Minto no Ie

Well, there was a dive in the quality of the animation this episode. I think the only scene were the animation was superb was that one scene with Tear and Luke (and Mieu). I thought the character development all in all is going in a natural pace, even though the game still had it way better. I guess having to cramp everything hurts it more since they have to skip so much that the change in scenes looks awful… but, I like how there seems to be an effort to emphasize character traits, even though about a million of them are being introduced at once. Peony, of course, was as goofy as ever. (more…)

Well, I’m starting to appreciate this series again, which is a real relief. For one thing, they actually dedicated one whole episode to Jade’s past, which was (I think) a lot more than the game gave. Of course, there were any cool flashback scenes in the game, as far as I recall. It was just talking. This was kind of cool, since they actually gave Nebilim some character. By the way, her ‘failed replica’ was the most difficult enemy in the game. You know, the optional boss who is way more powerful than the game’s last boss and gives you awesome loot. (more…)

Good episode, even though it’s still awkward to see the transition between the scenes (which I can’t blame the animation crew for - you really can’t waste five minutes on them just running around a place). What I loved about this is episode is Luke’s apparent transformation. The way he battled that guard was just… so awesome. The animation was great, and he really seems like he’s grown a lot, huh? I also feel his pain because everyone’s (except Guy’s) had an expression that basically went, “Asch? Oh. It’s Luke.” with all the disgust, and Luke no longer lashes out at them. He obviously regrets what he’s done, and Tear is correct, it’s going to take some time for people to start forgiving him. (more…)

What I liked about this episode is that they actually showed more back story to Ash’s whole ‘he took my life’ story. In the game, I remember just thinking about how much of a brat he was because he could’ve just come back and told everyone the truth. I had no idea he was actually thrown out and all, now that must’ve hurt. Anyway, the scene where Luke cuts his hair was okay, but I liked the game version more. I was expecting the scene (here’s a link to youtube, for those who haven’t seen it) to have that nice background music that the game had, but that didn’t happen. I guess it would’ve been too weird for the anime to follow everything though, so I understand. (more…)

Aaaand, Luke gets what was coming for him. I’m actually surprised they put so much in one episode, but I’m not complaining. I just thought they’d stretch the first half (the fall of the mining town) into one whole episode, because so far, the pacing has been like that - really slow and strange. I’m kind of happy they put so much, even if the climax suddenly dove in the second half of the episode. (more…)