The biomedical engineer in me thinks that, if the memory erasing is highly invasive, then it’d definitely fuck shit up. Yet, since the brain is highly complex and true memories are permanently dispersed and archived structurally through a shit-ton of synapses in our head, then long-term memory can be probably recalled, especially if said memories have a profound impact on the person.
I don’t think Henrietta and Triela don’t seem to recall their past memories because they seem perfectly content with their lives, and yearn for nothing else beyond that. Claes on the other hand, recalls her guardian because he was kind to her in his own way, which was probably quite significant to her if she remembered. Theoretically, if Henrietta was erased of her memories of Giuse, she’d probably remember him too, probably.
Crotchety, bitter old men like him suck at talking in general ;P. I agree that dialogue and character development can be better, but I enjoy the atmosphere, the setting, and the main idea behind this all, I’m none too picky is the world itself captivates me XD.
Episode 6
Not much happened this episode, not much that I cared about anyway. The Republican Factionists don’t particularly interest me, and they’re only there plot-wise to keep the girls busy ;P.
Never trust a loli, she might turn out be a cyborg and fuck you up.
Irony that the lady said it was girls like her that they protect considering she did a lot of the shooting the night before, lol.
Man, I want gelato now.
Episode 7
”You’re still full of possibilities.” Lol, probably not, unless it involves gunslinging ;P.
“Yes, my brother is nice.” Next scene. “RAAAAGGGHHH!!” ROFL.
Again with the ironies. I guess this episode, as well as the previous episode, showcases just how much these young girls have lost, when compared to an unknowing, outside perspective that believes these girls are simply normal little girls, which they are obviously not.
They’re not going to live for long, they didn’t specify how much their lives were shortened, but I suspect they’d probably wouldn’t even last to their late teens. Reconstruction with synthetic materials to that degree is incredibly stressful on small, young, and still developing bodies like theirs. And I still don’t understand the material make-up of these synthetic tissues, since considering that these girls are still growing technically, the fibers of these tissues must expand and compensate to the body’s constant growth, unless they’re dwarfed forever ;P. Henrietta might be, actually…The magical material they’re using has little to no toxicity to true human tissue too, probably…
Anyway, ignore my musings ;P.
Episode 8
It’s not nice to exercise your frustrations on a little girl who knows nothing, (well, seems to be knowing less and less by the day.)
I guess Angelica will be the model of what happens after you’ve lived as a cyborg for a while. Their memories and bodies start breaking down, I wonder if the other girls have that inkling of fear that someday they’ll become like Angelica. She’s probably going to be one of the first ones to die I’m guessing. I can see her eventually realizing she’s going to die soon, if she doesn’t already realize already, which she might in the back of her mind, but has not expressed it yet.
We haven’t seen a “SHIT, WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE SOMEDAY SOON” freak out scene just yet, which I think will be coming.
Episode 9
Why is Elsa not in the opening? They have all the girls so far, even Angelica who appeared a lot later is in it, unless she’s not going to be in it for long?
First time we see a brother who really doesn’t give a shit, but she’s totally devoted to him. She even sees Henrietta’s relationship with Giuse and realizes what a difference it is to be treated with kindness. I wonder where they’re going with this adding her in now.
Episode 10
Oh, she killed him, then shot herself. That was obvious from the beginning when they showed the murder scene. No fratellos had been individually targeted until now, it’s possible, but seemed highly unlikely. He treated her, well, not like crap, but with major indifference that pretty much felt like crap to her, so I wouldn’t be surprised. Jean and the others wouldn’t be sweating and trying to make up excuses otherwise.
I liked Triela’s insight. She’s probably the most knowledgeable and well-rounded of all the girls, perhaps her older age makes a difference.
Rico is too well-conditioned, even with her past memories still intact, don’t you think ;P?
Episode 11
As I go.
DAMN THESE BEAUTIFUL CITIES. I will go someday, I swear it!
Anyway.
Never steal a cyborg loli’s purse.
Home girl be fierce~
Whelp, she shot him alright. The first time we actually see Henrietta break down from the notion of being modified and that she is no longer “normal.” Henrietta enacting Elsa’s case was probably the most dramatic scene for far in the series. It’s a rather childish, idle threat, “Love me or else,” ;P. I wonder how much pressure Giuse feels having to be someone that Henrietta respects. He obviously loves her, but no human being is perfect. I wonder if he’ll severely disappoint her someday?
Episode 12
As I go.
Angelica is breaking down even further. I wonder what would happen to them if Section 2 was shut down? Will they be disposed of, or discharged?
For someone who doesn’t have any combat skills, Claes holds quite well on her own.
Ah, the “WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE” scene came to fruition, yet another dramatic scene. The seeds of doubt have been planted in their minds
Episode 13
Ending was slightly mediocre. Angelica’s memories seem to be seeping through and she may or may not have died. Beethoven’s 9th during a meteor shower…what kind of message were they conveying? Was it hope or impending despair and that one must embrace tragedy ;P?
Overall, this anime wasn’t fantastic, but it wasn’t horrible either. It was somewhere in between. Given its good animation, beautiful setting, and great music, I give it a 7/10. The style and the atmosphere it portrays was something I highly enjoyed, despite the story and characters lacking a bit to have any impact. If it wasn’t for Madhouse’s great job, it’d probably be a high 5 or a 6.
I guess it turned out that Rico retained her memories. Did she choose to shoot the boy just to preserve the lifestyle she had come to love? I wouldn’t doubt it, but no gun shot was heard. It appeared that she was crying though. I’ll just say that she shot him ;P.
Episode 4
Rico, now Triela. Does really seem episodic, for the sake of character introduction. This episode focused more on Triela and her brother’s relationship. I wonder why Triela’s uterus wasn’t surgically removed like Henrietta’s? And I enjoy the subtlety of Henrietta’s matter-of-fact nature of having that part of her body removed. Is it naiveté? Or is it the underlying fact that their lives have forever changed their perspective? It’s not blatantly thrown in our faces, but I enjoy the nonchalant nature of themes that are obviously quite twisted. It’s like calmly drinking tea outside on a sunny day with a pile of dead bodies in the corner of the yard. You know it’s there, but you ignore it and continue to enjoy drinking your tea, if that makes sense ;P.
So the guy’s German? And he’s now working for the Italian government, all the brothers seem to have fairly diverse backgrounds.
Recap in Henrietta’s perspective, I fast forwarded through most of it to be honest ;P. They probably saved a few bucks there with the recap.
Given the story and the type of characters, the sympathy card must be played indeed. Considering these girls are cyborgs it seems, we can guess that they are most likely orphans or children from broken families.
With the amount of girls in the anime, I’m guessing they’ll be explaining their past most likely in an episode by episode basis, maybe even highlighting their relationships with their “brothers” as well.
With the brainwashing aspect, I wouldn’t be surprised if one of them retained their memories all along, but we shall see. There’s gotta be one black sheep besides the main character in that bunch, ya know?
I wouldn’t be surprised if all the brothers come from interesting backgrounds of some sort. They all must be highly certified in one way or another, considering they’re in charge of potential weapons of mass destruction.
From the way Giuse acts towards Henrietta, he probably cares for her a lot, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he made the decision to run away with her somewhere so she may live a “normal” life. With the tension I’m guessing that will build throughout this series, (this show gives off a rather melancholy and even tranquil feel at times besides the trigger-pulling,) that development won’t be too surprising.
With the Italian government trying to control them, it seems problematic now, especially since we’ve seen the example that Henrietta is very protective, and possibly /only/ loyal to Giuse, enough to shoot superiors that may appear to cause him harm. She was quite quick to defend him when that guy grabbed his collar, I imagine we’ll probably see more examples of that in the future.
Speculation is welcome, it’s what makes simul watching fun in my opinion ;P! I’ll probably be watching more than one episode tomorrow, (or later today for me to be more accurate, lol.)
Not a bad episode, but not a good one either. I like the setting, (well, I like /any/ European setting, really ;P,) really liking the music as well. Aesthetics aside, none of the characters stick out a whole lot. This anime gives off somewhat of a Koichi Mashimo-feel, reminiscent of Noir and Madlax, which means it’ll probably be somewhat of a slow ride with a lot of gun grappling. Interesting, but not fantastic, but it might get better.
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Episode 6
Episode 7
Episode 8
Episode 9
Episode 10
Episode 11
Episode 12
Episode 13
Episode 4
this is the youtube video if you are interested.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAUOs2nb3JA
Feel free to ask anything or leave comments.