Taeko: wolves are better than people. ’nuff said.
- In the last episode, we met three genetically engineered high school girls serving in the army whose mission is to rescue people from the disaster-striken capital.
- Summary of Episode Two: the team meets a father who enlists their help in finding his child. They soon meet the mother as well, and learn more of their background and why and how they stayed in the underground shelter they call home. While Ibara and Taeko are investigating the horse racetrack-turned-cemetary, where the girl might have gone, the mother escapes. Suspicions mount as they realize the father has disappeared as well. They soon find the mother and the girl hiding in an abandoned hotel; leading to a stand-off. However, the building collapses, and Ibara is only able to save the child. In the meantime the father goes to the racetrack only to be overcome by contamination; refusing to be rescued, he dies shortly afterwards.
- My impressions: I both liked and disliked some aspects of this episode. Let’s start with what left a good impression.
- The events that took place before the start of the story were explained in more detail. Some of my doubts I wrote about in last episode’s post were resolved (like, how can people sustain themselves in this environment). But the answers given in this episode raised even more questions. For example, where did they get their hazmat suits (especially the girl’s suit)? Why is there a delivery truck making rounds every week? I think it’s a good thing if an episode not only provides answers but new food for thought, as it keeps the viewers interested in the show.
- This episode was also a feast for my eyes, although I’m a bit spoiled after the first episode. The art style – outlining at most two characters in one scene who are ‘in focus’ – needs a while to get used to, but it’s not distracting.
- The three girls have different enough personalities to make the chemistry among them work. It was funny to see Aoki’s expression when Taeko talked about the wolf on the ground like a person.
Just look at her throwing a fit…
I also liked that although Ibara seems the tough leader, she’s not without emotions; she manages to convince the mother to release Miku near the end of the episode. I wonder how much of that crying was an act though…Taeko, while seemingly a nice person, can do combat and disarms the father holding her hostage. Aoki, seen previously as overly focused on food, converses with the mother. What I’m trying to say is that they are not just stereotypes, but seem to have real personalities. I hope future episodes will show more of this.
- Expanding on the ‘puppet’ theme I noticed last week, we are given an explanation why they are called Coppelion. And what do you know, there really was a stage play about Dr. Coppelius, and it’s not just something the writers came up with.
I bet the original ballet didn’t look as creepy as this.
- I did not like the father’s character. I could somewhat relate to the mother’s (or as it turns out, stepmother’s) character, but the father’s constant whining that someone should save his daughter a bit annoying. I mean it’s his fault in the first place that Miku ran away; he should’ve kept an eye on her. But instead of doing that, he ends up wandering on the streets, taking Taeko hostage. Besides that, if he really wants to take care of his daughter, he shouldn’t have wandered into the horse field as Ibara told him it’s too dangerous; he should’ve held on and fought for his life at the end, not just give up. What kind of parent thinks that by him dying, his children will have a chance at a better life?
Would you please man up already?
- Lazy writing is back. The hotel collapsing at just the right moment was really cheesy and cliché for me. Also, the chopper’s pilot complaining that the rotors will hit the building when he’s a hundred metres away in the air? Give me a break. On the other hand, some elements, like the crazy scientist with the hazmat suit will presumably crop up in later episodes as well, it’s just that they are introduced now. So the writing is not bad per se, just a bit lazy. Now I didn’t research whether this show is based on a manga, novel or is it an anime original, as I didn’t want to be biased, so it could be that the original work has the same issues as well.
- I don’t want to sound too negative here. It’s not that I disliked this episode, just that some things left a not too stellar impression on what would be an otherwise excellent show.
