(L) Innocent Venus

[Guido]

When I first learn of Innocent Venus way back in May I chose to try the series out since been a while not having seen a sci-fi drama.

The plot is revolves around the characters of Jo and Sana with Jin as the driving agent who partly was responsible to change their views about the world.

Toraji helped too providing moral support regarding needs and choices to be made to undertake action.

A motif recurrent in the story delves in respect with the foolish side of humanity who bets everything for power, and thus in the end becomes architect of its own destruction.
At the same time, I believe at least for myself that Innocent Venus tells us that some day in any matter possible humanity itself will surpass technology and come to realise the importance of contact and touch with each other, a.k.a. relationship.

I personally approved use of cel-shaded animation for Gladiators, as their complexity enriched what capabilities those machines can physically manifest the limitations and potentials of their pilots.

Sana and Jo admirably gained my sympathy and respect growing-up as persons developing different types of tribulations and attachments. Sana was at the beginning this cute, lolita, pre-teen who naively judged people from the looks of their actions either good or evil.
Indeed, Jin's betrayal came disastrous for her, but Jo's unconditional desire to give her company, woke her up to snap her senses and understand she was never alone; she just thought to be so.
At the end fully confronting the insanity with which her children were trapped within, she learns through contact with them that people need to give and receive love to open themselves.
Jo, on the other hand, did not feel affinity to look for companionship nor he had attachments for the world. I think that what Jin meant hating Jo for was that the latter had no feelings toward anyone and anything in particular that bound him to the world. That detachment may or may not be what Jin view as the necessary trigger to earn power. He was jealous that Jo had no particular care towards everything and more disgusted that due to that disinterest, power meant nothing for Jo.
But the turning point where Jin consumes himself in his path to power excusing his actions through revenge for his father's death leading with Sana getting hurted, timely and steadily sparked Jo's reconnection with other people's welfare.

Afterwards, Jin's betrayal boosts on Jo a sense of appreciation toward the world. A desire to look for someone important; Jo chooses for himself to become Sana's guardian angel and staying by her side.
With these events confronted and surpassed, Jo opens and for the first time the audience can look through his manifested emotions, his unearthed self. A wish to have an attachment and a contact with another person: Sana.

Regrettably, the end came for Jin, but maybe not everything was lost on him. If at the verge of death he stretched his hand to reach for Jo, likely to be near his partner and the only person closest to him to call a friend.
I do agree that Jin's machinations and betrayal are not forgiveable, but he poorly became a lost soul who misguided his path for power.

He made a mistake choosing to forsake his own humanity, but what he experienced inside the Gladiator for those last moments slapped on his face to witness the horror of what others did to the children. And with his death approaching closer, he longed for the slightest trace of human contact- which was granted to him by Jo shedding one of his tears for his fallen comrade.

The confrontation with Drake was a let down for me, but it is understandable since Drake amassed this tremendous power to turn the table against everyone. Ironic, how Toraji mentioned that tyrants are brought down, because that what happened to Drake.
He was shaken off his high throne at the peak of his glory gloating, and the hard fall felt an aftershock for him to witness that the Gladiator he made to acquire the power, that very same machine he and his team at the expense of human lives and through unscrupolous politics helped to construct, it suddenly turned against him, and Drake was stripped off his power.
His lame death for a pathetic guy like him came and went to remove a boulder out of the way. He abused the power and turned against him.

At least, Toraji did wasted Drake and got screentime to show-off how a Demon of a fighter he was when at Phantom. His swordsmanship to dispose a whole platoon of soldiers and testament of his piloting just to obliterate an entire force of Gladiators and Heavy Warriors singlehandedly made me speechless.

He's way royally cool with the katana than Touka is.

What we have at the end.
The gap betwen Levinas and Logo would be mended in time to reconstruct Japanese society in a conscious effort to unite the whole country in order to stand up against the Freedom States.

Jo entrusts Sana's care to Toraji.

Sana and Jo part ways but have this inside feelings that they'll meet again.

Jo's no longer the monosyllabic and automaton guy from the beginning. He turned more like Ryu, the wanderer who goes around the world meeting other people along his travels.
And Sana's still the cutest loli ever, but no more the frail child from the start, but a person growing-up to take her stand.

It was a spectacular title and its first made by BRAIN BASE, and I wished the animation staff would have invested more budget to the script to build more momentum to the storyline, as well as exploring upon Jo's character, but I think that all what we need to learn is found in the CD drama's.

Next week Soukou no Strain, another mecha sci-fi anime, would be taking over the Wednesday's midnight timeslot previously held by Innocent Venus
The thread for it can be found here.

[DrewGSR]

I thought Innocent Venus started out pretty decent, I would say the first 6-8 episodes were pretty decent and had my interest, but it slowly decreased after Jin decided to reveal his true motives. I kinda felt that how it ended seems really rushed. Oh well, I was an anime that i had planned to watch to fill in the gap between the regular shows that i watched and it did its job.

[SilverChakra]

I'm a little disspaointed at the last episode, episode 12. It was as I feared, they rushed to much into one last epsisode, I thin k the neding would have needed some more. And I sitll think there's alot of questions that remains unanswered. Like more about Jin and Jo's background and about the little boys and such..

[Sinestra]

disappointing ending i expected more from all the build up they gave it, the last half of the series started to lag but over all an ok series i would recommend it to other if they have no else to watch

[Dernhelm]

i've got mixed feelings about this, i liked how they resolved Jin's character without overdoing it. (no time for waterfalls, or screaming, just a quiet and sincere tearful farewell. kinda like Now and Then Here and There, when one of the relatively major characters the protagonist was close to suddenly died, just like that.) at least the clearer villain was Drake, and Jin was a "lost soul" misguided by revenge and power. what i found a bit odd though, was that it felt that that arc of the story was dropped too soon, LOL. but it seems there was no other way because that part of the story led to the bigger picture revolving around Drake, the States, the world. at least a few mentions of Jin near the end would have sufficed, but i guess there was already no room for that. (there's always the nagging thought whether Sakurai's condition now has anything to do with this, if the writers decided to change something in the script or what as a result of his actions. i can really tell, Jin's pathetic then should be really close to how Sakurai is feeling now after the sanctions that have been placed on him for his misguided actions.)

so that was what the director was heavily stressing that it was all going to be about Jin's hidden jealousy for Jo, naruhodo. and yes, the scent of anti-American sentiment in the air is heavy, LOL! but it was on the losing side so... well i guess it only proves that there are people in Japan who are disgruntled with American involvement in their country right now, or that at least that sentiment exists.

as with virtually every series that reach completion no matter how good they are, i feel there are still some things that needed explaining. but i guess we can't have it all. ;P


Guido, your conclusion was a great read!

[Triker]

Wow, I've just watched the last episode. I think the ending is good. Everyone's happy. (except Jin) Finally, we see Jo smiles.

For Jin, I really want him to go back into a good guy at the end, but it didn't happen. He is my favorite character. I feel sorry for him. I notice that in most anime when there are 2 main characters which one person has white hair and the other is black. The black hair guy will be hero and get the girl.

Anyway, I really like Toraji and Renee pairing, especially Renee. She is very cute after she changed side. So, if anyone has fanarts of Toraji and Renee, Please please post them here. >_< Or tell me where to get it.

Thanks in advance.

[Skane]

Is it really confirmed that Jin is dead? I mean, it was implied, but they said anything concrete about it. Jo just left his body there. He could just be unconscious for all we know.

Hmm...

[NoSanninWa]

While it is theoretically possible for Jin to be alive, you need to consider it in context of this show. Unlike shows where people mysteriously live through all sorts of injuries, Innocent Venus has consistently killed anyone who got badly injured. If Jin lives it would be inappropriate to the paradigm.

[Skane]

Originally Posted by NoSanninWa

While it is theoretically possible for Jin to be alive, you need to consider it in context of this show. Unlike shows where people mysteriously live through all sorts of injuries, Innocent Venus has consistently killed anyone who got badly injured. If Jin lives it would be inappropriate to the paradigm.

But Jin did not suffer from physical injuries, at least not visible ones. It was only implied that he might have died from fright, which seems kind of sad.

Narf.

[mishka]

I just finished the last ep of Innocent Venus...and I have a Q for those who understood Jin! What was Jin's problem...why did he want to be like Jo...was he in love with Jo?....was he just a lost soul?!

one more thing.....I ABSOLUTELY LOVE this anime...only if it had more episodes....

[mishka]

what happens near the end of EP 9 after Sana and Jo get into the life boat? The player stops playing that ep half way...I'm pissed!

[Dernhelm]

Originally Posted by mishka

I just finished the last ep of Innocent Venus...and I have a Q for those who understood Jin! What was Jin's problem...why did he want to be like Jo...was he in love with Jo?....was he just a lost soul?!

if you go back a few pages, the director of the series reveals that Jin is envious of Jo. i think that was pretty apparent in the last episode when finally Jin confessed to Jo to "why". to spell it out for you, basically Jin was saying that all he wanted was power to avenge his father until he was consumed by this lust for power in that power has become his goal, disreplacing revenge yet fueled by it. then he encounters Jo for the first time and learns that he is a very strong and exceptional fighter. but Jin is dumbfounded by how effortless and indifferent Jo is about it, where he (Jin) has to go through painful lengths to acquire such strength. i guess Jin was jealous that Jo didn't have to sweat at anything compared to him. but LOL, it's a love hate relationship. you gotta give credit to the fact that he was the first partner Jo cared and shed tears for. ^_^
(and i think Jin realized that somewhere along the line. that's why he admitted to loving him along with Sana... it's just too bad that it wasn't enough to turn him from causing more harm.)

bleh, i wish i knew why Jo stuck to Jin, and i mean really stuck to him... i wonder what Jin's offer was or if he did something, because it's almost inconceivable that Jo cared for anyone.

[miloy2k]

finish it juz now.... the ending is predicted.... plus

Spoiler:

it is Similar to the movies Postman .. AND IMO ITS TOO SHORT!!! at least 24-26 epsd (to see the character "fully mature" .. plus when the hell the rebel become so strong plus in short time of period :stars: ....

IMO the only good part for this anime is the Mecha.... the rest so n so...

[strategos]

The series got liscense by ADV.
Cant wait for it to get on DVD ^__^.
I really liked this anime

[mishka]

another season please.....

[strategos]

have there been any news of new season for this series?
The series left like there could be more told about other stuff in the anime history.

[AnimeGirl1990]

I haven't seen this series subbed, but I'm a fan of the dub so far. I've only seen episode 1. I love this anime! My favorite character is Jin! I love Jin, he is so nice, evil, and cute.
But I've been reading all the spoilers you'll have posted the last 16 pages, and I have to say I can't believe Jin is so evil. But I love how he is so evil! From what I heard from your spoilers, Jin is somewhat redeemed, and it's sad the way he died, I really liked Jin. I would have easily forgave him. It makes me sad that he dies, when I see the last episode when Jin dies, I will cry and cry.

[Skyfall]

Just finished watching this, and i can say it is a decent show with an interesting setting and it had good potential. Sadly, it failed to realize that potential to the fullest.

Gigantic cyclones ... ok, since when did we move to Jupiter? Buts thats merely a plot point to make the world post-apocalyptic, so i am not going to dwell on this much.

While the 'little girl being a key element of something' is not exactly the epitome of originality, overall i liked how this cliche element was used here. The 'secret' Sana holds is not something absurdly powerful either and she herself is not prone to sudden super powers or something of the like, so overall i am very pleased with the role Sana plays in the story. Plus her little crush on her prince charming aka Jin was very cute

That leads us to the next character - Jin. I liked him a lot, from the very start. Him having a hidden agenda was not all that surprising, but his character fails in the end, as it seems to be the case with most good guys that turn bad. The change in his personality was so drastic and jarring i find it impossible to connect it to the character we had before he suddenly turned in to an obsessed lunatic. He turned out to be completely evil and borderline insane (evil laugh, anyone?).

As such, i can not believe that all he did up to this point was merely acting. He showed true care towards Sana and seemed to be genuinely 'good'. I find it impossible to believe this as merely acting if his true self is as we see in the end, because that crazed individual would not be capable of acting such levels of genuine care and gentleness for prolonged periods of time. I can understand and accept his agenda, but not the drastic change of personality. It is like the writers needed him to become evil at that point, so ... *snaps fingers* - voila, evil Jin. There were ways to show us him turning more 'evil' as time went on (as a side effect of piloting Gladiator if not anything else), but instead we had an instant transformation to Darth Jin.

Yes, he had his past somewhat explained to us and he told us he envied Jou and what not ... bottom line is - it didn't feel that way through the series. As a rule of thumb for good story telling - Don't tell me, show me. In the end i find Jin a great character, but sadly a somewhat butchered one.

Didn't care much about Jou, as he is a very bland existence. At least his character is consistent and made sense (Though with as simple personality as his, it would have been a crime if they somehow would manage to screw up him as well ).

Gora ... why was this freak in the show anyway ? He seemed so out of place and was so annoying i simply wanted to crawl inside the monitor and strangle him myself. Seriously, this particular character is not exactly far from being an experience-damaging appearance for me.

The power up Jin and Jou underwent with their mecha, as cool as it might be, is completely ridiculous as well. The damn tin can suddenly gains the ability to move faster than eye can see simply because the pilot manage to achieve "full synchronization with the machine"? Please ... -__- The maximum output of the machine should have everything to do with its manufacturing specifications and nothing with the pilot. I could understand the thing becoming more responsive, nimble and what not, but having the ability to move faster than eye can follow is nonsense.

And if the engineers indeed have the ability to build a device capable of propelling that thing at such speeds ... it throws the realism of this universe out the window. Not to mention the mecha decelerating from such a speed to a standstill within a heartbeat (like it happens in the series) should squish the pilot like a rotten tomato.

The Gladiator capable of controlling everything electronic up to 100km radius was not exactly believable either. (Granted, it is not as far fetched as the super speed). Why did the transmitter have to be attached to the back of a mecha anyway? ... Frankly, i think the show would have had a much more satisfying end without immersing in the super-mecha territory, because it heavily contradicted the otherwise realistic setting.

The animation is fairly nice, and i like the somewhat realistic touch with portraying the mechas. The CG utterly fails though - it does not blend well with the drawn art at all and sticks out like a sore thumb. (Check Last Exile for excellent CG usage).

I went in to this without any expectations, and although the show has its downsides i am rather pleased with what i got. Sadly it somewhat fell apart nearing the end, but overall i am satisfied i have watched this.

7/10

[strategos]

According to this: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news...d-print-titles
Innocent Venus is out of the ADV list O_O. Why/? Bad sales?

[strategos]

Are there any threads that are discussing the ADV cancelations of series?