(L) Phantom ~Requiem for the Phantom~ (Nitroplus & Bee Train)

[telamont]

Read the spoilers... Really? You're not joking... right?

...LULZ! ROFLMAO. Beetrain, what were your staff smoking when this was made and where can I get some?

A while back, looking at the title "Requiem for the Phantom" I did think something along the lines of...

Spoiler for Phantom 26:

"Phantom's a dark show, it's highly unlikely everyone will live happily ever after. So, since they can't please everyone, are they planning on pissing off everyone instead? Kill them all ending?"

Can't believe they actually went and did it though.

...Heh...BWAHAHAHAHAHA. I so called it.

Now excuse me while I go laugh some more on Beetrain's EPIC trolling.

[Magin]

Well, been lurking around here for a while, wondeirng how this was all going to play out. And based on the spoilers, it seems that two epic shows both had epic trollings (Haruhi being the other one, if this turns out to be a trolling)

but, my two cents, based on the detailed description a page back:

Spoiler for 26:

Apparently, we hear the shot, see Reiji go down, Elen doesn't see anything, and we end with a single bullet casing on the ground. Are we forgetting the legendary anime rule? The person isn't dead unless you see the body... and I understand we don't see Reiji's body, just that the series ends with this question in the air. I guess we're going to have to wait for the OVA's, should any be made...

[Slick_rick]

Originally Posted by Xander

Even if you don't care, I think you'll notice that not only VN purists seem to be, at least temporarily, disappointed.

Spoiler for Episode 26:

That's not surprising. I never said it was only VN purists but a lot of people will have vastly different takes on the ending. It was meant to shock! That was it's purpose. Honestly if you argued about the execution of the twist itself instead of the need for a twist, which basically comes down to your preference towards twists, I might take you seriously.

Twists like this are common. You'll see them in films like American History X, Reservoir Dogs, Sin City etc. This is not new in the Noir genre. Not everyone is going to like it but it accomplishes its goal. It leaves a distinct memory. If you a fan of tragedy you'll love this ending if you prefer happy ending/stories then I'm sorry you'll probably not be able to appreciate the ending but from what the description is seems a pretty well executed both in terms of providing shock and providing closure to the story.

I should be able to finally watch the Raw in a few minutes once its done downloading but I'm excited. Best end for me as least premise wise.

[miroku2192]

@telamont. Thanks for spoiling the ending genius. I knew i shouldn't have clicked on this damn thread.

I haven't watched the ep yet, so i don't know the full details leading up to the ending...but it seems people aren't too happy with the way they played this out.

The show lost me with/sometime around the 3rd arc or w/e you want to call it. The way things were handled seemed a bit off to me, but I suppose that's how the original author had it...so i cant really blame them. However, the show REALLY pretty much lost me with how the last episode was handled. THAT pissed me off. I don't have much to say to that...and i guess this last episode seems like it was fail?

Way to go beetrain. Way to trash a good fucking series. Build up on the good stuff, and then just throw it all away.

[Slick_rick]

Spoiler for Episode 26:

Just watched it. I honestly loved Scythe Master's death scene more than the final one. Really awesome music and very visually appealing.

I'm certain Reiji died and I'm fairly positive Elen joined him soon after. The smile at the end seemed to be almost like she accepted death cause she'd finally gotten her wish so it didn't matter to her anymore. It was a beautiful scene and the lead into the music and the faint shot all worked beautifully.

Really nice fight scenes but the music throughout was awesome. I loved this episode.

[GDB]

Originally Posted by miroku2192

THAT pissed me off.

I think that became obvious when you started calling for the Director's head.

Way to go beetrain. Way to trash a good fucking series. Build up on the good stuff, and then just throw it all away.

Agreed. No matter which girl you liked, I think most can agree on this.

[Xander]

@Slick_rick: Leaving everything else aside, that sounds a little more interesting.

Considering what you've just written and, surprise surprise, some things I've written before...I hope we are able to have a more productive discussion later on. Not too likely, but as long as the probability isn't zero...who knows?

Originally Posted by Magin

Spoiler for 26:

Apparently, we hear the shot, see Reiji go down, Elen doesn't see anything, and we end with a single bullet casing on the ground. Are we forgetting the legendary anime rule? The person isn't dead unless you see the body... and I understand we don't see Reiji's body, just that the series ends with this question in the air. I guess we're going to have to wait for the OVA's, should any be made...

But...

Spoiler for 26:

...if you take that logic far enough, you could even argue that Claudia isn't dead, considering we didn't see her body either. There was only a grave, but she's definitely dead.

In this case, if you really want to push things to the extreme, that's arguably possible...but probably going against what someone else has implied, I also happen to think it would be far too inappropriate if Reiji was able to survive that. It's incredibly unlikely if you ask me.

Thematically speaking, it does make much more sense for him to actually die than to pull off a fake "death" like that. Which, once again, goes back to my old point of not really minding his actual death per se.

[RevRayCool]

Spoiler:

Right after Elen takes out Scythe Master, she says, "Go to hell first. I'll follow a little after... with him."

... What a surprise, she meant it literally! I never played the original but I have to now. Have to suppress the Beetrain RAGE.

[Lady Orihime]

RAW is out now.

Originally Posted by Zetsubo

Spoiler:

LOL !

Don't want your heroine dead ?

Just because you only see Reji get shot doesn't mean that Elen was not also shot "off camera".

There is no way it would be that convenient.

It is not logical for Ellen to live.

LOGICALLY if you kill Reji.... ELLEN will come back to slaughter the whole of Inferno.

You really feel that Ellen will tolerate Reji's death ?

Her reason for living ?

The man who gave her back her soul ?

Besides why would they kill Reji and not Ellen ?

Both are Phantom.

Both went against Inferno, more than once, and hurt it badly.

Both are very lethal.

Take out both... because none can be allowed to live.

Competing organizations can easily hire any of the two to do inferno harm.

It is common business sense. To liquidate bad assets.

Inferno spent money to train Ellen and Reji. It cannot afford to have any of the two return to hurt them.

Lizzie is dead, Clau is dead, Cal is dead, Reji is dead, Ellen is dead.

Release your denial.

I said WE DIDN'T SEE ANYTHING HAPPEN TO. Learn to read, mmmkay? Thanks.

If you read my first post, you would have seen that, along with being the first to post anything about this episode, that I was the first one to question that possibilty.

Spoiler:

And watching the RAW again, nothing did happen to Elen...on screen, at least. She just enjoys the field, looking up at the sky and smiling.

[Zetsubo]

Originally Posted by Lady Orihime

RAW is out now.



I said WE DIDN'T SEE ANYTHING HAPPEN TO. Learn to read, mmmkay? Thanks.

If you read my first post, you would have seen that, along with being the first to post anything about this episode, that I was the first one to question that possibilty.

Spoiler:

And watching the RAW again, nothing did happen to Elen...on screen, at least. She just enjoys the field, looking up at the sky and smiling.

hai hai.....

[Spikestrip]

Spoiler:

I think that Elen is dead. Just watched the episode.

We just see her lying there, without even moving a finger. There is a flower with a petal gone. Imo, she died with a smile in her homeland.

Both her and Reiji completed thei missions and roles (I'm saying this from Bee Train's point of view. So, they're killed off now.

What do I think of this ending? It's BULLSHIT! Damn you, Bee Train!

[prototype_sky]

Spoiler for Episode 26:

You know what Reiji ain't dead in my book considering he survived 3 shoots to the chest and drowning. It was a flesh wound and now he's finally free since Inferno thinks he's dead.

Because after that kill to survive speech and surviving worse scenarios earlier in the story dying so lame is unacceptable.

[Parappa]

Originally Posted by prototype_sky

Spoiler for Episode 26:

You know what Reiji ain't dead in my book considering he survived 3 shoots to the chest and drowning. It was a flesh wound and now he's finally free since Inferno thinks he's dead.

Because after that kill to survive speech and surviving worse scenarios earlier in the story dying so lame is unacceptable.

Spoiler for Episode 26:

They can survive from being shot but they can't survive being Bee Trained. I guess that means whichever company decides to do a revival years from now better not follow this route.

[Mei19]

Hah saw ep 26!

Spoiler for 26:

See?? I told you it wasn't as bad as it is. XD What Reiji death? He wasn't shown dead. He was just shot. I mean this is the same guy who got shot bajillion times, fell in the bottom of the sea, and miraculously survived. Now he gets to die because of ONE single bullet. A bazooka maybe could've convinced me, but just one single bullet? Naaaaaaaaaaah.

Reiji's fate was ambiguous but no definite. Hah! Elen lives, the messed up couple got together in the end, and Scythe Master is dead as a doornail. I still got mi ending. Ohohohoho~ Great show! I think a fluffy fuwa fuwa ending just doesn't suit phantom so they just had to add in that twist for impact purposes. Whatever. The show was still wrapped up perfectly for me. XDXD

[g1alpha]

Spoiler for Episode 26:

....after watching the raw i just couldnt stop laughing at the ridiculousness of the episode. They went through all trouble of building up the plot and actually managed to make a good anime, even the last episode was pretty well done and tied things up pretty nicely with Scythe finally being killed (although i wanted to see a worse death for him) and Elen and Reiji managing to find Elen's hometown..... and then BeeTrain decides to go and completely ruin it with that ending.

In just 1 minute and 40 seconds they just threw whatever chances they had of making it a great anime. They didn't even have to put that part there. They could have just ended it and it would have still been a great ending. But no, they decided to kill of Reiji and Elen for no apparent reason.

First they kill off Cal and now those 2 as well.... I think that BeeTrain has to rethink the way they're doing things very very carefully and make an OVA showing a REAL ending before they end up being mobbed by Reiji, Elen, and Cal fans

[Weils]

Ep 26 spoiler theory:

Spoiler for spoilers:

I think I understand why Reiji was killed by Inferno instead of both him and Elen die (if what we see on screen Elen lives at the end). It was a punishment by the criminal organisation. I believe that Inferno thinks that Reiji will be better off dead. If he was never brought into the organisation, Inferno would still rise up to what it is today along with its core members intact. Inferno probably believes that Reiji has brought nothing but trouble ever since the day he was brought into the fold.

If Reiji had not joined Inferno, Ein would not have lost become the Elen we know today, Claudia would not have a chance to rise up to the top without Zwei's help, Isaac Wisemel would not have died due to her manipulations, Scythe Master would not have been betrayed. A few years later, they end up losing Scythe and all the Zahlen Schwestern. Without their precious assassins' help, Inferno will have a lesser grip on the criminal underworld. Reiji was directly or indirectly causing those woes. I'm sure Inferno thinks that Reiji should have been dead a long time ago, killed by Ein, in a deserted alley. They find it fitting to end his life now as a death penalty.

[Mentar]

Well, wow...

Spoiler:

BeeTrain/Nitro+ will have known right from the start that this kind of ending will leave almost everyone unhappy. So I've got to give them some kudos for having the guts to pull through.

First, for the facts: I think the ending is open for interpretation and purposely ambiguous. In my opinion, it's clear that Reiji died due to the gunshot we heard. His facial expression froze, and he's falling sideways. He's a goner.

With Elen, it's unclear. She fades out of the picture. Yes, the flower is missing one petal. Yes, she doesn't move (but since she's lying on the ground, motionless, watching the sky, that's inconclusive). We hear no second shot. We also see only one bullet shell.

Before I comment on the ending, I want the translations of Ein's last thoughts. I think that they will affect my final verdict quite a bit. However, no matter what happened, I don't see that Nitro+ "ruined" anything at all. It's the logical consequence on what has been going on till the very ending. It only deprives the viewer of any remaining sugar ^_^;

That said, I don't think that Elen is dead. It's rather that now really EVERYONE has lost. Elen failed at the mission which kept her alive: To protect Reiji. Reiji is dead. Cal is dead. Mio's wish/hope to see Reiji again in the future is lost. "Requiem" indeed.

[Lady Orihime]

^ That's exactly what I've been thinking

Spoiler:

And why I can't believe Elen was killed/died on screen. Being motionless and looking up at the sky...People do that when they tan outside, or are just daydreaming. They breath, of course, but I rarely see an anime, or ANY cartoon, where they actually show a character breathing, with their chest going up and down.

One shot, one person goes down, one shell casing *shrug*

[Mentar]

You know what's truly macabre?

Spoiler:

The last thought of Reiji was that he wanted to give Elen her laughter back (the ditzy pseudo-laughter as his sister doesn't count). Then, Reiji gets shot and collapses, and Elen turns around on the *thud* his body makes dropping to the ground. Elen sees Reiji fallen down and laughs at him, it obviously looks dorky.

Guess Reiji succeeded in the end *extra black sarcasm*...

[Soraya21]

Well now that I seen the raw, here are my thoughts...

Spoiler for Epi. 26 spoilers:

I had some misgivings about the finale since all of the anime fight scenes have been rather under-welling for me, but I'm glad they turned out to be useless worries. The studio did a very good job with the last battle, mixing enough originality for VN watchers to take enjoyment in while also keeping the key canon material that made the series great untouched (And no Phantoms going through a hail of bullets like they were supermen, they actually have to take cover! ). Of partical note, I'm glad that the Schwestern weren't watered down and were actually portrayed as a reasonable threat. Though I would have prefered Sycthe crawling on the ground clinging to life before Ein shot him.

About the last scene, I think it's pretty obvious the studio was hinting that both Ein and Zwei died in the end, and I have mixed feelings about that. On one hand, all lights were green for the studio to simply follow a pure "Cerulean Sky" ending without attaching the unnecessary final minutes of the show, at least more fans would have been pleased given the alternative that was presented. But at the same time, I personally don't mind the attempt at an AO ending since it's something new and fresh, even though it was either going to be a hit or miss for the fans (more misses based on the posts so far).

Perhaps my opinion will change once a translation on what McGuire is saying near the end, but looking back on the series as a whole, it isn't suprising that the series ended on this type of note. Not something I particularly like, but it was appropriate enough.