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Thank you for the replay and don't worry about writing a wall of text.

It sound like your biggest issue with the show has to do with what is binding the main characters to Inferno/Scythe Master. I will start by breaking down Ein and Zwei. This is all said with the knowledge that Inferno is a global network of Mafia's, gangs and killers that will not accept people cutting themselves loose. especially assassins with loads of dirt on them.

Ein, having been taken, brain washed, trained and forced to kill, has lost all purpose to live. The shreads of her self, her morals, are overshadowed by the knowledge that she is a cold blooded killer. Her coping mechanism and the reason she stays with Scythe Master, even after Zwei saves her, is that killing under orders allows her to rationalize away some of the emotional weight received from killing. To Ein, Scythe Master offers a reason to exist. Twisted as it is, her other option is to cave in under the emotional stress as she kills bounty hunters chasing after her for defecting. Knowing that she would break from that kind of pressure, her will to live demands she stay with Scythe Master.

Now Zwei. Zwei, like Ein, was also striped of himself in the same manner but unlike Ein, he was forced to make choices and creating his own purpose to live. He was given two choices by Claudia, kill for her, or return to his past life. Now here is where you might be saying, "he could have just run away and done his own thing". It is important to consider the physiological pressure being placed on him. From the moment he could remember he was being told he was a killer. The memories he gained back after discovering who he was only proved to compound the guilt he felt. If i remember right, he stated during that scene that he had no other skill sets and killing was all he knew. In his eyes, his options where to kill for inferno or escape and kill for someone else as a hired gun. Seeing no escape from violence he chose to stay with Claudia.

Enter Claudia's betrayal. Zwei gains a new purpose while saving Ein allowing him to see more options that just killing. Though affection for Zwei began to grow inside Ein during this time, it was not enough to abandon the emotional security Scythe master offered. Over the next 6 months of recovery those feelings began to blossom. Between those feelings and Scythe Masters displeasure towards her due to those feelings she was finally ready to leave everything behind when she encountered Zwei again.

I will write more when i get the chance. Till then this is what i have.

I wanted to respond to your review of Phantom but wasn't sure how. Hence i ended up here.

Firstly i am a big fan of Phantom. That said, i will try my best to put aside my biases while i try to explain some of the story that you may have misunderstood.

1. The training facility. In your review you stated that zwei could have left the facility since there was nothing stopping him. This is not the case. The lack of walls is made up for by the miles of barren desert. Had he attempted to cross the chances of survival would have been slim even with a backpack full of supplies. This is not even considering the guard. From the very start of the show the audience is made aware of zwei's terror towards ein. Even after she begins training him he is still conscious of the threat she poses on his life. If he ran he wouldn't make it far before she tracked him down and killed him.

2. The plot functions under the tension of hierarchical power (inferno/other mofia's) and a struggle to uphold moral values. The beauty of the show is that there isn't any good guy/bad guy complex. well.... for the most part.... (scythe master). With each character introduced, the viewer also get glimpses at what that character desires and the moral restrictions placed on them because of those desires. Lizzy is the best example of this. Being one of Infernos dogs, she did plenty to be considered a horrible person while at the same time having "a line that I just wont cross" that garners respect from the viewers. I personally found nearly all the cast to be extremely refreshing because of the relatively realistic personalities assigned to each. ein and scythe master are the only personalities i don't feel i could run into in real life. This isn't your ordinary Shounen. People cant just scream, hit things really hard and through the power of friendship make it ok somehow. The show requires you to be fully invested in the character dialog as 25% of the shows meaning is inferred rather than plainly stated.

Despite all the praise i give the show, i do agree that there are issue with it. First of there is a lot of overly drawn out scenes in the show, making for a less than smooth story telling (this is a compliant i have with many anime like it). The introduction of drei, when the setting shifted to japan, felt very forced. The reasons for her hatred needed to be displayed within the first two episodes of her showing up instead of right her arc is over. there are a few more nit picky things but i have already written more than i expected.

I hope that this little rant of mine has helped you to see this show in a better light. Thanks for putting up with me,

GaugeII

Tell me about it, Haruhi is probably the only character I actually wanted to punch and make her suffer.