEN MAIDEN TRAUMEND ENDING, WOW, YOU LOSE!

Well said. This just outdid Rozen Maiden Traumend's ending as a total subversion of any conclusion or resolution. While the Alice Game wasn't concluded like expected, at least RMT had the decency to mostly resolve the threads about the season's villain, the fate of some of the losers of the Alice Game, and the character development of several of the dolls. That episode still had more of a sense of finality than this one.

Apart from the messy cliffhanger business, I was also kind of taken aback by Jil's sudden ability to come up with decent strategies. This was the guy who completely ignored conventional wisdom and tactics just prior, the guy who succeeds based off of dumb luck. While it's not a bad change necessarily, it is rather arbitrary, sort of like character development and IQ growth as the plot necessitates. The Kaaya/Jil relationship still feels rather poorly developed. The show has spent a disappointingly low amount of time building this up, to the point where Kaaya suddenly kissing Jil didn't feel very heartwarming to me; it just felt awkward and tacked on. And when they must separate almost immediately after, the effect was diffused and lost upon me as a result.

Perhaps another season can redeem many of its unresolved threads and underdeveloped characters. But that still wouldn't really change the fact that this season just wasn't very effective for me, in that it doesn't really have me concerned about the fate of Neeba, Kaaya, and Jil.

Although, I'd still watch the second season just for the other characters.

[Tyabann]

Spoiler for episode 12:

I thought it was awesome, though I can understand why everyone is so upset.

I just gotta say it takes major balls to subvert fan expectations like that, and I am pleased with how the subplots will actually get a resolution in the next season. (I hope.)

So, it looks like the new party will be Jil, Melt, Coopa, Fatina, and Utu... sweet, all my favorite characters.

I just hope they actually show what's under Utu's helmet... damn, that's starting to bother me...

[Aquifina]

Spoiler for Ep. 12:

Wow, that was surprisingly.... good. In dramatic terms, no less, in a show whose main appeal at first was its comedy.

Anyhow, yes, I saw the Jil X Fatina hinting, but, really, I personally think Jil X Kaaya will end up together in the end. It's clear, after all, that Kaaya still cares about Jil; she might have taken Neeba's hand to go up the tower, but you can tell by the look on her face that she wasn't thrilled about it; and the last thing she said to Jil was "live."

The sad ending actually made Kaaya kissing Jil unbelievable; it's clear she knew what was coming (either death or betrayal), so she had to take her chance when she could. Otherwise, with as little romantic development as they've had, the kiss scene would have been rather strained. Like the typical anime meal lead, Jil seemed pretty clueless, but considering his reaction to the separation, he obviously cares about her too--that, and things like the video game ep (and the OP of course). I also liked how Kaaya got straight to the point and kissed him; I get tired of the super-long wait for the first kiss in anime romance, sometimes. And the hinting that Fatina is jealous of Kaaya was certainly well done. I think we probably will get a good triangle in the second season, but in the end, I do think Jil and Kaaya will end up together.

Anyhow, didn't Kaaya say earlier that only she could purify the tower?; I'm sure she actually has a good reason for what she's doing. It still sucks for Jil, of course. I also have suspicions that while Gil is the third betrayer, the larger motive behind it is not all that villainous. I think the betrayals should be seen as Kaaya (and probably Gil) being dishonest with Jil and using his courage for their secret purposes, without telling him. Not a nice thing to do, but I think those purposes will actually be positive in the end. I'm still not sure about Neeba's real motivations, though, although I think he may not be as evil as he looks in the end.

[Mizuno]

Spoiler for Finale:

Oh my god! I called it!

The 3rd betrayal was indeed King Gilgamesh, but no one agreed with me.

The three betrayers are definitely the one who lied to him, the one closest to him, the one he idolizes.

http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost...&postcount=442

What a crazy ending! I'm looking forward to the sequel.