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So in other words, this is the end. We should not expect an OVA or sequel? Although the ending fits the story, I still find that on a corporate level, with the audience ratings, they would have tried to make this story drag on a little longer, and maybe choose a different ending. Well if n e one hears of an ova or sequel, let me know! I don't think there could be a sequel, but an OVA that shows one of other VN endings (the anime used Elen's ending from VN as template (in other words, they made some changes to it to better fit the anime as well as make Reiji die)) is a possibility, tough nothing has yet been announced. |
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Nayrael said: So in other words, this is the end. We should not expect an OVA or sequel? Although the ending fits the story, I still find that on a corporate level, with the audience ratings, they would have tried to make this story drag on a little longer, and maybe choose a different ending. Well if n e one hears of an ova or sequel, let me know! I don't think there could be a sequel, but an OVA that shows one of other VN endings (the anime used Elen's ending from VN as template (in other words, they made some changes to it to better fit the anime as well as make Reiji die)) is a possibility, tough nothing has yet been announced. There's a XBOX VN version of phantom of Inferno with the * new anime characters look* released 3/25/2010 so. D: I guess im going to get an xbox for this? bwahahha |
| LET JUSTICE BE DONE; THOUGH THE HEAVENS MAY FALL |
rohad21 said: after watching the ending properly its quite obvious what happend reiji was shot by a sniper from a distance and then ein was shot also the bullet you see on the floor is the one that killed EIN Retard. |
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| Gotta say that I don't know if the ending of a show has ever killed my overall enjoyment for a show as much as this one. Seriously the death at the very end seemed to serve no real purpose for me other then to disappoint. If only this show decided to roll the credits like a minute sooner. The artsy approach they took for it was great, but then it seems like they just totally out thought themselves in the ending trying to think of a way to go out when them simple being in the field and looking at the sky would of been a perfect finish. Horrible, horrible way to end an otherwise very good show and will kill the overall rating for me. |
| watched this anime some time ago, bust just felt like adding: this anime is a fkin masterpiece, really awesome ! |
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| I enjoyed Phantom overall. But some of the disappointments were why and also. How did Cal grow up so much in 2 years =.= |
| あらあら。。。＾＾ |
guu_bear said: True, that. I enjoyed Phantom overall. But some of the disappointments were why and also. How did Cal grow up so much in 2 years =.= Except, I always expected Reiji dies. My disappointment would be I guess the whole anime is very good, too bad the last ep is a bomber. |
| i think the ending is great the only confusing part is who killed reiji? is elen even dead? my theory is that Raymond McGuire(the blue haired guy at the end) ordered the hit since their the only 2 left who knew the inferno's existence. a sniper killed reiji from a far distance while the carrier was walking and the carrier was the one who shot elen when elen fell on the ground(with the bullet show on the ending) even the song transparent has a meaning in the show where elen is slowly disappearing i think the reason they weren't aware that danger is coming is because they're already satisfied with the information that they have now. oh well awesome series hopefully we see more of this kind of anime in the future :) |
| Overall a good moral to the story. Although I hate this type of ending. Still a great anime. |
noteDhero said: Speaking of weird, I expected Mentar to comment by now. I honestly was looking forward to his thoughts since this was an ending that wasn't in the VN apparently. This was a modified "Road of the Cerulean Sky" ending. In the VA version it ends with Elen saying the search for her home land can end. There's no killing in it. |
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| Everything was good up until this episode. I just found it pretty stupid that Reiji died like that. Oh well. Overall I give this series a 7.5/10. |
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| Just watched the final episode , when I watched it the first time , I thought they were in the same place, that's why I couldn't understand how could Eren smile when she's watching Reiji falling down ! but then I realized that when she started to remember, he left her alone walking to another place, and we didn't see them together in the same scene after that. so she got killed first by the bullet we saw at the end, and they both died by the same shooter !! Inferno couldn't let them live happily ever after >_< ( at least that's what I got from the mysterious ending !! ) but I guess it's a suitable ending for such story ! |
IbtihalWhoJun 18, 2010 2:50 PM
i didn't see a point in including that and the series would've ended much better with just them standing there. now there's just more questions to be asked that won't have answers. series was great and fresh but that ending just makes me beg for answers as to why?????? and ill never know..it's like this itch i can't scratch and its pissing me off, need another series to take my mind off that cliffhanger I think the point is: "You can't escape from the Underworld." Reiji managed to keep his promise to Elen and died immediately after that. Elen's fate is unknown and the watcher is free to decide if she died or continued living. In the VN, Elen's path ends without Reiji getting shoot, but we don't know if they managed to flee from Inferno and acquire normal life. |
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Nayrael said: i didn't see a point in including that and the series would've ended much better with just them standing there. now there's just more questions to be asked that won't have answers. series was great and fresh but that ending just makes me beg for answers as to why?????? and ill never know..it's like this itch i can't scratch and its pissing me off, need another series to take my mind off that cliffhanger I think the point is: "You can't escape from the Underworld." Reiji managed to keep his promise to Elen and died immediately after that. Elen's fate is unknown and the watcher is free to decide if she died or continued living. In the VN, Elen's path ends without Reiji getting shoot, but we don't know if they managed to flee from Inferno and acquire normal life. Fair enough but i reckon it was kind of a troll making them randomly get shot. I mean seriously? A random cart goes past and shoots them? They're supposed to be the best of the best, surely they wouldnt get chased down and killed so easily. How would Inferno find them? They would've made sure as to not leave any traces. To me it just seemed like a cheap way to get more attention for the franchise. I mean, how many people would have decided to see this show after hearing about the controversial ending? I think it'd be quite a few. Imo the VN ending (Road to Cerulean Sky) is infinitely better. |
ryuu_zer0Jul 5, 2010 3:02 AM
ryuu_zer0 said: Fair enough but i reckon it was kind of a troll making them randomly get shot. I mean seriously? A random cart goes past and shoots them? They're supposed to be the best of the best, surely they wouldnt get chased down and killed so easily. How would Inferno find them? They would've made sure as to not leave any traces. Here's my opinion though. It's not really that difficult to trace them. Elen had to go to negotiations just to escape out of Japan. It is not that difficult for the negotiations to leak through. Also if Mio can find traces of Elen's and Reiji's footsteps, how hard is it for the Inferno? They do have long range connections. Which brings to my 2nd point. Reiji and Elen journeyed to many places to find Elen's past right? and to do that they had to find Scythe's past. It's not like they can go to Wikipedia.org to find his past; they did not even know his real name; (both Elen and Reiji called him Scythe Master or Master even after the point Scythe was considered an enemy). They most likely had to question numerous people just to find clues about him and probably at some point the people they asked had some connections with Inferno OR maybe at least the Inferno would have guessed they would try and look up Giuseppe's past and taken the initial questioning. |
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Kracksickles said: ryuu_zer0 said: Fair enough but i reckon it was kind of a troll making them randomly get shot. I mean seriously? A random cart goes past and shoots them? They're supposed to be the best of the best, surely they wouldnt get chased down and killed so easily. How would Inferno find them? They would've made sure as to not leave any traces. Here's my opinion though. It's not really that difficult to trace them. Elen had to go to negotiations just to escape out of Japan. It is not that difficult for the negotiations to leak through. Also if Mio can find traces of Elen's and Reiji's footsteps, how hard is it for the Inferno? They do have long range connections. Which brings to my 2nd point. Reiji and Elen journeyed to many places to find Elen's past right? and to do that they had to find Scythe's past. It's not like they can go to Wikipedia.org to find his past; they did not even know his real name; (both Elen and Reiji called him Scythe Master or Master even after the point Scythe was considered an enemy). They most likely had to question numerous people just to find clues about him and probably at some point the people they asked had some connections with Inferno OR maybe at least the Inferno would have guessed they would try and look up Giuseppe's past and taken the initial questioning. Remember when they lived in Japan for 2 years? They were able to live for two whole years without detection, and they were only found because the Scythe Master and Cal were actively looking for them. It didnt seem like Inferno cared one bit about them as long as they didnt interfere with their operations. So why would they care now? Especially after they took out the Scythe Master for them. A lot of people quote what the Inferno leader said about the young taking over from the old etc and interpret it as "we need to kill Elen and Reiji before they kill us" but he also says "Even if the dream is fleeting there are things we must do" which seemed to me like he was merely reflecting on how what he and Inferno is doing will not last but they will continue for as long as they can. But the point I was trying to make is that a lot of people were left thinking WTF? after watching that last minute of the last episode. It was almost as if the director went "hmmm how can I end this to create controversy...I know lets make them randomly get shot, and we can make the assassin drive a cart! (as a reference to Code Geass?)" It was almost as if it was an afterthought. They are the best of the best. No one can even match up to them. They struck fear into the biggest underworld groups throughout America and overseas, and a regular assassin is able to tail and kill them? If they wanted to kill them off they could've built it up so much better than just adding an extra minute onto the VN ending where they die. Ive seen a few people on MAL say the ending was satisfying, but it just made me go "wtf? what were they thinking when they decided to end it this way?" Just my opinion though. |
ryuu_zer0 said: Kracksickles said: ryuu_zer0 said: Fair enough but i reckon it was kind of a troll making them randomly get shot. I mean seriously? A random cart goes past and shoots them? They're supposed to be the best of the best, surely they wouldnt get chased down and killed so easily. How would Inferno find them? They would've made sure as to not leave any traces. Here's my opinion though. It's not really that difficult to trace them. Elen had to go to negotiations just to escape out of Japan. It is not that difficult for the negotiations to leak through. Also if Mio can find traces of Elen's and Reiji's footsteps, how hard is it for the Inferno? They do have long range connections. Which brings to my 2nd point. Reiji and Elen journeyed to many places to find Elen's past right? and to do that they had to find Scythe's past. It's not like they can go to Wikipedia.org to find his past; they did not even know his real name; (both Elen and Reiji called him Scythe Master or Master even after the point Scythe was considered an enemy). They most likely had to question numerous people just to find clues about him and probably at some point the people they asked had some connections with Inferno OR maybe at least the Inferno would have guessed they would try and look up Giuseppe's past and taken the initial questioning. Remember when they lived in Japan for 2 years? They were able to live for two whole years without detection, and they were only found because the Scythe Master and Cal were actively looking for them. It didnt seem like Inferno cared one bit about them as long as they didnt interfere with their operations. So why would they care now? Especially after they took out the Scythe Master for them. A lot of people quote what the Inferno leader said about the young taking over from the old etc and interpret it as "we need to kill Elen and Reiji before they kill us" but he also says "Even if the dream is fleeting there are things we must do" which seemed to me like he was merely reflecting on how what he and Inferno is doing will not last but they will continue for as long as they can. But the point I was trying to make is that a lot of people were left thinking WTF? after watching that last minute of the last episode. It was almost as if the director went "hmmm how can I end this to create controversy...I know lets make them randomly get shot, and we can make the assassin drive a cart! (as a reference to Code Geass?)" It was almost as if it was an afterthought. They are the best of the best. No one can even match up to them. They struck fear into the biggest underworld groups throughout America and overseas, and a regular assassin is able to tail and kill them? If they wanted to kill them off they could've built it up so much better than just adding an extra minute onto the VN ending where they die. Ive seen a few people on MAL say the ending was satisfying, but it just made me go "wtf? what were they thinking when they decided to end it this way?" Just my opinion though. Right, Inferno probably didn't care as long as they didn't interfere with their operations (even though it is the 2nd time Reiji kinda betrayed Inferno, but hey). However, Reiji and Elen did "interfere" with the Inferno afterwards though. Elen killed the Gondoth group (Sorry forgot what it was spelled), a group of the Inferno. And as for the death of Scythe Master, it wasn't "took out the Scythe Master 'for' them", it was more of a con than a pro. At that point Inferno treated Scythe as an ally. Yes, at one point they did believe that Scythe Master was a traitor, but he was deemed innocent after he had proved that Claudia was truly the one who had betrayed them and tricked him to go against the Inferno. That's why the death of S.M. and his phantom(s) could have had drive the Inferno to go after them since role of assassinations was crucial in bringing Inferno to power. The "Assassin driving a cart", I did not think it was that absurd. They were at the countryside (or however you'd call it). If he really was an assassin he wouldn't be driving a motorcycle or a vehicle or a helicopter and shoot him, he would have to blend in with the surroundings. Sorry I did not make my point clear though. That i can admit. I never said that the death of Reiji was logical nor did I disagree that the ending was as good as the anime overall, I had only made a suggestion how Inferno could trace them both. |
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| Elen died. It was Oxytropis. |
| I think people are forgetting the brief discussion Mr.McGuire has with one of his henchmen during episode 26. He knows that Scythe Master is dead at the hands of Phantom (Ein and Zwei) and is asked what to do about the situation. He muses over the great things that Ein and Zwei did for Inferno and he also says that the "Old System" was killed by "youth" and that Inferno still had things that needed to be done (with the "youth" statement, it implies that something new (youth) is what they need). What is left up in the air is if he considers Ein and Zwei (Elen and Reiji) this new thing, since they now both can conciously make decisions to kill people instead of only following orders, or if they are part of the "old system" that should be killed. So whether he is ordering their assassination or recruitment back into Inferno is left up to interpretation as well... Although we do see that Reiji is shot, he stands for a remarkably long time before collapsing. Even though Elen is laying on the grass motionless and a petal is shown missing from a flower next to her (a poisonous flower... Oxytropia aka Locoweed), we are never shown if they are truly dead. It is a very ambiguous ending because we never see if they are really and truly dead. You could argue that Reiji was shot in a non-lethal location, also... one petal of Oxytropia isn't lethal ^.^ The only thing that is certain is that whatever happened to them, it was done by Inferno on Mr.McGuire's orders. The ambiguous ending is probably on purpose, considering that Requiem for the Phantom is based on a game (a remake of the game using the anime's character designs and seiyuu was just released this summer). If they ever choose to make a sequel to it, leaving the ending up in the air is pretty important... especially if an anime were ever to be based off of it again. But whether or not Reiji and Elen live or die, the most important thing is they reached the end of their personal journeys by finding Elen's home and Reiji fulfilling his last promise... to have her truly smile. We also know that Inferno is still out there, and as long as that is true... so are lots of possibilities. :) |
killbethy said: also... one petal of Oxytropia isn't lethal Thats why i think the whole "eating flower" thing is just a bit absurd. More likely that after the assassin passed out of the camera shot and Elen turned around he took another shot and killed her as well. If that was the case Elen's smile could have been to show a dying Reiji that she didnt have any regrets etc. because she heard the initial gunshot and knew that she was going to die as well. She probably didnt want to live without Reiji anyway (she says something similar to this in one of the episodes). But as you said it really is more about the journey rather than the ending. I still think that what McGwire indicated with his "youth" statement was more about the fleeting nature of his position at Inferno. It seemed more of a reflection that what Inferno is doing (drug trafficking, blackmailing other mafia groups etc) as well as his own position as leader of Inferno will not last but he still has things to do while he still is leader Scythe's death merely reflected to him that people do not stay in power in the criminal world for long. Hence they didn't really make any effort to give us any clues as to the circumstances of Reiji's death as well as if he died at all. What annoyed me is that they followed the VN route quite well up till the end. They even selected an ending from the VN. They had a perfectly good "ambiguous ending" but then they added an extra minute on where the main characters supposedly die. It killed off all the positive "hopeful" momentum they built up leading up to the ending. It seemed forced and thoroughly unoriginal. Ah well, I'm kinda beating on a dead horse here. I guess no amount of posting on this thread will make this ending better in my eyes. Everyone has different interpretations i suppose. Good series, but the ending ruined it for me. |
| So it ended with ALL Phantoms dead =( Ein & Zwei both end up dying at the end (Assume Ein was to at the end) End of Phantom Great show still overall xD |
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| When I saw Zwei fall, my main reaction was "Huh?" I watched it three more times before I was convinced that he had actually died. I don't understand why anyone would think he deserved to die, but I think it was quite necessary. After being immersed in a world of random death for 26 episodes, it just would have been stupid for him to escape it all. I like tragic endings which mess with the viewers' heads, but I was dumbfounded by how awkwardly the thing was pulled off. If you're going to put a death in the last minute of a series, show the gun, then have the sound of a bullet while the screen goes black. The main problem was Ein's smile; it just seems like some idiot got the frames mixed up while putting the episode together. Of course, there is the hilarious possibility that in gaining back her memory, her personality spun off into a different direction and she was happy to finally be rid of that clingy guy. Or...not. As for the possibility of Ein living on: While I don't think this would be the correct ending, it does have some merit. Sure, she escaped from her crippling loyalty to Scythe over the course of the show, but it was just replaced with a reliance on Zwei. Now that she's sitting back in her homeland, maybe she can move past this mental block and find some emotional strength. Otherwise, she'll have died without becoming much stronger than Scythe made her. That being said, who in the world would want to kill one of them, but not the other? |
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I think the reason the driver only shot Reiji was so the finale was the worst possible ending for each of the three characters. The endings are actually bittersweet: Cal - didn't get a happy life but no longer needs to be possessed by Drei (in VN this is much more obvious as there is a whole scene used on that) and confirmed that Reiji does care about her to some extent Reiji - fulfilled Elen's dream but didn0t get a chance to get away from Underworld: the fate didn't let him Elen - finally managed to find her memories and all ghosts of the past are gone. Fate is an ironical bitch so Reiji was unfortunately included as well |
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| I have played game Mafia, the first one, and like 2 or 3 times. So when the end was coming, i thought, naaaah.... it can't be that, DA BIG bad Inferno will let this go, and i thought, wait for it.... waaait for it, pif paf.... there it is.... and unfortunetly he dies. I did wanted to this be a happy ending but afkor it couldn't i wanted to see mini Zwei or Elen :) runing around :) that would be funny :D:D lol I agree with Nayrael... i gues this was the best posible ending :P |
Arazu said: First the ending makes no sense, but when you observe all details it's very sad. Here is my interpretation: Elen and Reiji arrive at the field in daytime. When Elena confirms that this is her homeland, Reiji walks away. What is he doing? You'll see later. Elena never looks back from that moment. They spend all day at this place until twilight but Reiji keeps quietly aside at the edge of the field. He does not enter Elens new life. Not touching this place. Elen does not look back to Reiji (respective her past). Reiji can't become a part of this place. Now Remember you can see and hear the carriage right before Reiji and Elen begin their monologues: Both know what's going to happen. I first wondered if Reiji knew, and who would shoot him? But first, I can't imagine Elen hired someone since she looked verry tired of everything. Second, if someone was hoping Ein would come back and seek revenge, the person wouldn't fire from a carriage. So I think - as the last possibility left - Reiji arranged his death as a last "gift" for Elen. See, they can't go back to their homeland both - they would always be haunted that the other one comes back as phantom. Reiji recognises if he stays with Elen he would always remind her of the past. He knows that Elen can only find peace when she can fully break with her past. So Reiji decided to kill the last piece of her past - himself, so that she can witness it with her own eyes, but still silent and peacefully without destroying her inner peace. That's why he keeps a straight face and his smile when he's shot. As they understand each other, Elen knows and accepts Reijis decision: "These memories are enough for me to continue living" she sais as to confirm that it's ok Reiji's going to die. She rather lifes with only the memories than with Reiji + the fear of the past. She looks relieved and relaxed when she hears the shot. If you take Reijis sentence literally: "In my wrongful life I couldn't fulflil any promises" he didn't fulfil any promise in his life - only in death. "One day, I will..." maybe means he wants to see her smile in heaven. Just when Reiji (and the past) is dying, Elen can finally look back and truly smile for him to prove that he kept his promise and she can live on peacefully now. Then she's going transparent, meaning she lived an unremarkable life and faded away like any normal person. If the flower is Locoweed it's connected to insanity, which would fit to everything Elen had to go through. But even if it's a different flower, I think the it represents her. With the death of Reiji she killed a beloved part of herself (she caresses the flower before ripping out the petal when Reiji dies) but she decided it's better to live on with one petal less that to wither completely. (like the flower in Episode 6). Hold on...so after killing so many people because he wanted to "keep on living" Reiji effectively killed himself? doesnt suit his character if you ask me. The lines that define his character are "i will kill. to keep on living, i will kill." which is completely contradicted by this interpretation of the ending. Also, even though the marriage flag was taken out, Beetrain did follow the route to an ElenxReiji ending. Hence why would Elen, who obviously loves Reiji and says so herself that she was only able to keep on living because of him, just accept his death? Also how is Reiji's death a 'gift' to Elen? How does it benefit her in any way whatsoever? If anything it would just hurt her more. |
| Reiji killed himself? He gotta have some awesome telekinetic abilities to kill himself with a gun and without moving a muscle. |
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tatsu361 said: I checked it and in the game, him getting killed is not part of the ending. the ending was in the game ends when she turns around and laughs no surprise gunshot. i guess they just put it in there to kill an extra half minute of screen time they had. its the one called road of cerulean sky http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_of_Inferno exactly. i got the impression that this was just to fill in the extra time as well. Why Beetrain did u have to mess with a perfectly good ending????? |
ryuu_zer0 said: tatsu361 said: I checked it and in the game, him getting killed is not part of the ending. the ending was in the game ends when she turns around and laughs no surprise gunshot. i guess they just put it in there to kill an extra half minute of screen time they had. its the one called road of cerulean sky http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_of_Inferno exactly. i got the impression that this was just to fill in the extra time as well. Why Beetrain did u have to mess with a perfectly good ending????? Serious? that is major bullshit then.! |
| LET JUSTICE BE DONE; THOUGH THE HEAVENS MAY FALL |
| I think the ending was just done that way because Beetrain wanted to piss people off with an ambious ending, personally don't think they're dead(if you can survive from getting shot multiple times and falling into the ocean and surviving) one bullet wouldn't kill you and there isn't any visual proof, just implications. This is my view of what happens after the ending with them breaking the 4th wall. Elen: "Reiji, holy crap you've been shot! Are you ok?" Reiji: "Yeah, I somehow survived, if 5 bullets can't kill me, did you think one would do it? What the hell was that all about anyway?" Elen: "I think it was just to make people think you actually died." Reiji: "Yeah, who wouldn't get pissed if I kicked the bucket after all I went through. What's with the flower petal?" Elen: "It looks pretty, I wanna keep it even though it is supposedly poisonous, I bet people actually thought I ingested it and killed myself. How stupid are they?" Reiji: "Yeah, they're idiots if they think you'll do that. Let's go home." That's most likely what Beetrain was aiming for, to piss people off. |
ZakuHeadSep 14, 2010 12:27 PM
| ^I lol'd. Great interpretation xD |
| Protip: I don't really check the forums anymore, so if you want something, take it on my profile. Is it time for my long-awaited return to the forums? щ(ﾟДﾟщ) Nope™, probably not. |
GunDumb90 said: I think the ending was just done that way because Beetrain wanted to piss people off with an ambious ending, personally don't think they're dead(if you can survive from getting shot multiple times and falling into the ocean and surviving) one bullet wouldn't kill you and there isn't any visual proof, just implications. This is my view of what happens after the ending with them breaking the 4th wall. Elen: "Reiji, holy crap you've been shot! Are you ok?" Reiji: "Yeah, I somehow survived, if 5 bullets can't kill me, did you think one would do it? What the hell was that all about anyway?" Elen: "I think it was just to make people think you actually died." Reiji: "Yeah, who wouldn't get pissed if I kicked the bucket after all I went through. What's with the flower petal?" Elen: "It looks pretty, I wanna keep it even though it is supposedly poisonous, I bet people actually thought I ingested it and killed myself. How stupid are they?" Reiji: "Yeah, they're idiots if they think you'll do that. Let's go home." That's most likely what Beetrain was aiming for, to piss people off. LOL - best interpretation ive heard so far Thats what I thought when I watched it as well. As soon as I saw the cart I thought it was Beetrain trolling us with a reference to Code Geass XD |
| Shit! Haters going to hate, that was a bad ass ending. |
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| OH GOD SO GOOD |
| I'd love the ending if not for it only ending how it did for shock value. In stories like this, where the leads dye their hands with the blood of countless others, there's never going to be a TRULY realistic happy ending, and the stories of two assassins ending in assassination is somehow poetic. But Ein turning around looking all happy, after hearing Reiji fall to the ground, just seemed so... unnatural; especially when she's so skilled and alert. It would've been great if the assassin had been shown and he/she had been forgotten about by everyone, earlier on. That would've been a truly surprising ending with some thought put in. Once Cal died, the story could only ever end satisfyingly if everyone died. She was such a lonely and sad character that her death scene made me cry, and Reiji killing her instead of doing the typical heroic savior thing made it hard for me to be happy about only him and Ein walking off into the sunset. All the 'good' characters in Phantom were tragic, but seeing Cal's transition from innocent to psychotic - all because of a misunderstanding deepening her abandonment wounds - made her almost pitiful. Throughout the story, Ein never really did enough for me to love her. Aside from setting up the EPIC third and final arc, the second arc made her character annoying; the way she once again reverted to being a mindless slave, knowing full well Reiji was alive, being no more than an excuse to drag the drama out. And the way she did a 180 and decided to go together with Reiji after all that was pretty odd. I LOVED the tension that built over the course of the story, but one thing that ticked me off was how characters kept coming back from the grave in-between the arcs. Episode 10 was BY FAR the worst offender in this regard - Ein surviving a bullet through the chest/heart + falling into the ocean and Reji surviving THREE bullets to the chest + falling into the ocean. And that followed ten minutes of Reiji doing some kind of zombie dance as he pursued Scythe Master... only to, all too predictably, fail to kill him; SOMEHOW allowing Ein to get between him and his bullet. I'm probably being a little harsh considering I'm typing about an adaptation of what was originally an erotic game but still - it irritated me. The pacing was slow throughout but there was always a tension in the air that prevented me from feeling bored. The first, introductory arc never seemed slow because everything was new and Reiji was dealing with his first taste of his new life. The second arc did drag a fair bit but it was nice to see some follow through in terms of Claudia's plotting coming back to haunt her, and Cal's character ended up making the final arc superb. Even the last arc moved at slow pace, with little happening between Cal's reintroduction and the grand finale, but I was too into the Ein-Drei drama to care. Typing of 'following through', one of the things I liked the most about the series was how the past actions of the characters came back to bite them in the arse, eventually - karma at its best. On top of Claudia getting punished by Scythe Master for attempting to remove him from the picture, Lizzie failing to kill Cal because of how much guilt she felt over killing Claudia made Claudia's execution relevant to events near the end; maybe even adding some closure to the Claudia-Lizzie relationship. And, of course, there's obviously the Cal misunderstanding in the second part that lead to the drama in part three. ...So, yeah: on the whole, the series was very satisfying. The pacing could've been better - in the middle, in particular - and there were far too many fatal wounds that weren't actually fatal, but it had me on edge of my seat throughout. Gripping, easy to marathon crime drama - definite top ten worthy material. Anything that makes me cry near the end - when I'm usually bored stiff/want to finish - is worthy of a 9+/10 score. One other thing: did anyone else not know whether to be in awe of Reiji's new, suit-wearing/Claudia-sexing self at the start of the second arc or laugh? His hip-hop theme reminded me of Spiderman 3 and THAT dance, for whatever reason. Pimp Zwei FTW. |
AironicallyHumanOct 17, 2010 2:48 AM
| Honestly, I don't think anyone can ever really know what happened at the end; that's probably how it was meant to be. Someone probably thought it would cause a stir like it already has and make people seek out the answers they are hoping for. I do feel that there is no way either of them would actually be killed off in the last seconds of the series. If that was the case, Reiji would've talked about finally completing his promise instead of not being able to finish any. I wouldn't look too much into the solo gunshot at the end. It's the series' way of stiring debate and getting people excited for the new xbox 360 release that is scheduled to come out soon. And Yes, I will be purchasing the remake. |
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