Darker than Black #3 and #4
It would appear that the abilities bestowed on the Dolls and Contractors stem from the same source...incidentally the flowers of Hell's Gate reminded me a lot of the flowers shown in Wolf's Rain. I always saw that as the 'spiritual prequel' to DtB but I suspect the resemblance will end with the aesthetic side of things.
I recall this arc clearly from my first viewing, which ought to indicate what a powerful piece of drama it is. I could remember pretty much all of what happened to Mai but the sight of police officers getting chopped into pieces like so many cuts of meat chilled me to the marrow. Similarly her best friend going up in flames and her final scene with her father had me welling up, even though I knew what was coming.
What is it about something being beyond your control YET SOMEHOW FEELS LIKE YOUR RESPONSIBILITY? Mai's story is so tragic because the events are clear as day but the explanation is still elusive. She has no idea - and neither do we - but that cruel combination of her innocence and the source of devastation clearly lying at her feet gets me. Yes, it's her fault in a physical sense but it's something she neither asked for or knew about...compound this with her lonely home life and the end result is impressive for a mere three quarters of an hour or so of TV.
The idea of mere mortals running up against the insurmountable wall of cold hard reality crops up from the point of view of her father: the neglect, the obsession and everything else that caused her to hate him was ironically because he was trying to save her from becoming a Doll or Contractor; the former being popularly seen as emotionless excuses for human beings and the latter being generally feared and hated by everyone.
The dialogue between them in that final scene overcomes the Doll-like lack of recognition she shows at that point - perhaps the flicker of memory sparked by his final confession was what she needed to regain her sense of identity and live on, even if it was as a Contractor.
Maybe he could have made his daughter understand why he shut himself off from her, and his sketchy knowledge of the story's background/premise may have been of some comfort to her as well. Ultimately that's all academic since he's gone for good and she wound up being a Contractor in the end anyway. The fact that her obeisance took the form of her beautiful, melancholic singing saw to the last of my composure. Painful, yet outstanding. I can see how the two-episode arc works its magic. ;_;
Darker than Black #1 and #2
Revisiting these episodes the second time around means a few things make a lot more sense...unfortunately since I've never completed the show there's a lot I still don't 'get'.
It's the little details as much as anything: a bulletproof overcoat, a talking cat, the fact that Kirihara's company car is a Porsche (I need to get a screencap on that, complete with blue flashing light). The BGM is jazzier than most of Kanno's stuff I'm familiar with, but that aspect of her canon is perfectly fitting for the mood and feel of the piece.
As the title suggests, it borrows a lot from classic film noir cinema, and the Chandler-esque mystery-thrillers that the said cinematic genre drew much of its inspiration from. I love the sight of the darkened streets, the chases, double crosses, stoic chisel-jawed blokes in Trilby hats...it feels wonderfully retro, while simultaneously throwing out sci-fi jargon that will guarantee utter confusion at first. I still don't know for sure what's going on.
There's even the token femme fatale, an attractive yet mysterious female foil to the supposed hero, who holds a slightly stronger position of empowerment than most damsels in distress: she has secrets of her own and, to a certain degree, uses her charms to forward her own agenda. As tragic and surprising as I found her end to be, she led Li on for quite a while.
Then there's the issue of the Dolls and the Contractors, two entities in the DtB universe I'm only just getting a clearer handle on. The Dolls I'm still unsure about for the time being but the Contractors are a neat take on the idea of superpowered heroes that have been the staple of anime since forever: the 'obeisance' is either painful (listen to those fingers crack! I winced despite knowing exactly what was about to happen) or just plain peculiar; hardly fitting for those who have an ability that lifts them above the level of mere mortals.
Darker than Black was a fantastic series that kept my interest even when I was left scratching my head. I recall it packing one hell of an emotional punch on occasion too, so this'll be a trip down memory lane I'm going to thoroughly enjoy.
Kara no Kyoukai #3: Tsuukaku Zanryuu
Possibly the most thematically unpleasant instalment so far. Rape is always unpleasant viewing for me (unless it involves Krauser and a national landmark) and the violence is more graphic but damn, I do believe ufotable's art department have excelled themselves.
The attention to detail is staggering. Props to Ms Kajiura too - the BGM hit the spot every time.
Touko drives an Aston Martin, chain-smokes in her office and buys antique ouija boards by mail order but still has the cheek to plead poverty and fails to pay Mikiya's wages...must be a pain to work for someone like that. :P
Gakutou reminds me a bit of Arihiko from Tsukihime and Fujino bears quite a resemblance to Sakura from F/S N.
The shocking nature of the violence (which had me audiably gasping in astonishment) is balanced perfectly by the art, which is photorealistic at points.
More goodness that I'd award with a 9 score if I didn't suspect future instalments are likely to be even better. Cannot. Wait.
White Album: not as bad as thought (at least in some areas)
Too soap opera-ish. First and foremost the protagonist is a bit of a dick and one hell of a stupid liar.
A shame really because the creative team could've made something really special if the source material was better. The direction's fine and the text overlays are neat when they're not summoning Captain Obvious (and hence being superfluous, therefore pretentious).
Maybe the planned second season will help address its shortcomings.
I love the little details: Yuki is wearing a pair of headphones in the studio bearing the designation 'K240'. A quick google reveals they're a model made by AKG, a yardstick piece of kit that were popular in recording studios of the time. I'm a Sennheiser whore to the last in that regard but apparently the 240s were favoured for sound quality in monitoring and playback. Nice.
Tsukihime VN: and, I'm done
Kohaku's route wraps things up as well as I expected, and packs more of an emotional punch than Hisui's did in the end. As an aside my continuing beef with the multi-thread format is that you never know which ending is the canonical one - they're all the 'right' answer. Nitpicking though really.
Maybe it was Kohaku's brighter and more expressive personality that made her story more entertaining, or perhaps it was that exhausting feeling of finality: I've finally made it. Needed less time angsting in bed though. NOTHING WORKS FASTER THAN ANADIN.
What could've been done better:
I actually found Tsikihime to have a less focused structure than F/S N. Five routes felt like a bit much. Perhaps it would have worked better if Hisui's and Kohaku's routes were merged somehow, adding a Yumizuka route and making Ciel's role closer to that of her Ciel-sensei instead of making her a separate heroine. That would be, um, four routes. Yeah. Still more compact for me though...
I can't really criticise the artwork too much. I've been spoiled by Kara no Kyoukai's efforts so far and as rough as the illustrations were, they conveyed the subtle nuances of the characters well. Some of the expressions were priceless, as my bulging screencap folder will testify.
Akiha's still awesome though, even when she was going nuts. Actually, all the characters were engaging and fun, from Arihiko to Shiki himself. Order of route preference? I'm going on strength of characters here, since the layers of storyline were added really well with each replay.
Arcueid > Akiha > Kohaku > Hisui > Ciel
That says more about my personal impressions of the character dynamics and chemistry than quality of the storytelling though. Overall I'm in awe of how it all fits together.
Oh yeah, I loved the Eclipse bonus chapter. It brings things back full circle and reminds us that the story is fundamentally about Shiki, the guy with Stringy Vision. That's the real Good End, open and bittersweet. A pitch-perfect balance of brutal melancholy and optimism.
Clannad AS #14
A fine wine comes from a squishy dollop of sugary stuff. The trick is letting it brew and mature over time to creat something special.
Apart from seeing a drunken Nagisa (I want a pint of whatever she was on) that's where this analogy ends. But yeah, this has shaped up to be a fine series, albeit one that's taken longer than most to realise its potential. If it was as good as this from day 1 I'd be falling over myself to recommend it but it's taken a mind-boggling length of time in endearing itself to me.
As for the, um, development at the end of this one...to put things into perspective I hit 27 in a few weeks and studied biology at degree level but it STILL made me blush inwardly. Sheesh. Aren't I supposed to be the embittered dead-inside guy who bleeds Halfords antifreeze? They're married, right? How can that be so improbable? Not wanting to put too finer point on it, but this was handled so tastefully and gingerly I was actually surprised so perhaps that's why it felt like the 'expecting' was in itself a bit unexpected. Clannad AS is now on a roll...a roll down the hill of Manly Tears I'll wager.
Tsukihime, Hisui route
Not much to report here believe it or not. Maybe it's the similarity between Hisui and Kohaku that dilutes things...there's a problem with the characteriation chemistry again I suppose. Can I really be convinced by an ending where the hero ends up with the maid? I'm not sure. I'd liked to have seen a Yumizuka route TBH.
The Good End was exactly as its name implied, although the True End was...well. I've already forgotten about it, almost as if my brain over-wrote it with the Good End. It's the first time I've looked back and failed to recall the resolution, which is a shame.
Some nice filling-in of the background to the domestic situation - the description of Kohaku's suffering is almost an overture to Sakura's exploitation...the character design occasionally pulls the same trick of 'all iris, no pupil' in drawing the eyes. I don't know if there's a name for that technique or even if it's relevant but the lack of pupils kinda creeps me out. Ya rly.
Most important of all: the naming of the four families of demon hunters. Nanaya (Shki's true heritage and the name given to Kohaku), Ryougi (the heroine of KnK, the 'other' Shiki), Fujyou (another significant character in the first chapter of KnK, who I still think was being manipulated by someone) and one other clan whose name I'm too lazy to check. It may not be relevant to Kohaku's route (if it is I'll be pleasantly surprised) but it tosses a bit more spice into the pot for KnK.
Kara no Kyoukai, in the grand scheme of things
Additional observations (sans screencaps due to laziness)
Yellow hooded mac. Whether it turns up in the novels or not I don't know but it suggests that NICE REFERENCE would make a fantastic drinking game for this. Possibly.
Doll factory fits with Heaven's Feel ending.
Stringy Vision isn't as unique an ability as I suspected (depends on the timeline really. Has the male Shiki acquired it yet at this point in time?) but I prefer the way it's shown here. Kaleidoscopic Irises benefit from the movie budget (I'd still call it an OAV with non-OAV distribution methods).
My MBV analogy for Nasu's storytelling falls apart a bit since this movie would be Sunny Sundae Smile (when Glider is far superior), although the hype surrounding movie #5 would make that Nasu's You Made Me Realise(!)
Perhaps a better parallel that otaku would understand is the three-stage evolution of Masaaki Yuasa. First attempt (Mind Game==Kara no Kyoukai) sets the aesthetic and thematic groundwork, second piece (Kemo==Tsukihime) puts it into a more cohesive structure and the third work (Kaiba==F/S N) is the pinnacle of the evolution, so far at any rate. I'd have loved to see Hideaki Anno's career take such a consistently upward path; his live-action movies aren't a patch on his animated work. Odd.
The only two questions remaining: when will I find time to watch the other four (fifty minutes does fit more neatly into my schedule than a fully-fledged two hour cinematic feature) and how can I survive the wait for the last ones?
Tsukihime, Akiha route
First, Akiha sits alongside Arcueid as my favourite character. Tough decision but for reasons I still don't fully understand I think she's awesome. The ties that bind may not be literally those of blood...or the next best thing. It could be love, or the next best thing.
Less on the exposition front but more on the sentimentality side of things, which along with the strength of the female lead made it the most powerful so far in an emotional sense. How can either of the meidos rival Akiha in that role? I'll give it a couple of days for Mental Reset.
So, shiki learns his true lineage. Nice backgrounds, almost like the rival families thing in Romeo and Juliet...and it explains a bit about where his knife came from.
Imagine Lament of the Lamb with added H-scenes and imaginative use of Tippex applied to the family tree (I guess I'm destined to be drawn to the tragic types, huh? Maybe my Akiha fanboying is to be expected after all).
If there's one thing that left me feeling a bit uncomfortable it was the perception shift from sister to childhood friend - Shiki was saved from being labelled a siscon only by one piece of info that was revealed to him quite late on (I can understand why this route is best played after finding this out first). Sure, it's not legally or, in the end, morally wrong but changing his opinion would've had to have happened a bit suddenly. The line "Akiha's not my sister! She's my woman!" in his final battle with Shiki'2' was so unbelievably great on so many levels though, I wish I'd screencapped it.
The Normal Ending was unsatisfying. She was a vegetable and there was little indication anything would change, pretty selfish on Shiki's part. An end suited someone of her dignity and poise? Hardly.
The True Ending left things a bit open and just for the record sets up that self-sacrifice malarky that Nasu would hit us with therafter. Akiha survives but there's a bittersweet finish. Bittersweet, appropriately like whisky and lemonade. Wonderful. ^_^
Tsukihime, Ciel route
It goes without saying that I preferred the Good End over the True one, right?
Not least because it's Arcueid-tastic and has a lulzworthy rabu-rabu triangle at the end, but is also lacks the coma-induced headtrippery. Dream sequences make my brain hurt.
I loved the exposition in this route - it even explains why Shiki killed Arcueid (as I understand it, he was suffering from the inversion channeled from the 'other' Shiki who was going through the Tohno curse). Ciel has a great backstory too.
If there's one thing that this route lacked it was chemistry. Even in the True End I was never convinced that the relationship between Ciel and Shiki would realistically go beyond a platonic senpai/kouhai friendship of tea and curry bread* so it didn't seem totally natural for them to end up together.
Of course this is still the 'near side' variety of story so Arcueid features prominently; the "dating your ex's sister" effect (which is the literal truth on your transition from F/S N's UBW to HF!) meant that there was the inevitable lingering attachment to her. So many echoes...
"I'll see you on the dark far side of the moon~"
*Kinoko Nasu is both a dirty bugger and a hardcore foodie. I know I haven't played eroges before but the attention to detail extends from the bedroom antics to the kitchen. When I wasn't having to make a swift exit to a cold shower after a bit of sauce derailed my train of thought I found myself having to run to the kitchen and make a sandwich...because of the recurring references to various foodstuffs.
