Fate/Zero ended this week, episode 25 being the last one of the series. Jormungand and Accel World both end their current arc with expected conclusions. As for Eureka Seven AO, it shows how crazy anime can be sometimes. And I mean really crazy. I also watched Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker recently and reviewed it.
Jormungand, Episode 12
Not much happened in this episode. Valmet got her revenge, Karen Low goes bunker on her revenge path. Koko and gang beat up the assassins sent after them and we get a weird ending following an all new character taking a plane. I suspect this is part of the next arc and probably about who is trying to get Koko killed by sending all those incompetents after her.
Fate/Zero, Episode 25
The End!
Kiristugu’s last commands probably don’t have the effect he expected. Poor guy, I guess sometimes you can’t win at everything. At least he found Shirou”“ the only survivor of destroying the Grail in a good 2km.
This episode is mostly a wrap-up episode so we get to see all the surviving participants and the characters of the next generation. This means the worms are as ugly as ever and Sakura, what happened to you? She’s all evil now. Poor Kariya, he just wants everybody to be happy, but now people are as sad as ever. Kirei is totally insane. You know, I hate the guy and I knew he wasn’t going to “die.” Well, not in Fate/Zero at least. He and Gilgamesh kind of get re-incarnated here. Not sure why Gil is the only one naked though.
Also, I didn’t expect a funeral in broken English. Not sure why Rin’s father had an English funeral, though; he’s Japanese. Oh, and I’m really pissed off that it was Kirei who was the priest over it. Especially when you think that: a) he killed him, and b) he gave Rin the dagger that killed her father as a gift. The guy is totally depraved. He was smiling when she started crying, too.
Now I need a remake of Fate/Night, a sequel to Fate/Zero. Although Fate/Night is a video game with multiple paths that was released before the Fate/Zero novel was. Fate/Night has been adapted a few years ago by another studio, but it was apparently not as good as the game was. This series had excellent animation and music. Sometimes that would be appreciated in a remake of Fate/Night.
Eureka Seven AO, Episode 11
This starts a bit randomly. Gazelle and his friends are investigating the singer seen in a previous episode, Miller. There is a match between her and Elena People (pink haired otaku in Ao’s squad). We learn a bit about Elena. Like the fact that she was raised in a black cube, the facility for kids who can pilot IFOs from birth. Oh, and she died a few years ago, too. I guess this means the current Elena is a Corallian or something. She has memories of Eureka, another world, a sea of blood and lots and lots of weird things. I think this show will cause brain damage at some point if it continue with this type of plotting. It’s really an Evangelion wannabe.
Besides that, the Pied Piper team is investigating a Scub Coral with all sort of weird thing happening. The coolest is probably Fleur complaining about her dad on the Comm while everybody is listening, including him, about her “interest” in Ao. That was funny. We also get weird stuff about the Tappar taking over people and Goldilocks chasing after imaginary bears. I did say the episode was on crack, didn’t I?
The only thing I think that Eureka fails at is having a cohesive story between episodes. All episodes are self-contained. There’s nothing that hints at what will happen next. So everything felt disjointed and more crazy than it should be. Well, besides Elena; she always seemed crazy to me. Although, apparently this was the last of the “exposition” episode. Hopefully.
Accel World, Episode 12
Woo hoo, Chrome Disaster has a Force Pull move, he also eats avatars for dinner. Haru is scared of him, he’s scared to lose, but mostly of how others will see him in the game if he does. He’s not a really good protagonist. Black Lotus is better, but it might just be because I think like her in this case. I always enjoy dying against big bad monsters in MMOs. Especially in battle royal. Yes, it happens often…
Anyhow, the gang defeats Cherry Rook and go back in the real world. Although, it appears that the Armor of Calamity attached itself to Silver Crow. I guess the drama need to be kept at the maximum. We also learn a bit about Niko here. Like the fact that she is an orphan. Also, despite what was first said, Accel World won’t be a split cour show. It continue next week with from what I understand the most hated character arc in the novels. And guess what, Niko has moved over to Haru’s house. Black Princess won’t be happy.
Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker
I watched this movie recently. Might as well talk about it. It’s game, Dragon Age setting, and anime related (made by Funimation). The main character is Cassandra Pentaghast who was first seen in Dragon Age II interviewing Varric the dwarf about Hawke’s life. The other main character is a Mage, Galyan, who is jovial fellow and a spirit healer. You can already guess that Cassandra hates mages, but that Galyan will soften her up a bit.
In Dawn of the Seeker, we actually meet her after the last act of Dragon Age II, but before we see her interviewing Varric (there’s three years difference between the two). The plot of the movie is rather simple. It also has a dry cut villain and a bit of Orlesian politics (think Game of Thrones). Beside this we learn a bit more about the Seekers, the Chantry and the Templars and get the first look at Val Royaux and Orlais (which is where DAIII will take place, according to the rumors).
I quite liked the animation and art style. It’s a mix of CGI, 2D and cell-shaded images. You can also recognize the Dragon Age art style in it through the armor, clothing, creatures and buildings. The action is a bit over the top in some parts, though. Let’s say that despite being a young Seeker, Cassandra is a total badass with a blade against anything that isn’t an old guy and much better than me (as a player) at killing dragons. She kills three drakes in the anime, using her family ancestral technique. The Pentaghast are renowned as the best dragon hunters in the DA settings. The only thing that pissed me off a bit is how crap the mages are shown. The mages in Dragon Ages are overpowered, but here they look like amateurs. Galayn is probably the best here and he actually says his combat magic is crap.
I think the movie was mostly about fleshing out Cassandra more than anything. We at least get some explanation at her brashness in DAII. The girl is full of anger and extremely impulsive. The developers also mentioned that there is a lot of chance that she will be a major character in DAIII. So I guess they wanted her a bit more in the spotlight.
The anime is worth it for anybody who likes the Dragon Age lore and likes anime. I wouldn’t suggest it to anybody else.