I'm coming back to this now that I'm back from the beach.
the future we had hoped for
I just realized that Media Player Classic has an option to jump to "Act 2", i.e. after the eyecatch. I no longer need to put "video time" into there for my reference.
Episode 4 Act 2
We cut back to Haruka and Ayato, and Ayato is complaining about something the outside world people are making Ayato do in order to get accustomed to it. Ayato complains about the outside world people being pushy and having a sort of sense of superiority over him, and for evidence shows a newspaper scan of "Tokyo Jupiter / Possible Nuclear Attack Plans" and how, at the very least, the people writing the newspaper don't think of the people behind Tokyo Jupiter as actually being human. Technically, Ayato isn't human, but that's a different story—also, the screen apparently has a scan of the newspaper on the computer screen, which is kind of odd, considering that nowadays newspapers have websites. Next, we cut to a computer screen or something showing DNA labeled "Ayato Kamina" and "W_01". They know about his Mulian blood. We cut back to Ayato and Haruka, and they talk a bit more about that until a voice calls out to Haruka to come to the bridge. After she leaves the room Ayato is in, the circular drum the door was on rotates, preventing her from coming back in. We get exposition about how it's an anti-Mulian detention room, and Haruka passionately pleas to not have him under these circumstances. As there's more debate, Quon comes in carrying the cat. She says something confusing, which surprises the commander.
We cut to a submarine, whose commander has a shocked look on his face. Apparently there's an enemy coming. It's a D-1, whatever that means. I suspect that Mu/Tokyo Jupiter is attacking them. My suspicions are confirmed, and permission is granted to use the warheads on the ship—they really want the D-1 dead. I also suspect that the RahXephon will end up being called out to fight—in mecha shows, mecha seem to have this mysterious resistance to weapons that aren't mecha. The TERRA submarine launches all its torpedoes at the Mulian one, but they end up having no effect. The Mulian submarine ends up coming out of the water(and now we can see that it actually more resembles a squid), carrying the TERRA submarine, which it then crushes. It looks very biological, much like the dolems we've seen earlier. Is this a dolem?
The probably-dolem crosses some imaginary alert circle on their map and they activate another defense system, which predictably has absolutely no effect on the D-1. We see it again close up and now I'm pretty sure it's a dolem. We cut to Elvy begging to be allowed out there to fight, but since the weapons have been detached, she's not allowed. Next, we cut to some naval-officer-looking guy commanding to deploy the "Eidolon". Does this mean we'll be seeing Tor's mech? Actually, it appears to just be a bunch of highly maneuverable UAVs. Unfortunately, this will probably just be another failure, as a setup for the scene in which Ayato is finally let out as a final line of defense and the RahXephon destroys the dolem. Actually, it appears that the Eidolons have managed to hit the dolem enough that it had to sink into the water. This genuinely surprised me. The part where, from underwater, it cut the Eidolons in half, didn't. Oh, and we also got some more nonsense from Quon. For its next attack, the dolem dives so deeply that it can't be seen on radar, only to rise up right underneath the base. This causes a bunch of damage. It then lets out tentacles throughout the base, some of them headed for Quon, but then Quon backs away. Ayato realizes that he's been locked in, and starts banging on the door for Haruka. He starts yelling profanities and ranting now, but then, suddenly, a drop of water. "To hell with the correct time!" We then see a shot of digital clocks and some other stuff, and then, outside, the RahXephon starts moving. Remote piloting?
The RahXephon breaks the chains holding it onto the boat, and starts singing. Then, suddenly, Quon's eyes turn from blue to red. The RahXephon quickly moves over to the base, and right up next to the other dolem. Haruka thinks it's coming for Ayato. The other dolem removes its tentacles, probably to prepare for RahXephon's inevitable attack on it. We then see Quon looking at Ayato looking at Mishima. As Mishima turns to see Ayato, Ayato's eyes turn red. Mishima and Ayato touch hands, and then we fade to white and cut to RahXephon's eyes opening and turning red. I think Ayato is in control now. We then learn that Ayato has completely disappeared from the detention room, meaning that he's probably been teleported into the RahXephon. The RahXephon then grabs the squid dolem and starts going straight up. The squid dolem wraps its tentacles around RahXephon but our hero's mecha is too powerful for this minor mook dolem, and tears off the tentacles and then tears it in two. The two pieces explode, and we probably get to see another pilot die. Also, a ridiculous amount of blue blood falls onto the base.
Next, we see the guy who launched the Eidolons getting mad at the commander. He gets turned off. Then, we see the RahXephon descending into a pool of water. Some dude with glasses says "Welcome back, Ollin."
So now I know who the combatants are. I don't know who to root for yet though, or what the fuck is up with Mishima.
the future we had hoped for
D-1 is Terra's reporting code for Dolem. This one is called Grave (as in the musical term, not the english word).
Ayato has been identified as a half-mulian hybrid in this episode, having the MU phase but red blood.
There's another point I want to make but I think that the key scene is at the start of the next episode, so I'll wait a bit.
Was?
Huh this makes me wonder about Mulian genetics. The way Ayato is it gives the impression that all Mulians are effectively humans who just need to hit a trigger in their development. I mean this makes sense considering Ayato's mother used a human as his father. And then there are Mulian hosts lie Asahina or Superchunky Mamoru who have their bodies reconfigured to host a Mu. But that is up for debate since we see like three pureblooded Mulians throughout the show.
Also the character's page is missing a stub for Helena. Must fix that.
Taller than Zim
I don't think Maya was *ever* human. (at least not entirely) Remember she and her sister appeared out of nowhere.
We know Ayato is half-human, at the very least, since he's a test-tube baby created from the one-eyed Terra engineer and Quon)
edited 2nd Aug '10 9:52:58 AM by Arilou
"No, the Singularity will not happen. Computation is hard." -Happy Ent
Alkthash, you're pretty close to how the movie plays things, but that's one of the differences between the movie and the series.
I'm generally assuming that the Mulian are an alternate-universe species that is distinct from(copper-based blood or whatever) but sexually compatible with humans. Of course, considering how such things tend to work in real life now I'm wondering if Ayato is sterile.
the future we had hoped for
Taller than Zim
No :p
EDIT: Next ep. pretty much sets up the Status Quo for quite a while. (and introducing a couple new characters)
edited 2nd Aug '10 4:24:05 PM by Arilou
"No, the Singularity will not happen. Computation is hard." -Happy Ent
Taller than Zim
...
"No, the Singularity will not happen. Computation is hard." -Happy Ent
Sorry, forgot about this for a bit. Forgetfulness is a problem I often have. I will try to make a new one of these soon.
the future we had hoped for
Episode 5 act 1
So we get "Hemisphere" back this episode. We start up back in a TERRA command center talking about Grave's destruction. They don't really tell us anything we don't know, except that they can't stop the luminescent or petrification phenomena. Something related to dolem decomposition? Also, I notice that the term "OOPART" keeps coming up with reference to the Xephon. I decided to look it up and found out that it's an actual term
, which surprised me. They continue to discuss how useful the Xephon is to fighting the Mulians, and some more blather about committee meetings and politics, and the white-haired jerk mentions Kunugi being synched to the Xephon or something. I can't even remember who Kunugi is—to be honest, I'm not entirely sure which TERRA head honcho is which, as none of them have done anything particularly distinctive from each other yet.
We next cut to Ayato in some sort of medical scanning thing, with some markings probably related to the RahXephon on his chest. A scientist with glasses and that one giant bang on the side that I saw in the intro makes some comments about it being similar, and we then get to see that Quon also has some markings on her chest, which are somewhat similar.
"Fifth Movement: On Earth as it is in Heaven / Nirai-Kanai" Now, I wasn't sure what "Nirai-Kanai" was so I threw it into WWWJDIC * and got the following: ニライカナイ;にらいかない /(n) paradise across the ocean (folk belief of Okinawa & Amami)/, and since the katakana on the title card match the ones JDIC gave for that, I'm guessing that this is what the title is referencing.
We then get to see Ayato in a fancy room provided for by TERRA, and then the electronic lock on his door is opened, and a young, enthusiastic military officer opens the door. We see the fact that Ayato hasn't eaten his food, which worries the officer. We then get to see pretty much everyone else on the base surprised, and then we see the officer and Ayato coming in, with Ayato noticeably pissed. The commander tells Ayato that he's physically healthy and that his home, at least for now, has been decided on. He tells Haruka to take him there, but Ayato refuses to let her touch him. The scientist from earlier comes in and says he'll take him instead. He says that he's "not one of these people", and takes him, without Ayato protesting. We see Haruka, who is quite sad about this turn of events. Also, throughout this whole thing, one girl with brown hair and one with pink hair have been gossiping about it. Then, the officer who called Ayato from his room calls over the pink-haired girl, who is apparently named Megumi. He tells her a secret—probably something about Haruka—which causes her to scream out "Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhh?"
The TERRA base makes me think of a pyramid. This is probably deliberate. We then see Ayato and the scientist whose name hasn't been given on a train of some sort, and the scientist rambles about how Ayato is quiet and the Mu's song and such. As they get off the train, they see Quon. Apparently, this scientist is Quon's brother, or at least Quon calls him "nii-sama", which usually means that but in Japanese it sometimes doesn't so I'm not 100% sure. They then get onto a boat, and Quon's brother mentions that they are headed towards Nirai-Kanai. Ayato asks about the whole "Okinawan paradise" bit I found—apparently, Nirai-Kanai is named because Nirai is the name of the island, and the artificial structure designed for investigating the ruins on the island is called Kanai City. If I knew more about Okinawan religion I'd probably be better able to appreciate the deeper aspects of the religious references it almost certainly implies. Quon's brother basically keeps rambling on about cherry trees and such.
We then get to see Ayato with very, very red cheeks. We then cut to a lady, zooming out from her boobs. I'm guessing those are what Ayato is staring at. Also, she's wearing a shade of yellow that I think I saw on Mishima. Where did she go, anyways? Either way, the lady's name is Sayoko and she is one of Quon's brother's research assistants—Quon's brother is apparently a researcher on the Mulian music. Relatedly, Quon's verbal tic is transcribed by the subtitles as "Ra-ra". I'm thinking that it might actually be more accurate to translate it as "la-la", which is more apropos to the musical theme that has been set up on the show.
We then cut to Elvy and Haruka discussing Ayato. Elvy disparagingly calls Ayato Haruka's "puppet", and also suggests that she act like "a good woman" towards him. We then cut to the young TERRA officer talking about the petrification again, and how in order to stop it they'll have to get him to open up his heart, and then they eyecatch.
Is it just me or are my liveblog entries getting somewhat shorter?
the future we had hoped for
Taller than Zim
The first eps are very... Dense. It slows down a bit now for a while (or at least seems to do so) I suspect that doing one ep ata time rathr than half-ep is doable.
EDIT: And Kunugi is the black-haired older man who's the Terra Boss. He's kind of Bad Ass.
edited 9th Aug '10 3:45:16 AM by Arilou
"No, the Singularity will not happen. Computation is hard." -Happy Ent
There are a lot of new character introductions this eposode, annd you may have missed a few names earlier. For clarity, this is the list so far (order as in the original Japanese, though in some cases western characters may be using western order): Commander Kunuugi Jun is the commander of the base. His protoge and second is Souchi Yamuko, who seems to be not much older than Ayato (ignoring time dilation issues). Megumi is one of the bridge bunnies. Dr Kisaragi Itsuki is the one Kisaragi Quon is calling her brother, and his assistant is Sayoko Nanamori. From laast episode there is the White Snake (Makoto Isshiki). There's another new character introduced in the second half of the episode as well.
I suspect that the reson your liveblog was a bit shorter this episode half is that this episode is mainly about introducing new characters, a new environment and some elements of character development, which makes it rather more sedate than the previous episode.
The luminescent/petrification phenomenon is asically saying that the Rah Xeophon is slowly turning to stone (glowing at the edge of the transformation) and they have no idea how to stop it. Presumably this is because Ayato is sulking and refusing his food somehow? Using the term OOPART is a probably shout-out to Brave Reideen, one of the inspirations for Rah Xephon. (Reideen was the first mystically-powered Humungous Mecha, and fought the invaders from Mu.)
Recall how last episode Jun got Isshiki to waive all demands on Ayato? That now seems like a deliberate ploy - let the guy take Rah Xephon but keep the pilot who can call the Mecha back at will. At least, that's how it seems to me - implying that Jun knows that Ayato and Rah Xephon are linked, possibly better than Ayato himself.
Oh, and the cherry blossom talk pays off later in the episode.
edited 9th Aug '10 4:06:34 AM by hollow49
Episode 5 act 2
We're at a building, but you can see the pyramid structure in the background. Quon apparently has something for Ayato, and tells him not to block the holes in the container. I'm guessing something living is in there. Ayato, in the car with Itsuki and Sayoko, makes a comment comparing himself to a concentration camp victim—Itsuki responds with a bunch of praise for the island. Eventually, the car stops near a very steep road with a house near the top. We then get to see Megumi walking on the road. Apparently Ayato will be living with her, or rather, her uncle's house next door to hers. Furthermore, her Tsundere levels are off the charts. I'm starting to dislike her already. Itsuki then makes a snarky comment about "the couple", which makes my opinion of him go up even more.
We then get to see Ayato and Megumi inside the house, with Ayato continuing to refuse food. Megumi's uncle tells Ayato to treat it just like visiting relatives, but Ayato comments that he hasn't ever visited relatives, probably because his relatives on his mother's side of the family are probably all in an alternate dimension. The uncle then tells Megumi to show Ayato around. She protests(with that "Eeeeeeeeeeeh" noise again), but ends up doing it anyways. We then get to see that Ayato is interested in the windmills. More of Megumi being obnoxiously tsundere, where she tells him that he can't leave just because of a fight with her, then it starts raining so the two start running to find shelter. Megumi buys a ramune, which is according to Wikipedia a soft drink, and asks if Ayato wants one, but Ayato doesn't have non-Tokyo Jupiter money—you'd think TERRA would give him a stipend or something. More tsundereness from Megumi, and then some passersby mock Megumi with "The school-phobic girl is on a date!" I'm guessing that something TERRA-related is keeping Megumi out of school or something. Ayato asks, thus triggering even more tsundereness from Megumi. I'm sick of her already.
Next, we get Ayato opening the suitcase Quon gave him, which contains a bunch of really ugly clothes and the cat. The cat starts to run away. Then, we see Elvy being generally drunken while being carried by Haruka, but then the cat comes out, and Haruka drops Elvy and picks up the kitty. So apparently Haruka is Megumi's sister. Next, we cut to Elvy rudely asking Megumi for more beer, and Ayato has finally eaten something. We then get Elvy creepily hitting on Ayato using aircraft metaphors and Gratuitous English, but luckily the uncle pulls him away from the incredibly drunk Elvy by asking for a "favor". The uncle tells Ayato the standard Golden Rule(don't do onto others what you don't want done to yourself, great advice unless you're a masochist) and tells him to hang a plate with his name on it onto the front of the building. Next, we see someone else in the room with the RahXephon(which seems to not be petrified) saying that sending annoying tsundere was a good idea. And then we see Megumi looking at a photo of all the TERRA people, with Ayato looking outside and doing the picture-frame thing around Megumi's window(he had previously done it with the sky in the scene with Megumi showing Ayato around and being annoyingly tsundere), which gets Megumi mad and makes her close the blinds.
Next, we get the uncle taking a call from Kunugi, which seems to be just to check up on him but in a show like this probably involves something ominous. Next, we get to see Quon playing piano. Itsuki comes in, and Quon asks him to comb her hair, which for some reason is a reason for her to strip, and near her "brother". Itsuki then makes an important comment about the cherry trees: it's said that cherry blossoms get their red color from a human body buried under it. The cherry blossoms in Commander Kunugi's yard are blue. The implication is fairly obvious.
And yeah, this one is shorter than usual probably because it's less...eventful than the previous episodes. I'm guessing it'll pick up soon.
edited 9th Aug '10 11:15:33 PM by Ponicalica
the future we had hoped for
Was?
Huh, I found Megumi to be more relaxed than most tsunderes. I just figured she is acting like a teenager who is being forced to do a job she dislikes(following Ayato around).
As for the blue cherry blossoms, that line alone is probably the source of Kunugi's memetic badassery.
edited 9th Aug '10 11:32:07 PM by Alkthash
I think I probably just don't like the character archetype.
And yes, the blue cherry blossoms are badass.
the future we had hoped for
Taller than Zim
There's pretty much not ONE aspect of this episode that won't look totally different once you start getting more info.
EDIT: Incidentally I love Megumi's "EEEEHHHHHH!!!???" sound, and her face while she makes it.
edited 10th Aug '10 4:23:26 PM by Arilou
"No, the Singularity will not happen. Computation is hard." -Happy Ent
null
That always reminded me of "EEEEEEHHHHHHHH? MAJI?" when I heard it. Damn you, IOSYS.
There's no space in the name.
What do you guys think of the pace of my livebloggening? Am I going too fast? Too slow?
Episode 6 Act 1
We start out looking at some hedges cut into the shape of a star. I think we're back in Japan. Everyone seems to be calm and enjoying their totally-not-Starbucks-I-swear coffee when everything just suddenly goes dark. I'm guessing we're looking at the start of Tokyo Jupiter? The coffee cup ends up falling on the floor, and the lady drinking it goes down to pick it up, but it falls into the ground, which is now glowing white.
"Sixth Movement : Lost Songs Forgotten Memories / Obliterated Cities" So this is probably the flashback episode.
Except that we then go back to a boat, and one of the Bridge Bunnies from earlier(the one that's not Megumi) remove what looks like one of those paper thermometers or something from an MP 3 player that actually looks bigger than the ones we have today, but is still less ridiculous than Shinji's tape player. We then see Ayato and Megumi arguing about...something. Soy sauce on fried shrimp, apparently. The other bridge bunny comes down to see Ayato and Megumi, and we learn that her name is Kim, that she basically knows everything about Ayato that someone like her would be able to know, and that Ayato has absolutely no plans to pilot RahXephon again. Haha, like that ever works.
We hear a news report about the Mu that quickly goes to a press conference with the eyepatch-wearing(or is that just a teleprompter) TERRA director Shirow Watari *. Kunugi is next to him. After a few boilerplate questions with boilerplate answers, we see a reporter(who I think I've seen in one of Nyktos's avatars) asking about the ship that went into Nirai-Kanai and came out as empty as it came in. I think he's talking about the one that was going to carry the RahXephon but for obvious reasons wasn't taking it far. Watari makes a joke about a weapon so secret even he doesn't know about it, and the characters, who are watching, make a few political comments, but then there's an alarm. We then see buildings and the like cleaved in two due to a giant keyhole symbol being cut into the ground. Also, because Kunugi is with Watari, Souichi is being left to run the base.
We cut to Itsuki briefing the base about the "D-1 aria", confirming that this is a dolem attack, and the same type of dolem that attacked Australia fourteen years ago. Haruka then starts talking about the dolem attack on Australia, which killed six million people. Ayato seems absolutely thrilled with that idea, because until recently he believed that the world's population was twenty-three million. He seems way too happy about that. He then makes a comment calling the dolems the monsters he fought, which pisses off Kim and gets him into an argument with her. It gets heated enough that Itsuki kicks them out of the briefing room. Oh, and the camera keeps randomly going to Quon during this part. Megumi then tells Ayato that Kim's parents died in the Australia attack and that's why she got so mad. Next, we see Kim appealing to Souichi to let her work against the Mu this time, which Souichi decides against because Kim is too personally involved, when suddenly Itsuki comes in and gives Megumi a recording of the dolem aria to give to the intelligence division.
We see some shadowed figures talking in front of some golden artifact which looks Mesoamerican in appearance, talking about "forty years" and such. But since I don't know what they're talking about, it doesn't really help. We then see that the three figures are Kunugi, Watari, and someone named "Lord Baehbem". Apparently, the RahXephon has been approved for use only in emergencies, which basically means that it's coming out every time a dolem attacks. Next, we see flashbacks to Kim losing her parents in the Australia dolem attacks, interspersed with her in the present. Suddenly, Quon asks why she's crying, and if she can listen to her music player. It turns out that Kim stole the dolem aria and was listening to it. When Quon listens to it, it causes her to start talking incomprehensibly again.
Next, we see Ayato dropping into the RahXephon's cockpit. Basically, he's doing things in order to test, with Itsuki and Sayoko outside checking things. Then, we get a conversation between Itsuki and Sayoko in which Itsuki basically confirms that he's lying by omission to Ayato, presumably about the fact that he will be called to fight again, despite him not wanting to. And the eyecatch.
the future we had hoped for
Taller than Zim
Itsuki is lying by omission about a lot of things :p
Heck, just about everyone is.
"No, the Singularity will not happen. Computation is hard." -Happy Ent
Episode 6 Act 2
We start out with Kim walking out of the shower. Her phone has a voicemail on it. It's from Megumi, saying that if something happens, call her. She claims that she's being "a good girl", and opens a wooden box. We then flash back to a news story about the dolem attack on Australia, and Kim's foster parents complaining about the fact that they'll now have to raise her permanently. And then someone opens the door, and says "It's from Australia", and brings the wooden box that Kim still has. Young Kim opens it to reveal a music box with a picture of her parents, telling them they'll bring souvenirs and to be a good girl. This is a sad scene. Kim comments about it being their last message, and then suddenly remembers Quon's message.
Kim suddenly realizes exactly what the dolem's plans are. She then draws the curved line that represents the dolem aria and realizes that it actually represents the path the dolem takes. Next, Kim goes up to Souichi and explains her reasoning. Souichi at first complains about various things that he says the USDF would complain about, but since he's in charge, he goes ahead with it immediately, as he knows that in a TV show, the plans that derive from a sudden revelation like that always work. Kim then kisses Souichi, and then a few lines that are but a segue into the next scene.
Next, we see a row in tanks in the Dolem's next predicted location. We see Elvy and Haruka chatting about how odd it is that they've suddenly decided to come here, and that Haruka is even there when she's an intelligence officer—it's because of Ayato. Do they also know that the RahXephon is inevitably going to be deployed against the dolem? Next, we see Megumi pouring water(?) for Souichi, discussing how Souichi convinced the USDF, but then the dolem finally appears. We see the tanks trying to fire at it and failing, and then the dolem unleashes its attack—it causes the ground to glow and the tanks and such to sink into the ground. Ouch.
But then, the RahXephon comes down in order to attack it, but it evades, and then it unleashes its song, which causes the RahXephon to be launched into the sky. After it lands, the dolem starts beating up on the RahXephon, which gets Ayato pissed and he quickly starts to beat up on the dolem. "Take this! Take this! Take this!" But then, suddenly, we hear the voice of Mishima Reika asking if he wants revenge(speaking of which, where is she?) and the dolem starts its song up again, which causes auroras in the sky and all the lights in the buildings, which were previously off, to turn on. The RahXephon's cockpit starts getting covered in blackness as the mech itself sinks into the ground. "RahXephon is sinking into phase space!" Okay, minor physics digression: phase space is just a mathematical abstraction putting momentum and position in the same coordinate system. You can't sink into phase space. Then again, it's not like this kind of show is trying to be accurate with respect to quantum physics, but I just have to say.
As the RahXephon sinks further into the ground, it tries to grab onto a power line but fails, and Kim suddenly remembers a scene from earlier in the day: she notices Ayato's drawing notebook is empty—he wanted to draw, but couldn't. Kim then asks why Ayato decided to change his mind and pilot the RahXephon again. His response is that he's doing it because he can pilot it. We then see his notebook on the ground, opened on a sketch of Mishima. Suddenly, with only one hand above the blackness, Ayato manages to open his eyes inside the blackness and sees—Mishima! Suddenly, he latches his hand onto her, and she pulls him out. Outside the mecha, we suddenly see the RahXephon's wings emerge from the ground, and then it flies out. Then, powered by Ayato's newfound strength, he grabs onto the dolem and throws it into the air. The dolem tries to charge at the RahXephon, but when it collides, Ayato's mech remains stable on the ground, and the dolem is shattered to pieces, releasing a huge cloud of blue blood.
Next, we see Watari and Kunugi discussing the success of the operation for a bit. Apparently, during the previous dolem attacks, they didn't have on-site decision making. (More importantly, they didn't have RahXephon.) Kim then starts vaccuuming her room, and has a present on her bed. Apparently she wrote a thank-you note to Ayato in his notebook. We then get Kim remembering her past again. "Happy nineteenth", which I suppose is some Japanese culture thing I don't know about. She then destroys whatever it was that contained the dolem aria. And the ending.
Hmm. I think it's at this point that the show is starting to move into the "main sequence", so to say.
the future we had hoped for
Was?
But then, suddenly, we hear the voice of Mishima Reika asking if he wants revenge(speaking of which, where is she?)She was in the Rah Xephon with Ayato. It has a habit of teleporting people inside you know.
In the spirit of the show I've decided to answer Ponicalica's questions in obtuse ways whilst omitting things, but not out and out lying.
edited 12th Aug '10 11:42:46 PM by Alkthash
Taller than Zim
Yep, the next few eps will be supporting-cast focsed while at the same time developing Ayato a bit. This one isn't really one of my favourites, but it's well enough done p.
"No, the Singularity will not happen. Computation is hard." -Happy Ent
For the record, the scene with the name-plate for Ayato to hang up outside the house is a Japanese cultural thing - according to the DVD liner notes, the names of the permanent residents of a house are displayed in that manner, so Rikudoh was basically showing Ayato that he was more than just a guest in the house. notice that Rikudoh appears to be a calligraphy artist, down to making his ink from a solid block with a stone in the traditional Japanese manner.
Moving on to episode 6, this was clearly Kim Hotal's big episode, but also the one where Ayato has established himself as a pilot (or "Instrumentalist" in this show's parlance). Ritardando, the Dolem of the week, had previously been glimpsed in the antechamber to the Room of Rah (the pharonic head on a pillar that Ayato noticed). The mysterious apparition of Mishima leaves it ambiguous whether she is really there, communicating remotely, a ghost, a delusion of Ayato's or something else entirely. (You may have your own theories on this either now or in a few more episode's time - please do share any ideas you may have; it'd be interesting to see what you might come up with.)
The movie isn't bad as such, but it simplified the story by taking one of the plot threads and promoting it to centre stage, and chopped and changed all manner of details and the personalities and roles of lesser characters to do so. It seems jarring to someone who watched the TV series to have Quon play Sleeping Beauty throughout the film, or to have Mishima Reika practically non-existent (and her biggest secret revealed before she appears). I much prefer the TV series as well.