HandsomeMan said:ramenshoujo said: I'll carry on watching with the censors and hopefully the action will stay alright.
There are plenty of better anime out there that focus on action.... [Although] I personally am interested in the world and story behind valkyrie drive, that never came first not for the writers nor producers of the show.
The thing about the ecchi in this show is that it is NOT gratuitous; it's central to the very well put together plot.
There are all sorts of little details that push the ecchi beyond mere eye candy.
One example: The little subbie who is Saijima's (eyepatch) Exter in Merei and Mamori's first episode arena duel.
When Mamori objects to Saijima's treatment of the girl (does anyone have a name for her?) she says, "Don't get any strange ideas; this is a necessary ritual. Otherwise, she can't get aroused." (And then, after the meek little Exter transitions to her formidable if ridiculous Arm form, Saijima adds, "Not bad for a slut who'll do anyone!")
Skip to Ep 2, where Mamori gets "married", that is, is introduced to a "trainer" who will Drive her to check compatibility. When Mamori rejects her advances, she gets the same crazed look in her eyes that Saijima had, if not quite so strongly. "My techniques don't work," she says, hurt and angry. "So that's how your body works? Then I'll have to excite you in a different way...a form of pleasure called pain!"
This makes it clear that Saijima' Exter is not necessarily a "Hardcore masochist," she's likely a gentle, straight girl like Mamori, only more so, who didn't respond to lesbian rape. She's been given to a monster like Saijima, then abused and passed around to like minded sadists. It's not that she can't get aroused; it's that she doesn't want to be, not like this.
Also, that "trainers" are not teachers of fighting technique; they break girls who don't submit properly. (I wonder how Liberators are found.)
The show is full of little jolts like this; nothing is simple, nothing is straightforward.
This is an island full of middle and high school girls, taken against their will, with nothing to do but fight and screw. The atmosphere is poisonous.
If you are lucky enough to find a partner you can trust, especially if you're the Exter, good.
Otherwise, your life is unending misery and boredom, sparked with violent lust and battle for no good end--except if you don't fight, either another mated paid kills you, or the virus does.
(I really, really hope that when Mirei broke S's Exter, that it implied freeing her, and not killing her. I hope we find out. I note that the pair that Mirei and Mamori fought on the beach are the ones who beat Mirei in the basement cell, so losing a battle while in Drive doesn't necessarily mean death. But what if Seijima had smashed Mamori's head in before Mirei's rescue? Seijima's eyepatch suggests that these fights have consequences, as do punishments exacted when not in Drive.)
Which is awful, if that's all this show is about, and I'll feel slimy for watching it and supporting it.
But I suspect that this is the slavery that Mirei came to Mermaid to break. This is not some external enemy being fought, nor empty academy matches. This is a real fight for freedom and dignity, and I'm enthralled.
The characters aren't cardboard cutouts, either.
And! And! Boobs with nipples! Yuri sex! Love and hate and romance and lust!
For cheap thrills, this show delivers like no other I've ever watched.
This is no Spartacus, but it ain't bad, and I'll take yuri ecchi over chariot races any day of the week.
(The best part? No spineless males constantly apologizing to girls for stuff the girl herself caused. I hate that, and if it keeps up in Cavalry, the other show I'm watching this season, it's gonna be dropped.) |