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| Yeah no 6/10 Hamdo was poorly written along with Abelia. Sara shouldn't have existed. |
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| Not a bad ending, but something about this whole series has felt just a little off to me. The progression of the story and the characters felt pretty flat throughout. That is to say, I feel like while a lot of stuff happened, none of it ended up being central to the overall plot, making the whole show feel drawn out. The first episode is still my favorite part of the whole show, it really just steadily went downhill after that. These last two episodes bring it back to a normal pace, but I'm still left somewhat unsatisfied by the show. Perhaps part of it has to do with many of the dramatic moments coming out of left-field and feeling forced. I felt like very few of the dramatic scenes had a proper buildup and were actually earned. When it comes to my final rating for the show, I'm debating between giving it a 7 and an 8... but I'm leaning more towards a 7. The show is above average, and has some interesting moments, but it's also got some glaring flaws and it's not something I'd immediately recommend to people. |
vigorousjammerFeb 3, 2015 6:13 PM
::End of Transmission:: What have I been watching? Click here and find out on my viewing blog, "Vigorous Viewing" |
| It was a really, really good serie overall but theres some stuff that annoyed me, especially in the second half for example with Shu who stays pretty much the same overall, always saying the same thing like with Sara wanting to kill herself. Well, its normal to try cheering someone in this kind of moment but saying the same fuckin things again and again till she fuckin get it ... urgh. the lasts episodes i thought it was .. pretty rushed. I kinda wanted to give it a 9 but i'll go with a 8, which is still really good, its just there was some stuff that annoyed me here and here. Thats sad tho, after the first half i was thinking that maybe it could even have a 10/10 if it was still going strong in the second half but ... yeah. |
STOP SLEEPING ON ODD TAXI |
| The show would have been good if it didn't try to push that stupid pro-life message. Wth was up with that BS?! Shu and Sis pressuring Sara into keeping her future rape baby after she went through multiple rapes by different soldiers just destroyed the show. And wtf was that lame attempt at the end to redeem the soldier rapist?! Can't judge a rapist by his cover right? I honestly can't fathom some of these moronic comments advocating for her to keep the rape baby. Also, the protagonist Shu was really getting on my nerves with his stupid Naruto talk-no-jutsu crap. Absolutely nothing realistic there at all. Especially the ending. Shu deciding to go back and Sara deciding to stay in the apocalyptic hell-hole to raise her kid and the orphans instead of returning to her family in America. The moral message on rape here was just barbaric and pro-life to the point where only religious zealots would support. I give this garbage a 3/10. |
NiNjA_kSep 27, 2015 8:04 PM
| overall a pretty good watch, i think the theme exploration was pretty on point and the tale it had to tell was decent as well. My biggest issue with this show was the characters though, by far the weakest part in my opinion, their motivation was really weak for the most part and they lacked any real development. sara got decent development at the end, but that was after being shafted almost the entire series. most of the characters were really unlikable and annoying (yes i understand that characters like hamdo and the other soldier kid werent meant to be liked), but i mean all the characters, shu was rather annoying, abelia was too submissive, nabuca was an idiot... i could go on, but ill leave it at that, i think ill put it at a 7/10 for now |
frequency15k said: overall a pretty good watch, i think the theme exploration was pretty on point and the tale it had to tell was decent as well. My biggest issue with this show was the characters though, by far the weakest part in my opinion, their motivation was really weak for the most part and they lacked any real development. sara got decent development at the end, but that was after being shafted almost the entire series. most of the characters were really unlikable and annoying (yes i understand that characters like hamdo and the other soldier kid werent meant to be liked), but i mean all the characters, shu was rather annoying, abelia was too submissive, nabuca was an idiot... i could go on, but ill leave it at that, i think ill put it at a 7/10 for now This, also, lots of stuff was left unexplained. I would be nice if we got some background of that world/time or w.e. What was Lala Ru exactly? Also, except Lala Ru, Sara, Soon, Sis and that little guy, no one was likable. Hamdo is classic retarded crazy bad guy. I dont understand why would someone follow someone like him, its not like he had whole top of the country behind him, he was alone. They gave soldier kids weapons, why didnt they turn against him instead of killing innocent and abducting them like they were too. They didnt have gun pointed at them 24/7. What was the reason why would Abelia followed such a guy? But despite all that and bunch of other stuff, show was fun to watch. |
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| 9/10 The end was so beautiful ♥. I almost cried when Nabuca died ;___;. Glad that the end wasn't sad like what I expected =p. |
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| Damn, I'm glad I didn't end up dropping this. It ended up being surprisingly good. I don't generally like a MC that wants to blindly save every single person but he seemed to work out for this series. |
   I envy your delusion; I wish I could live in it  |
| Rated it a 9/10 and i almost forgot shu was from another world lol It felt really complete yet a lil bit was left to your imagination which is good. :) i felt this was a great ending instead of making it cliche they let lala ru "go" which felt like a proper ending to me yes sad but it felt lacking if it were suddenly to become an oh we are all oh so happy and forget everything end |
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| Well that was awesome. 10/10 anime right there. |
| All-in-all I liked the decadence and the 80s vibe. The mood felt similar to Nausicaä, albeit slightly more controversial elements and a script that's not even close in quality. Impressed they sort of tied it together. Biggest qualms are Shu's character - I don't want to call his lightheartedness for optimism, but rather a refusal to reflect on things and how people are motivated to do some things, he just became buzzwords and violence in the end. You do not pressure a rape victim to keep a child while she is literally trying to beat the fetus out with a rock (take the hint - she did NOT want to keep it, and that's her goddamn decision). You do also not try to ratify your fulfillment of your promise to save someone, when you ultimately leave her alone in a world where she knows no one and have the responsibility for five young children. Basically the dude's an asshole. I will however admit that he is a child. Second qualm and the biggest in my opinion: why the f*ck does Sara stay in this shithole of a world? Then only thing she's experienced in this world is confinement, violence, rape, hunger and thirst. That's the laziest writing I've ever seen. Narratively or at least according to writing tradition a secondary protagonist like that usually stays back in the world they go to, however you cannot justify that in this series at all. Third qualm is the pro-life message and chastisement of rape victims. The way they tried to make it that the presumed father (or at least rapist that seemed to want to rape her again) was a actually a good guy and saved a child, was repulsve and made me shout "no, no, no you did NOT just do that" (i actually did that for once, might have been a few curses there as well though). Nevermind that the guy was a stupid, plan revealing, stalking, child-raping murderer and bringer of doom to Zari Bars, but he sort of saved a random kid, so I guess he's a great guy. Sis' deathwish was basically for an underaged stepmother of five to ALONE bring a new child to a world without a government, healthcare, housing, farming, water and basic governance (mind you they just destroyed the empire). Not a nice last wish in my opinion. A terrible burden to put on a young person. Basicallly the pro-life message was too extreme. It's a fetus not a child - she's obviously fertile she can get another one when the is right and SHE HAS GIVEN HER CONSENT TO HAVE ONE! I'm appalled that some people advocate that rape victims should be forced to keep their fetuses to term, and I'm disappointed that this series did not have the guts to treat Sara's character with more respect. Sotty about the rambling, it most likely doesn't make much sense. I enjoyed the 80s vibe and some of the subject matter, so I'm gonna rate it a 5/10. |
| I didn't like the ending to this at all really. It was just like "Oh ya I forgot Shoe is a Japanese boy okay have fun go back to Japan by by let's tie up loose ends as quickly as possible." This anime is the kind of anime that rides on emotions so much that people overrate it. It's really not as smart or clever as most people make it out to be, the characters are one-dimensional and never really progress besides Nabuca and Sarah, and because of that, I rate it a 7/10 which translates to a real score of 76/100. Keep in mind that for me, that's a high score. Favorite Characters : Nabuca Sarah |
| observing a woman's body |
| Wow this was so badly written, characters, story, setting, lore, development, message, conclusion all terrible written I only manage to finish it, because it started with an i, and I need the i for my A-Z completed list :-/ |
| I watched this anime a while ago but I come back to this thread sometimes to see people's reaction to it, here's my take: While the world building was pretty underwhelming, and it had so much potential to explore deeper into the how things became the way they were, one could also argue that the lack of world building and explaining is part of what makes the anime more mysterious. Although I agree that it's not an excuse because leaving it to the audience's imagination is just being kind of lazy. I still think this anime was great because it really really left me empty when I finished. It's one of those anime's that really tugs at your existential heart strings. Leaving your mind empty and your ego shattered by the time it's done. Still I feel like this anime should have been 25 episodes with some very in depth background info and world building. Also, the ending OST is one of the most beautiful pieces of music that I have had the pleasure of listening to in this life. |
KingKatsura said: 10/10 one of the best anime i've ever watched. i can understand the poor reception on this page specifically if you haven't delved deep into more noir, arthouse, western film; but its all poor critique frankly that doesn't judge this anime for what it is. this series is heavily influenced by western literature such as Dune and artistically by the dystopian films that were popular in the 80s and 90s. the cinematography is awe-inspiring despite the quite obviously low budget. frankly, I can compltely ignore the poor animation quality because of the cinematography and brilliant use of contrast and color. Thematically this show is brilliant even if its nothing new. The characterization is perfect, I'm not sure how anyone can say this is poor writing. The dialogue is brilliantly weighted. I don't know how you can label the in-depth criticisms of this show and its frankly abhorrent message about rape victims being obligated to bear their unwanted children as being "all poor critique". Maybe this anime is influenced by those dystopian films, but the blatant pushing of excessively pro-life views and subpar characterization are still glaring enough flaws to warrant legitimate criticism. Just because a work of art is symbolic and evocative doesn't make it immune to criticism. You compare this show to Dune, but Dune didn't throw a poorly executed character into a post-apocalyptic world with virtually no explanation or world-building. The books had incredible lore and political intrigue, significant reasons towards why they were so compelling. There is no such equivalent exposition in this anime, which makes it harder to take seriously. I agree that some cinematic shots were pretty beautiful, but the writing and dialogue were not really well thought out due to the unrealistic actions of Shu as mentioned by others before. Also, the characterization is not perfect, and I'm seriously confused how you can think that way when you have a comical villain with virtually no backstory in a show dealing with grimdark themes. And thematically, this show is not at all brilliant, but rather feels almost exploitative in how they try to put the children through hell to make up for its shortcomings. Maybe that's just because I can't really condone extremely horrific subject matter such as child rape unless it's completely justified, and this anime, instead of providing justification, even twists Sara's plight to further the anime's unabashedly detestable message about forcing child rape victims to carry to term. Trying to redeem one of Sara's rapists at the end was the last straw; it was completely uncalled for and further demonstrates how distastefully the anime handles such subject matter. I honestly cannot fathom why so many people regard this anime so highly. Frankly, I felt like puking after watching. I'm too disgusted to even rate it. |
suikaMUSICJul 7, 2016 11:41 PM
mrdkreka said: Wow this was so badly written, characters, story, setting, lore, development, message, conclusion all terrible written I only manage to finish it, because it started with an i, and I need the i for my A-Z completed list :-/ + There is no logic in this show. |
KingKatsura said: 10/10 one of the best anime i've ever watched. i can understand the poor reception on this page specifically if you haven't delved deep into more noir, arthouse, western film; but its all poor critique frankly that doesn't judge this anime for what it is. this series is heavily influenced by western literature such as Dune and artistically by the dystopian films that were popular in the 80s and 90s. the cinematography is awe-inspiring despite the quite obviously low budget. frankly, I can compltely ignore the poor animation quality because of the cinematography and brilliant use of contrast and color. Thematically this show is brilliant even if its nothing new. The characterization is perfect, I'm not sure how anyone can say this is poor writing. The dialogue is brilliantly weighted. lmao one of the worst comments ive ever heard please learn how to analyze things before making a comment defending them |
| observing a woman's body |
| @Hendocks Well organised thoughts put in a written form are never walls of text. (they are rarer and far more interesting). Based on the french DVDs documentation (that I sadly can't check right now, so please excuse the lack of infos), the director or writer was given a project whose pitch was a vague "young boy lost in another world". From this, he didn't want to give the same usual thing ("boring" or "too common", not sure what he said). My interviews go way further than that but I have no way to access them right now, sorry. In the same bonuses, it is stated that Shû is supposed to be a person from a safe country (someone raised in a bubble if you want) suddenly facing war in another one (I think I remember Daichi saiying he used a documentary about African children soldiers) when he has no idea about that. His behaviour is said to come from there (and I guess it kind of try to counter-balance everything else). About the worldbuilding, I doubt the show intended to build a world, only a bleak vision of a possible future exhausted Earth. |
Rei_IIIJan 22, 2017 4:26 AM
| Unfortunately, the show punched far above its weight. You have weird inconsistencies where soldiers miss at close range. Shu, the main character, is a one dimensional walking talking ideology. At the end it became palatable, much like forcing yourself to eat olives until you don't hate it. But it was a struggle. And for that I'm glad! I came into this rather neutral, having read the gushing reviews and the rant reviews. This is one of the best anti-war anime I've ever seen, not because it covered every complex issue delicately. But because it covered it at all. It didn't shy from showing young girls being raped (comfort women). It showed the steps the military took to procure children, rear child soldiers, blackmail and brainwash them into complying and the final product being a child soldier that either learns to love the power of killing people or become an empty shell of a human. In regards to Shu, he is probably the best 'gary stu' character I've seen. He has invulnerable plot armor, but you can't help but respect and be swayed by his charismatic determination to stick to his ideals. At the final episode, even then, watching his two friends on both sides of the conflict gunned down, he chose to shoot at the ground. All the pain, the torture, the killing. He choose to forgive! And in the process he broke the cycle of violence when Nabuca's last gesture was to give him his stick back! Mandela! I also love how Hamdo's death was portrayed. Almost like water washing out the filth. There is no need to spend time desecrating a defeated corpse (Mussolini). He simply is cleaned out like garbage by the very water that he obsessed about. Shu with his Moses rod with righteous anger, broke his stick over the Pharoah's back before he was washed away by the red sea. |
Cloud_IllusionsMar 15, 2017 9:34 PM
| Nothing can happen until you swing the bat. |
| What a beautiful serene scene as Shu and Lala-ru, calmly watched the sunset. Lala-ru slowly disappears, her only desire through it all was to watch another sunset with Shu. Shu doesn't realise immediately but a brief unmistakable look of dispair is plastered across his face and his arm slowly drops to the ground as if to accept the reality of her passing. But he knew it would come to this, and to some degree Shu convinced Lala-ru that humans are innately good, that they are worth saving. Practicing what he preached, Shu still stands by his convictions and still maintains he meant what he said to Sara. What a great ending of imperfect simplicity. It's funny that a simple ending carries far more realistic weight than the usual overly detailed closed up endings we see in anime that answer every little query viewers had. It is heartbreakingly eternal, a fitting end to a masterpiece. Now the overall ending. I think it tied in perfectly to everything Shu stood for, the senseless cycle of violence and the recurring theme of hope. The ending is brave enough to not answer everything. Life is complex and miserable, but you just have to dust yourself off everytime and move forward with your entire spirit. Not with grand gestures and actions, but with every excruciating step. The scene where Shu looks somberly at Sara as if to give courage to her and then with a look of true sorrow as he looks at the Japanese sunset, the land of the setting sun, is a testament to how strong Shu is after the entire experience. It's subtle, but Shu has grown as a person. And then he picks up his weighty baggage and finally begins the journey home. |
Cloud_IllusionsMar 15, 2017 9:43 PM
| Nothing can happen until you swing the bat. |
Miragee said: Maybe they'll add some thoughtful silence by Lala Ru or some shouting by Sara or some blind obedience by Abelia. I guess 1.5/3. amateur said: Very underwhelming series overall ,it was clear as day that they went with the whole "child character getting abused/tormented " thing that was popular at the time after Neo Genesis was such a huge success. Ignoring the production values that were downright bad at points ,especially considering its a very late 90's title it felt like was made in the 80's.My main gripes were with the story and characters: World building was very poorly done to non existing,the time traveling aspects were only present in the first and last episodes as if they were a afterthought,could not care less for any of the character :Sara was introduced one episode,surprise rape the very next (even hentai titles have more buildup) ,the pro life crap was pretty damn moronic and came across as extremely preachy,antagonizing the villain so much to the point of making him a complete laughingstock/buffoon,main character straight up out of a kiddies shonen series ,"war is bad,victims of war,everyone suffers from war..." but were barely going to show any scenes of that certain topic (the blowing up a raided village part was presented as just glowing points on the radar) .... Completely agree with you. The only point I would argue with you is the surprise rape of Sara. If you pay attention you can see that she had been raped before Shu met her, hence her fear of him. It's really sad because the setting had a lot of potential but they wasted all their time on shitty character-writing, uninspired-dialouges and stupid drama due to stupid characters. That way they didn't have any time for decent world-building. How is Shu's world connected to the world of NTHT? Shu asked a few questions in the beginning but they were never answered. Sara seemed to know something but it was never followed up upon. It turned out that Abelia probably knew a lot about this as well. So they had enough options to add some information here and there but they didn't. Hamdo and his continuous reign made no sense at all. But kajia's review on the front page covered that part perfectly. |
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| I liked the show alot, it wasn't without it's faults but I enjoyed the action adventure vibe of the series. It was alot like Future Boy Conan just with a darker edge. I think Shu was alittle too idealistic for sure and it did frustrate at times but it also brought up debate through the show. It catered to both sides of an argument and neither side has it all their own way, even by the end of the show. So though I did find the idealism from Shu alittle annoying on occasion the same can be said of the naivety of other characters also, especially Nabuca. As I say I think this is one of the major parts of the shows story and is intentional even if it could have been toned down abit. I straddled the fence on alot of the issues brought up. Bloodshed only breeds more Bloodshed and so it proved but some of the actions of characters like Shu and Sister serves to only prolong the inevitable and action sometimes must be taken but it should never be done so lightly and I think the show did a good job expressing that. I don't think it was trying to provide an answer, instead present the questions and the flaws of both ideals as well as the pros of them. The show was quite effective at this. But there was certainly one pretty major flaw and that was the characters of Abelia and Hamdo. Hamdo is incredibly 1 dimensional as a villian. Basically we learn he is crazy and power hungry and thats about it. No reasons why he got to be that way he just is and thats a missed oppurtunity. He certainly was a total SOB and easy to hate but I wish his depth went beyond spoilt manchild scared of his own shadow and that we could of seen some sort of backstory or arc for him. Even if he was always like that be it environment or his parents or literally any explanation for it would have added alot to the show. Abelia also annoyed me somewhat because we never learn why she is so committed to Hamdo, we might presume she loves him for some reason but we never learn why she possibly would. Some sort of back story perhaps showing a more normal Hamdo before he lost his way in a flashback so we could see why Abelia was so hell bent on delivery of his will despite how abused she was by him. While my idea for a flashback of that sort is hardly original it would have helped humanize Hamdo and Abelia. It also would have made Hamdo a much more palatable character to deal with and so when Shu stands by his ideals and refuses to kill him perhaps knowing Hamdo wasn't always like this or again even if he was at least knowing why would have gone along way to help that scene and many others. Because while I'm pleased Shu kept it together I just wanted someone to put a bullet between Hamdo's eyes for ages by that point. So when Abelia lets Hamdo drown it was more of a 'about damn time that bastard died' followed shortly by a 'well thank you Abelia, I'm glad you finally opened your eyes but also why only now!?'. That train of thought alone bore out it's own frustrations. Abelia has no character arc to get to that point, she is abused by Hamdo from the get go so why she would see fit to assist creating his death only now was a little hard to swallow. But when all is said and done (and I've said alot) I still really enjoyed the show. It was a good adventure with some nice animation, a solid ost and some good albeit flawed characters. I was totally engrossed and be it that was through enjoyment of the adventure or total frustration from naive and occasionally annoying characters I was still hooked and thats a positive no matter how you look at it in my book. 9/10 |
BlaizeVAug 30, 2017 3:34 PM
| Bittersweet final :/ Pretty good show overall with some thought provoking messages. |
One Piece episode 914 & 915 & 1027 were a mistake and 957 brought the salvation - FMmatron |
| I was hoping more closure, but taking into account the director here, I shouldn't be surprised this was all we got |
Sean_Nessman said: Hamdo, well, you're living in 2017 and still asking this question. Stupid leaders have occurred again and again throughout history, and this year is the latest. And not only that, people, the public, the mass's culpability in helping those stupid leaders stay in power too. So, obviously, the case of implausibility is pretty mute. THat is something that was already written about/fictionalized back in the 50s. Watchers complaining about Hamdo should just take a look at Jack, the "charismatic" leader of Lord of the Flies island. And never it feels in this book that it's non sense. Or rather, you see it but als see how it is totally possible. glassknuckles said: It doesn't change the fact he's evil, like Tabool, Abelia, Hamdo, and Nabuca I watched this numerous times and don't remember this soldier, Nabuca or even Tabul were ever depicted as "evil" persons. |
Rei_IIISep 10, 2018 1:14 PM
| A truly great final two episodes were the true brutality of the series truly shines as well as the emotional aspects. Glad Sara has found a new purpose in life, glad Hamdo is dead, and glad Shu is back home |
| “I love heroes, but I don't want to be one. Do you even know what a hero is!? For example, you have some meat. Pirates will feast on the meat, but the hero will distribute it among the people! I want to eat the meat!” - Monkey D. Luffy |
| What a roller coaster ride of emotions this show turned out to be. Admittedly most of them not that positive but ended on a somewhat bright note I guess. Not EVERYBODY died at least, haha. Good to see anime has the ability to tell serious, poignant and honest stories about a wide range of human behavior. Can't decide to give it a 9/10 or 10/10... |
| So Abelia lived how lame after all the things she did under Hamdo( didn't feel she was forced into too). But it was a fitting death for Hamdo though, after being obsessed with Lala ru and her ability to summon water. Too bad Lala ru had to disappear, I liked her character even though she talked less and she had less impact in the show. I'm glad Sara lived and decided to stay behind and raise her baby and those kids, after the ordeal she went through. As for Shu, MEH! I couldn't care. Overall it was a good series overall but Nabuca would've made a good supporter if he just took Shu's hand on that night and that would've prevented his death and Boo's. 7/10. |
How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb --- Dr Strangelove  |
| Scanning the comments here, I see that I have the same complaints as many. The show is pretty well put together for most of it, but like many anime towards the end, takes a severe left turn around episode 11 into awful writing as it overreaches with its serious subject matter, trying to grapple with things it has no ability to deal with sensitively or fairly. -Lala-Ru basically killed all of humanity except whoever survived the Hellywood. It seemed to me that the flying ship was submerged in water because the water covered the Earth to that height. This seems to be the meaning behind the sudden appearances of grand waterfalls and islands where there were mountains and canyons. There are other villages and nations full of drowned people that are no doubt under an ocean now as the show ends with a Noah’s Ark style ethnic cleansing. Yet, Shu, the guy who won’t let a teen girl abort a baby resulting from rape, has absolutely no comment on this Holocaust. -Shu is never forced to confront the possibility that his ideas may be wrong or inappropriate for the situation. Shu is a little kid who is somehow completely unbroken by the hostile reality he's been suddenly put in. A Shinji Ikari like reaction at some point would be expected, but he never gets sad, scared or frustrated that he's been brought there. Shu can't bend or break, because he's an unbreakable pillar that never complains or even misses his parents. This aspect of Shu can make the show's depressing content a bit more bearable, such as when he frees some of the children taken on a slave raid. However, it also makes Shu more of a mouthpiece than a person, who literally slaps a rape victim with accidentally patriarchal advice and smug self-righteousness. -Giving one of Sara's rapists, the same man who infiltrated the village to sow strife, a moment in the spotlight when he helps save a kid rubbed me the wrong way. It doesn't change the fact he's evil, like Tabool, Abelia, Hamdo, and Nabuca, but it does seem like its supposed to make him more sympathetic like Nabuca is during the show. (fwiw Nabuca burned up the sympathy I had for him due to his actions in Zari Bars.) -Also consider the way Sara is handled; yes, if she went back to America pregnant or with all the children there would be questions, inquiries, paperwork, social consequences (rumor, stigma, gossip etc). Still, it seems to me to be a better choice to go to a land of plenty where your parents and friends are than to attempt ekeing out a meager subsistence on that blasted rock. Sara's decision to keep the baby and raise the children can be a tribute to Sis, who saved her life, but it also frames motherhood (whether the kids are your own, or if you wanted them or not, it seems) as the only route to feminine happiness since Sara is also giving up whatever modern aspirations she had before being kidnapped. |
glassknucklesSep 9, 2018 1:39 PM
Rei366 said: glassknuckles said: It doesn't change the fact he's evil, like Tabool, Abelia, Hamdo, and Nabuca I watched this numerous times and don't remember this soldier, Nabuca or even Tabul were ever depicted as "evil" persons. I think the actions of the characters speak for themselves in whether they are to be seen as evil. Perhaps I have a different perspective than what the creators intended, because I see all of those characters as evil. Certainly not a flat and cartoonish evil in the case of Nabuca and Abelia, but still evil. Nabuca is depicted as less evil than Tabool, for example, for most the show, and he seems sympathetic while Tabool doesn't. But his desire to go home is only a rationalization for his willingness to commit atrocity. He seems to cling to this mistaken idea all the more desperately in the last few episodes, even though he should have logically figured out there was no village to go back to after participating in the slave raid. In real life, not even the Nazis made the murder of unarmed civilians mandatory for troops, and men did choose to refuse to participate in atrocities (as happened, for example, in Reserve Police Battalion 101). Those who choose to commit murder of unarmed civilians are to be held accountable, and I consider Nabuca just as culpable as Hamdo who gives the order, Abelia who passes down the order, and Tabool who happily follows the order. |
| OMG that was an amazing ending and anime! That's too bad that the animation and chara design are so bad and ruined it, it could be so awesome! (1999 is not an excuse, I find Future Boy Conan way prettier) |
| man, Shu REALLY signed himself up for some shit when he climbed that smokestack... I would've appreciated some more context in key areas, such as the timeline (I think the opening quote probably established the post-apocalyptic world was billions of years into the future, but that's the most information we receive), what the hell Lalaru was supposed to be, and, especially, why Abelia was so fiercely loyal to Hamdo. I really, really anticipated her more aggressive betrayal early on, and I guess Hamdo's ultimate death can be seen as something resembling a betrayal, it was with the sort of apprehensive abandonment that can't justify why she so closely followed his orders despite his deranged depravity throughout the series. I got hints of this throughout the show, but I feel this, as a finale, established the characters are just as much (maybe more so) embodiments of ideologies and themes than they strictly are characters. This seems especially obvious in Shu's and Lalaru's cases, but every character -- from Hamdo to Nabuca to Sis -- embodied a certain perspective. Lalaru's... sacrifice, I guess is an apt word here, made me sad, and so did Nabuca's death. And the destruction of Shu's stick, which I had a sort of Wilson-like attachment to. It was his best friend. :( This entire episode captured the feeling of harrowing melancholy and pensiveness with an uplifting twinge, and I really liked it. Lalaru's disappearance in the sunset and the final scene with Shu looking into the sunset as the credits play, both of these filled me with a deep, deep pensiveness. I felt sad, but in a sort of conflictingly uplifting way. I finished this about an hour or so ago, and I still feel sad. I was expecting a full out tragedy in a sort of Fate/Zero or Devilman Crybaby sense, but this was much more satisfying an ending than an absolute tragedy would have been. The thought struck me as I watched the beautifully melancholy ED for the final time that the lyrics seem to make sense as being from Lalaru's perspective. This was a resoundingly powerful series on the woes of war, and while it certainly has some flaws, or attributes I typically dislike in anime, I find most of those flaws largely ignorable and the attributes (such as Shu's stubborn optimism) somehow work. Especially in seeing how the characters embody themes and ideologies, I'd like to rewatch this show one day to pay closer attention to the symbolism. Glad I watched this; it'll probably go down as a personal favorite. I wouldn't have batted an eye at it had FestinaLente not promoted it so enthusiastically back in the day. Wish she was still around for me to finally discuss this with her. |
ZadionJan 20, 2019 8:04 AM
 ☩ Discord: the.path.to.pathos ☩ RateYourMusic ☩ last.fm |
| So that was it. Felt a bit too rushed towards the end, could have used a second cour. But I guess the story told what it intended to. I have to say I did not expect Lala Ru to fade away, I thought she would maybe just loose her eternal life and stay with MC as a normal girl. Guess I have become too used to modern fluff anime. As the ship went down I thought they also lost the time chamber, but apparently that survived. Really sucks Sara got guild tripped into staying anyway instead of getting a chance to live the life she could have had. I totally agree with what others have said here, it goes drastically against her character and would only work if she had to stay, but towards the end the ideals of the show got more and more obvious and plot and characters got less relevant, so that was never going to happen. This is also why I lowered the score after the final episodes a bit, they went with a too idealistic ending for my taste. Some question are left unanswered, but I dont think they needed to be. This was definitely one of the most outstanding, nihilistic, dystopian and melancholic anime out there. Its like they captured the essence of 90s anime and condensed it into one single show. Even though I only gave this a 7, I will definitely remember this for quite some time. Its weird, I dont even know anymore how this landed on my PTW and why I decided to watch it right now. Its like finishing this show cleared my mind somehow. But I cravy these dystopian, melancholic shows so it was bound to happen. Just like I forgot why I watched the show after I finished, a hour later and I completely forgot what I wanted to write. It must be alienz at work. |
Comander-07Feb 26, 2019 2:53 PM
| "This emotion is mine alone. It is for Madoka alone." - Homura or how I would descripe Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica. |
| A great anime.. The second half actually is not as great as about the first six episodes (up to the point of Sara's escape), but this finale paid it even.. |
"The Slave is the have-not, the oppressed one with nothing to spare. But because the Slave is in that despairing situation, having nothing, it can kill the Emperor !" |
| 'I still believe that I was right and everything will turn out good!' says Shu. EVERYONE'S F**KING DEAD YOU DUMBASS PIECE OF SH*T. Anyway, I was fine with this series. Some things rubbed me the wrong way, but when you're hitting up works from the 90's and earlier, you're going to find some crappy ideologies and just stuff that makes you gasp is disgust. I mean, it's not THAT old, but society's come a long way, despite what some people might feel. All that being said. I did want to talk about Sarah. It was tough seeing her decide to keep a child she originally didn't want. BUT at that point, though there was a lot of edging on by others (and that's an understatement), it really was her choice. I mean, personally? Someone tells me "No child comes into this world wanting to be rejected by its mother". My response, "I'm sure they don't. So I'm going to save them the trouble and just not give birth to them. Eyy." As for her staying, I think the whole thing was that Sara experienced what that world was like. It was hell, especially being alone. Then you look at Sis's children and realize that they would be experiencing that same crappy world alone unless someone stepped up. Thus... Sara stayed. Can't say much for keeping the baby though, but whatever. Anyway, it was a nice-ish ride. |
SwiggyJun 12, 2019 7:19 PM
| Wauw that was a pretty decent thesis on humanity and how doomed we really are. Funny how this is placed 10 billion years in the future but the stuff that happened here occurs like every 100 years in our world. Really shows humanities main purpose on earth is to destroy ourselves and the world in a never ending cycle from now till extinction. 7/10 over hyped but still a decent watch. |
 <--- Who Your Waifus Look Up To --->  |
| Immersive dystopian war and misery porn. Bad: protagonist, villain, plot holes. Good: side characters, depiction of war crime, direction, atmosphere. A stupid story connecting some truely brilliant scenes of heartbreaking acts of violence. (6/10) |
 |
| Wow... just wow. I'm glad I finally got around to watching this show, I'd been putting it off for a while. I wasn't very impressed by the last few episodes, but the finale was quite good. Although as many other people have mentioned, these past few episodes have felt rather rushed. No intro for this episode, straight into the action. As much as I disliked Nabuca, it was still quite sad seeing him die. I never expected him to go out that way. I would've preferred if Shuu had killed him in an enraged state. It would've added a bit of weakness to his character, though the moment he has with Nabuca later on is quite powerful. Nabuca never overcame his ignorance, and that was the end of him. I liked Sis, she was the perfect "wise mentor" character, and at least she died tastefully. Wise words for Sara. I think Sis is one of the best examples of a strong female character. Hamdo's mental breakdown on the bridge was great, total psycho. It was so satisfying seeing Shuu beat the shit out of him. For Shuu's stick, which has been with him trough all of this and endured all kinds of things, to finally break against the root of everyone's suffering, is quite brilliant. The destruction of Hellywood is one of the most awesome things I've ever seen. Absolutely visually stunning. And very emotional. Hamdo died to the very thing he's been after; Abelia didn't save him. And that Tabool fucker went down with him. I don't really understand who the soldier trying to save Sara was. I guess it's implied he's the father, although there's no actual evidence to conclude that. And if he is then it's mighty convenient he happened to stumble across her. I mean, he came out of nowhere. Did the editors forget to add in a plot critical scene? I had a theory that maybe he was from her world and knew her, but I guess we'll never know. At least he did something heroic. I figured Lala-Ru would sacrifice herself, it was pretty clear that the show was going to end that way. Very powerful. And that scene with Shuu... damn the feels! She basically healed the earth. Still, I would've liked to learn more about her. She's clearly not human, so what is she? Is she a god? The embodiment of water? We'll never know. I'm annoyed many of the characters never had their arcs finished. But they did die, so at least there's some resolution. I'm still pissed we NEVER find out why Abelia follows Hamdo. I guess she loves him or something, who the fuck knows. I certainly don't. Sara's decision to stay makes sense. She has responsibilities now, and a family to care for. She's kind of taken on the position Sis had. Hopefully she can lead what's left of the world to a better future. She forgave Abelia too. I'll take back some of what I've previously said regarding her character. She has developed, but it only occurred at the end. I would've preferred she develope throughout the story, but this is better than nothing. I'm conflicted about Shuu leaving though. Sure he has his normal life back home, but he's gone through so much and had such a dramatic impact on this world and the people in it. It just comes off to me as somewhat out of character. But I guess he only came to save Lala-Ru, and now she's (maybe) gone. Contrary to what everyone else says, I quite liked Shuu, though he is a bit of a Gary Stu. That ending... I almost cried. There's just something beautiful and somber about it. You could say it arouses such a bittersweet, almost heartbreaking fondness. Rest in peace Boo, Soon, Sis, Nabuca, and (maybe) Lala-Ru. I had a feeling very early on that I would really like this series. No factual basis for that assumption, just my gut. And despite some tumbles along the way, full of vague plot and a real mixed bag of characters; that assumption held true. This was a great anime, far from perfect, but it made me think about it after it was over. It gave me that special, excited feeling. And that's the true sign of a great anime. |
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