Aria the Scarlet Ammo (Hidan no Aria) Discussion Thread

[Suwako Moriya]

In this anime we have a lovely girl with pink twin tails. Also, she's holding a gun. Regardless, she appeals to me.

ANN Entry (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=11451)

Official Site 1 (http://www.tbs.co.jp/anime/aria/)

Official Site 2 (http://www.mediafactory.co.jp/bunkoj/aria/index.html)


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[Westlo]

PV3 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhY6HFUeZfQ)
PV2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRM1DDjPLuA)

[superdry]

I've read someone mentioned this like Shana with guns.

The main female character already intrigued me - twintails, guns and voiced by Kugimiya? Sign me up.

[Westlo]

A 1:48 min long PV is out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dTWfuip5Ro

[Isuzu Inugami]

A 1:48 min long PV is out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dTWfuip5Ro

Ooh! She rates music by Sheryl Nome! ^^

But where's her gondola? And I don't recognize that area of Neo-Venezia at all!

[Suwako Moriya]

A 1:48 min long PV is out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dTWfuip5Ro

Ooh! She rates music by Sheryl Nome! ^^

But where's her gondola? And I don't recognize that area of Neo-Venezia at all!

I have a better question. When will she turn into a sword?

[HitokiriShadow]

Kugimiya Rie~!! And she's costarring with Junji Majima (Ryuuji from Toradora).
So, we start off with a guy on a bike... being chased by scooter-mounted machine gun. Then a girl parachutes off a building, shoots said machine gun, hangs upside down from the parachute to knock him off the bike and catch him.

...That was one of the most ridiculous first episodes of anime I've ever seen. Ridiculously awesome. Between the Hysteria mode and the entire premise about heavily armed high school students, the show could very, very easily be really stupid or just phone things in. But it was a hell of a lot of fun. And that was one hooker of an opening scene. Utter lunacy, utterly awesome.

Aria is... well, she's a Kugimiya Rie character. With Guns. AND Katanas. In other words, she's heavily concentrated awesomeness and cuteness. She's also pretty much Kugimiya Rie: The Animated Character. There is no doubt in my mind that the original author had her in mind when he made this character. I can also practically *feel* the collective internet Kugimiya Hate Train bearing down the tracks. And they can go fuck themselves. Like I said, she's cute and awesome, and hits all the right notes for me. She sure as hell doesn't feel stereotypical at all, thanks to the energy Kugimiya brings to the role.

And Kinji... He's voiced by Majima Junji (Ryuuji of Toradora), which I instantly recognized and amused me greatly. This isn't Shana with guns, its Toradora with guns. Anyway, male leads tend to suck, but I'm really liking him so far. I'm not a fan of sudden personality switches, and it looks like we'll deal with his a lot, but.... I actually didn't mind it at all. It worked pretty well. I guess it helps that his alternate personality is a bad ass.

Shirayuki is the only other girl that got any real attention or was properly introduced, but I sense a lot of fun and awesome girls in the class.

Also..... "I just wanted to have a normal life" You go to a school that *requires* you to wear a bulletproof school uniform and carry weaponry. You don't get to say that line!

Edit: ED music is okay, but I love the animation for it.

[Fencedude]

Holy shit.

Just...goddamn. I had no idea what this was going in, but it was fucking awesome.

Aria is the most Kugimiya Rie character ever, and Kinji is the most Majima Junji character ever.

And this is also the most JC Staff anime ever.

So yeah. Awesomesauce.

[hissatsu]

My definition of awesome must be broken. I though it was insufferable. Annoying/stupid and eye roll inducing in almost every way. That and I really think JC Staff is getting lazier over time. More and more ugly CG, more still frames being shaken about and barely animated pans. I can't say anything good except the OP was nice, but I think May'n is to be credited for that. I'm done with this show.

[EmperorBrandon]

I think Riko was my favorite character so far, even if it was a short appearance. She seems like she's going to be pretty amusing and may be an otaku of some sort.

[Fencedude]

I think Riko was my favorite character so far, even if it was a short appearance. She seems like she's going to be pretty amusing and may be an otaku of some sort.

Also Ise Mariya. Which gives anyone automatic bonus awesome points.

[Westlo]

My definition of awesome must be broken. I though it was insufferable. Annoying/stupid and eye roll inducing in almost every way. That and I really think JC Staff is getting lazier over time. More and more ugly CG, more still frames being shaken about and barely animated pans. I can't say anything good except the OP was nice, but I think May'n is to be credited for that. I'm done with this show.

Only watched upto the OP but I thought the opening scene was just..... bland as fuck. Came off looking really cheap as well... I thought J.C Staff would've put some budget into this in hopes off getting another franchise going. wtf is going on with J.C Staff these days.. Bakuman was totally low budget (NHKs fault from what I heard), Index II's production values were way lower than 1 and than this happens.. sure the rest of the episode may be good but you gotta have a good opening scene....

May'ns OP otoh was great. I'll get around to watching the rest, only wanted to see what the OP was like (was going to do the same for Denpa but knowing SHAFT the OP could be @ the 15th min mark....), but if the stuff before it was interesting enough I would've watched the entire episode like I did with AnoHana. Aria looks 10x better in that dress in the OP than that school uniform as well.

[angelx03]

I am not feeling this at all especially not helped with Rie Kugimiya voicing ANOTHER thigh-high wearing, small-chested tsundere girl. And the action scenes........ya know there exists a line between looking badass and TRYING to look badass, and that whole Segway shootout is really teetering on that if it weren't for the main male character going all ALPHA mode on it. :relief:

[Johnny]

Well that was going pretty normally until a gun and knife were required for school :P Really enjoyed that episode, will definitely be sticking with this one.

Also, lol @ the rush of blood and :nosebleed: @ the Zettai Ryouiki!

[bear]

Aria is... well, she's a Kugimiya Rie character. With Guns. AND Katanas. In other words, she's heavily concentrated awesomeness and cuteness.

Don't forget the twintails!

[HitokiriShadow]

Aria is... well, she's a Kugimiya Rie character. With Guns. AND Katanas. In other words, she's heavily concentrated awesomeness and cuteness.

Don't forget the twintails!

And some tiny little ribbons that look like tiny horns. But more importantly, thigh highs.

[bear]

Aria is... well, she's a Kugimiya Rie character. With Guns. AND Katanas. In other words, she's heavily concentrated awesomeness and cuteness.

Don't forget the twintails!

And some tiny little ribbons that look like tiny horns. But more importantly, thigh highs.

Dang, forgot the fang....

[strangefour]

-Oh great, another male lead who think he's is the next genre savy sarcastic Kyon.
-Being chased by a Segue with an uzi... okaaay.
-Peddle faster mister you are so not Kintaro Oe. Study!
-Twintails, check. Thighhighs, check. School uniform, check. Pink hair, check. I bet she has a fang and occasional has a vocal tick to round out the cliches.
-Skynet has resorted to Segues and booby trapped bicycles?
-Sheryl Nome OP? Sherlock Holmes subway?

-So if guns were legal in Japan, high school kids would all become the Punisher.
-Food delivery, gratuitous boobs, getting dresses, checking email. This show has been trying to bore me for 5 minutes. Sure boobs are nice. But they aren't even trying to be subtle or playful with the cleavage shots.
-THRILL as he misses his bus. EXCITEMENT as he has to bike to school. Zzzz.
-Okay did he just steal this bike without looking? Who doesn't notice something stuck to their bike big enough to be a bomb that was never there before?

-So this is a Blackwater mercenary school. Okaaaay.
-Noticing her name and push up bra that turns down his libido is the only interesting thing so far.
-Alright an army of uzi bearing Segues is kind of neat.
-No dude, they aren't soft, the bra is soft.
-So this guy is a bipolar Punisher.
-Aaaaaand after he has a moment of awesome the girl becomes very annoying.
-So this wants to be relatively realistic about firearms, but stupid about everything else.
-She moves in and makes him her slave. Ya know what fuck this shit. I'm done.

Well this is the worst show of the season for me. Makes A Channel and Lotte's Toy look much better by plot compairison (A Channel still has wrong looking character designs and Lotte remains creepy). It's like someone went just picked a dozen anime cliches from TV Tropes and glued them into a "story." There are predictable boring beach party, a trip to an onsen, someone becoming a waitress for a day, a ghost story and every other over used episode on the horizon for this show.

I'm not adverse to cliches. But you have to have fun with them. Like Kore wa Zombie Desu ka, that show had fun with tropes. A promised beach episode turned into a musical idol battle. This... man this just takes a trope, does it with no finesse, and expects you to roll over for a precocious twintails with anger management issues. No. Dropped.

[superdry]

Okay. I wasn't too excited with the episode. Somewhat amusing, yes. Awesome, probably not (Denpa Onna was awesome...bizarrely awesome). What is up with the villain that wants to chase people with uzi mounted Segues?

What is making the show good for me is Aria - her design and all the cute cliches you can throw together + Rie Kugimiya as her VA - Godlike. I am also interested in Kinji's schizophrenia and the background behind it.

Oh, right...Kinji - yes, a woman's breasts feel soft, but in Aria's case, what you felt was bra padding. >D

[strangefour]

Holy shit.

Just...goddamn. I had no idea what this was going in, but it was fucking awesome.

Aria is the most Kugimiya Rie character ever, and Kinji is the most Majima Junji character ever.

And this is also the most JC Staff anime ever.

So yeah. Awesomesauce.

I get the feeling we watched two completely different episodes.

The animation quality was okay. Character designs were not bad but exceedingly average. Kugimiya Rie I don't have a bias for either way ("Burning" Arisa Banning; good! Loli in a bucket Alphonse Elric; bad!). Her voice was okay, Aria as a character was annoying.

But the story cobbled together from tv tropes and some pieces of twine was not engaging. The pacing of the scene in Kinji's apartment was atrocious. Five minutes of getting ready to go to school stuff and two obnoxiously obvious breast shots. Yawn.

Okay the Segues assassin drones are a cool idea. But only for one episode.

[Suwako Moriya]

Over all the episode was pretty nice. One part that stood out for me was Aria's reaction to the idea of being lovers. Instead of just a typical "We're not lovers", she seems to flat out dislike the idea of love in general.

Well, maybe she was just trying to evade the issue by making it look like she was just generally against love instead of having to make a specific answer toward Kinji.

I love how she transfers to his cast with the intent of being in the same class and then decides to come to his home. Of course, she's going to use the excuse of "I need to be near you to complete the mission" As such with this and her earlier actions we have the tsundere stuff activated.


Aria is... well, she's a Kugimiya Rie character. With Guns. AND Katanas. In other words, she's heavily concentrated awesomeness and cuteness. She's also pretty much Kugimiya Rie: The Animated Character. There is no doubt in my mind that the original author had her in mind when he made this character.

Thus explaining for me the reason why she clicked for me. Given the way her character turned out, I'm definitely glad they made use of Kugimiya Rie for it. Both because she fits and I like hearing her on occasion. Go figure on that one.


I can also practically *feel* the collective internet Kugimiya Hate Train bearing down the tracks. And they can go fuck themselves. Like I said, she's cute and awesome, and hits all the right notes for me. She sure as hell doesn't feel stereotypical at all, thanks to the energy Kugimiya brings to the role.

They're just not worthy. That's all it is. What? In all seriousness, it actually doesn't matter to me if the role is stereotypical or not. Simply because I never believed in things like "Stereotypical is an automatic negative".

[Suwako Moriya]

Aria is... well, she's a Kugimiya Rie character. With Guns. AND Katanas. In other words, she's heavily concentrated awesomeness and cuteness.

Don't forget the twintails!

And some tiny little ribbons that look like tiny horns. But more importantly, thigh highs.

Dang, forgot the fang....

I was about to ask myself. What makes her hot and awesome? I think with this I have all the answers needed. Although I wouldn't mind bonus answers.

[Ashyukun]

Put me on the side of thoroughly enjoying the episode. Sure, it had it's flaws... The first apartment scene WAS horribly paced and dragged out, and so far the girl involved there holds no interest for me at all. Aria is awesome, for reasons already stated. Kinji isn't bad, but it's odd seeing/hearing the flip from meek loser to PRESIDENT'S ORDERS and it not being Fukuyama's voice. The other girls look like they have potential- and therein lies to me where the show will succeed or fall flat. I definitely enjoy Kugimiya characters, but they're rarely that good without a really strong secondary cast.

[Fencedude]

Kinji isn't bad, but it's odd seeing/hearing the flip from meek loser to PRESIDENT'S ORDERS and it not being Fukuyama's voice.

Hah, yeah. You'd really expect it to be Fukuyama Jun. No one does stuff like that better than he does.

[something]

Episode 1:

- Ku-Gi-Mi-Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! And haha that was... that was an opening. A scooter. With a gun. And a bike with a bomb on it. And a cute twintailed Kugimiya girl jumps off a building, pulls out a parachute and does ridiculous things. Yeah this show is stupid, and awesome. Points off for the CG though.
- I love her design, typical though it may be. And the little hair horns! Liking the shot at the station with the while one piece.

- Oh, right. Of course Kinji is Majima Junji. OF COURSE.
- An easily flustered Takahashi Mikako character.
- "Here's your bulletproof uniform." o_O
- And back to the opening scene.
- Mmmm, delicious Aria eyecatch.

- What the hell? The bra seems to be covering her breasts so why was it censored?
- Oh right. A bulletproof vaulting horse.
- Wow, Kinji gets really fucking annoying when he goes into "Hysteria Mode". At least he totally realizes what a dipshit it makes him, and it's not put forth as a good thing. But I'm not sure if that will make it much less irritating to watch.

- And of course she's in his class. =D Might be a couple fun classmates but we don't see enough yet to know.

Heh. This is, like, SUPER JC STAFF. Seems unlikely to be one of the best things they've done but I can totally see myself watching just for the casting and in-jokes.

[Draneor]

That was amazing. I'd say it's tied with Dog Days for the best anime I've watched of the season. Kugyuu is amazing--I'd put her performance up there with Louise/Shana/Iori. Aria is so moe.~~ I love having Kugimiya Disease. Yay for twin tails! Yay for tsun! Yay for dere! Yay for Kugyuu having all three!

Shirayuki was also a great osananajimi. Kin-chan should let you take care of him more.

Only issue I had was the shadows. Sigh. I dislike watching censored anime but yet how do I know if I want to buy it if I don't watch it? I don't think it was excessive in this episode, but if it gets too much I may just have to wait for the BD version.

Ah, so Kobuichi was the illustrator for Tenshin Ranman ~ Happy or Unlucky!. I thought I recognized the style.

[bci110]

Aria is the most Kugimiya Rie character ever, and Kinji is the most Majima Junji character ever.



Taiga with guns? What a spitfire Aria is :bigsmile: !

But I though the first episode was pretty enjoyable. Love the pacing of the action, though I do agree that the early scenes with Kinji and Shirayuki were dragged out a bit. Rest of the supporting cast looks pretty awesome.

[TheGreenMan]

I'd love to be in the booth with Kugamiya when she does this. I'd die laughing.
Kugamiya couldn't get more Kugamiya with this character.
Majima Junji and Rie Kugamiya should just marry each other in real life.
The plot of this show is one of the most LOL I've ever seen. Hey, let's train kids to be mercenaries.
Oh, so he learned from the smiling senshi school of shooting.

[bci110]

The plot of this show is one of the most LOL I've ever seen. Hey, let's train kids to be mercenaries.

Doesn't that remind you of Gunslinger Girl a little bit? Perhaps this is a more light-hearted version of it.

[Sly05]

It's very action packed. The attitude of the main character during hyper mode kind of annoyed me though. Rather than being chivalrous, telling the highly competent girl who just rescued you that she shouldn't worry her pretty little head about fighting comes across as condescending to me.

Aria is a pretty standard JCstaff Rie Kugimiya heroine down to the obsession with a particular food (judging from the next ep preview, at least), but Kugimiya does such a fantastic job with these kind of roles its at least easy to forgive it for not being particularly original. I'm not expecting a whole lot more than a decent action show out of this, but I will at least stick with it for now.

[Ashyukun]

It's very action packed. The attitude of the main character during hyper mode kind of annoyed me though. Rather than being chivalrous, telling the highly competent girl who just rescued you that she shouldn't worry her pretty little head about fighting comes across as condescending to me.

Oh, definitely- and he realizes it too when not in that mode, which is part of why I'm OK with it. There's little doubt that trying to gain some active control over it will be a good part of the plot...

[Sly05]

Oh, definitely- and he realizes it too when not in that mode, which is part of why I'm OK with it. There's little doubt that trying to gain some active control over it will be a good part of the plot...
The fact that he was true personality was conscious of it made it a bit more palatable but the fact that Aria fell for him because of it was kind of lame. I guess how often its pulled out as a convenient plot device and how long it takes for him to master the skills while losing the obnoxious alternate personality will determine my patience with it.

[Draneor]

So Aria is basically Index. But she look so cute when she's eating I don't care. :)
And yes. If you don't like her forehead, you aren't worthy to be human.

And you better not lie to Shirayuki, Kin-chan. Shirayuki doesn't like lies. ^^

Oh, and the cute blond girl is named Riko. I definitely agree with her customized uniform. And she has questionable interests. And an information network. Definitely in love.

[HitokiriShadow]

Oh yeah, Riko's as fun as I expected.

I don't care much for Shirayuki though. Yandere mode is okay, but she's just not doing much for me overall. I don't dislike her, she's just... there.

This was a much slower paced episode and it was basically just Kinji and Aria learning about and adjusting to one another. A solid follow up to the first episode, but it doesn't leave much to talk about or really indicate where the show is going. I enjoyed it though. It's an example of generic and cliched scenes and situations done well, so they're still entertaining even though I've seen very similar scenes play out hundreds of times before.

[bci110]

And yes. If you don't like her forehead, you aren't worthy to be human.

I don't see anything wrong with her forehead :P . She's fine just the way she is.

Good episode to set up the living arrangements and some background into Aria. I see why EB likes that Riko chick - she's pretty fun and has a great personality. Plus she can provide useful information. I'm starting to like her, too.

[Fencedude]

Its pretty funny watching this show go down the Light Novel Cliche Checklist.

Still, well done, so its not bad.

Riko is win, and I loved Shirayuki's Yandere face.

[Johnny]

Well, not too much happened in this episode, but it was nice to see and learn more about the central characters. Still enjoying it.

[superdry]

So Aria is basically Index. But she look so cute when she's eating I don't care. :)


Don't most tsundere characters voiced by Kugimiya look cute when eating or stuttering? Aria also reminds me of Shana too.

The bath scene when Kinji see's Aria naked...I thought "wait...this looks exactly like the scene when Yuji sees Shana practically naked in his room." It's like JC Staff decided to recycle some material. Whatever.

Seeing Aria acting cute was all I needed to watch.

[Draneor]

It's like JC Staff decided to recycle some material. Whatever.

I think it's more that event occurs in every light novel. It's basically mandatory.

[superdry]

It's like JC Staff decided to recycle some material. Whatever.

I think it's more that event occurs in every light novel. It's basically mandatory.

That I understand. It was the pose, face and camera angle that seemed to be a little too uncanny. It's not a jab at JC Staff anyways.

[superdry]

Aria is too goddamn cute. I see she likes cat plushies. Why are there so many cute girls this season?

I liked the nyan song playing in the background when Kinji and Aria were playing the crane game. They make a cute couple.

So, the butei killer is up to his/her usual tricks...mounted uzi's from a John Woo movie unless, as I couldn't catch it, the thing was using an extended magazine. And, a bomb on a moving vehicle. What is this SPEED?

The first 10 minutes or so is what I liked. The rest...eh, as it was practically what happened in episode 1. At least from the preview, the next episode should be a little more exciting.

[HitokiriShadow]

Apparently Aria has a gravity defying skirt. And Reki's seems to be wind resistant. Or maybe they both just glue their skirts to their legs when they go on missions? Can't expose themselves to the 4th wall and all that.

And that was a pretty absurd shot Reki made. Though she really should have been aiming well ahead of where the bomb was, not directly at it, since in fraction of a second it took for the bullet to go from the end of the barrel to the target destination, the bus (and the bomb) would have moved at least a few dozen feet forward.

While the guys get bullet-proof jackets, exactly what kind of protection to the girls' uniforms have? Because it sure didn't protect Aria's arms. Some of the girls on the bus seemed to get sprayed with machine gun bullets and not get hurt though. On that note, it bugged me how the only passengers on the bus that were trying to do something about the situation were the guys, while not a single girl did anything but sit there and cower in fear.

[Fencedude]

That was a truly ridiculous shot.

Actually, this entire show is completely ridiculous.

And WTF at the magic skirts.

[bear]

And that was a pretty absurd shot Reki made. Though she really should have been aiming well ahead of where the bomb was, not directly at it, since in fraction of a second it took for the bullet to go from the end of the barrel to the target destination, the bus (and the bomb) would have moved at least a few dozen feet forward.

Yeah, it was a ridiculously hard shot, but remember she's in a helicopter moving parallel to the bus so the bullets going to have a lateral speed equal to the helicopter's so it's not a simple lead based on the bus's speed. Then you've also got lateral drag from the air, plus threading the vertical posts on the bridge to consider.

[Johnny]

So Kinji gets his first case...which is instantly familiar :sweat:
Aria has a soft side, even if at the minute it is just for plushies :P And Reki saves the day with a crazy shot!

Still enjoying this, just hoping it picks up from here on.

[bear]

Aria is too goddamn cute. I see she likes cat plushies. Why are there so many cute girls this season?

I liked the nyan song playing in the background when Kinji and Aria were playing the crane game. They make a cute couple.


It sounds like she's not going to be around for much longer from the conversation at the end, so she's trying to stop the Butei-killer before she goes. So that appears to be the real reason she is so intent on getting Kinji's help.:cry:

[superdry]

Aria is too goddamn cute. I see she likes cat plushies. Why are there so many cute girls this season?

I liked the nyan song playing in the background when Kinji and Aria were playing the crane game. They make a cute couple.


It sounds like she's not going to be around for much longer from the conversation at the end, so she's trying to stop the Butei-killer before she goes. So that appears to be the real reason she is so intent on getting Kinji's help.:cry:

I wasn't sure what to make of that. Does she have some incurable disease, has to leave Japan soon or because she's a Butei her life expectancy has dropped already? I guess we'll find out soon.

[Ashyukun]

I wasn't sure what to make of that. Does she have some incurable disease, has to leave Japan soon or because she's a Butei her life expectancy has dropped already? I guess we'll find out soon.
My guess is that it's not something life-threatening, but that she has to find a partner within a certain amount of time or she has to quit being a Butei or that her aristocratic family will marry her off (or both)...

[bear]

WTF! Aria's mom is in jail for 800+ years (well at least it wasn't life), Riko is a descendant of LUPIN (oh yeah, and the Butei killer), and Aria of HOLMES!!!? That kind of messes up the harem.

What next, Hotogi a descendant of Allan Quatermain? Reki a descentant of Mathew Quigley?

The gun battle at the end of the episode is cool.

[HitokiriShadow]

Riko is the best information seller ever~ .... WTF, Riko is the Butei killer? And suddenly we have a Holmes and Lupan storyline.

Yeah, it turns out she's Arsene Lupan the 4th... a complete psycho. I.... don't know how I feel about this development. I really liked her as she was before. It's not that I dislike her current character, but.... dammit, I loved her previous awesomeness.

Well, the one unquestionable positive was her being able to use her twintails as a second set of arms.

Also, Aria's mother was framed as the Butei killer, and if they prove her innocence here sentence just gets knocked down to 742 years? "Oh, wow, look at that, you're innocent. Sorry 'bout that! We'll knock 10% of your sentence to show how sorry we are." What the the hell?

[superdry]

WTF! Aria's mom is in jail for 800+ years (well at least it wasn't life), Riko is a descendant of LUPIN (oh yeah, and the Butei killer), and Aria of HOLMES!!!? That kind of messes up the harem.

Yea, that was a big WTF in the story.


What next, Hotogi a descendant of Allan Quatermain? Reki a descentant of Mathew Quigley?

I would not put it past the show now. And, is Kinji a direct descendant of Watson?


The gun battle at the end of the episode is cool.

That was pretty cool, albeit a bit choppy.

[Fencedude]

Uhh...Riko...I hate to tell you this, but Milky Holmes was two seasons ago. I think you're a bit off on your timing.

So yeah, this episode was simultaneously really dramatic, and completely fucking absurd. WTF at Riko's prehensile hair?

I do have to say, I did not see the entire plot twist coming, but thats only because ITS COMPLETELY INSANE

[Ashyukun]

Uhh...Riko...I hate to tell you this, but Milky Holmes was two seasons ago. I think you're a bit off on your timing.

So yeah, this episode was simultaneously really dramatic, and completely fucking absurd. WTF at Riko's prehensile hair?

I do have to say, I did not see the entire plot twist coming, but thats only because ITS COMPLETELY INSANE
Next up, we learn that Shirayuki is actually Mori Arty. I can't say that the Holmes thing surprised me- it's quite clear there was some relation between Holmes and Aria from the OP animation- but the Lupin thing was so far out of left field that it actually came from the right. TOTALLY didn't see this coming either- I had wondered if the thing with the clocks hadn't been intentional to keep him from being on the bus, but had NO clue about Riko.

And I was only halfway joking about the Mori Arty thing- this episode's revelation leaves me wondering if the other two main girls shown with Riko in the OP (Reki and Shirayuki) aren't also part of the E.U.

I'm going to guess that things with Riko aren't going to be resolved just yet either- they'll likely fight her off and she'll escape (jump out of the plane with a parachute (or without, but still land safely- she'll just use her hair as helicopter blades :catgirl:) and remain at large for them to pursue.

[HitokiriShadow]

Oh goodie, pointless and inconsistent censorship.

At least this episode has some of that utter ridiculousness that made the first episode so fun. That brief fight against Riko in Aria's cabin was pretty awesome.

Oh, and what happened to that whole "shoot them down if they don't comply" thing?

[Fencedude]

This show is soooooo dumb, but its awesome.

Also, if my math is right, if Aria is Sherlock Holmes the 4th, doesn't that make her mother Sherlock Shellingford? She sure let herself go...

Anyway, the fight against Riko was great, but needed to be longer. The "we'll shoot you down" crisis was completely pointless, and LOL YANDERE SHIRAYUKI

[Sly05]

Oh goodie, pointless and inconsistent censorship.
Yeah, that was lame. It defeats the purpose if you show it in every other scene. Also, since when do bras get censored anyway? It's basically the same as a swimsuit.

I'm not sure the writer for this has actually read a Sherlock Holmes story as Aria hasn't inherited any of his traits. Where's the keen powers of observation and deduction? Though he can hold his own when push comes to shove, he is never a gunfighter.

Aria's complete lack of similarity to Holmes aside, I agree with Fence that the series is so ridiculous its entertaining. It's hard not to laugh at a series that has school uniforms that function both as bullet proof vests and emergency parachutes. I'm looking forward to seeing what ridiculous literary figure Kinji turns out to be descendent from.

[bear]

Aria's complete lack of similarity to Holmes aside, I agree with Fence that the series is so ridiculous its entertaining. It's hard not to laugh at a series that has school uniforms that function both as bullet proof vests and emergency parachutes. I'm looking forward to seeing what ridiculous literary figure Kinji turns out to be descendent from.
Lupine isn't exactly canon either and had no relationship with Holmes (Moriarity was his mortal enemy).

I'm guessing it must be someone who is a ladies man given the "hysteria mode". James Bond maybe or is there a Japanese character that would be more appropriate ?

These shows have teenagers saving the world which seems to be utterly lacking in adult supervision. Where are the Butei graduates? Freezing at least had teachers show up occasionally, but here it's just the kids.

[FUNiOP]

So did the original Lupin know a Japanese person named Mine or are they just blatantly saying that Riko is the daughter of Lupin and Fujiko? Anyway, I just... don't know what to think of this show anymore...

[HitokiriShadow]

Shirayuki fantasizes about being Kinji's sex slave. This is good to know.

And Aria is in dire need of a sex ed class.

So now Shirayuki is in the spotlight and starts living with Aria and Kinji for the time being. Unsurprisingly, Shirayuki and Aria don't get along very well. Aria dodging Shirayuki's sword swipes at the beginning was pretty fun to watch.

[bear]

Shirayuki fantasizes about being Kinji's sex slave. This is good to know.

And Aria is in dire need of a sex ed class.

So now Shirayuki is in the spotlight and starts living with Aria and Kinji for the time being. Unsurprisingly, Shirayuki and Aria don't get along very well. Aria dodging Shirayuki's sword swipes at the beginning was pretty fun to watch.
So Shirayuki isn't just yandere, but has parapsychic skills. Riko's hair turns out to be the same.

So she's a miko and was led a sheltered life until Kinji came along. Glad we got the back story. Makes her a much more sympathetic character.

What is the deal with Aria's mom and her sentence? How many things was she alleged to have done?

[FUNiOP]

So now everyone has magical powers and is trying to kill Aria and everyone including Aria wants Kinji and now he's got the start of a competitive harem living with him. Plus there are a bunch of people who have framed Aria's mom for some reason and each one got her sentenced for about 100 years. So now they have to catch each of them to reduce that sentence down to zero. I feel like this show is getting more ridiculous while also getting more generic. Too bad.

[ethanhunt3055]

I thought she was hiding in the full show.

[FUNiOP]

"Sorry, this video is unavailable in your territory."

Wait, what? FUNimation doesn't make its videos available in America anymore?

[bear]

Jeanne D'Arc WTF!!!

That's really stretching it. Morgan Le Fey, yeah I might have bought that, but the Maid of Orleans???

Eh, Just sit back and enjoy the ride. Thinking just causes headaches.

Shirayuki is awesome, but then I have a thing about mikos.

Well mom gets 107 years knocked off her sentence. What is it now? Somewhere in the 600's? Did she get any knocked off from Riko?

So it looks like Kinji is building a harem. One more to go (Reki maybe?) and it's official.

Loved the pompom murder by the cheerleaders. So appropriate.

[FUNiOP]

Jeanne d'Arc didn't really die. It was her double. She actually had kids. Durandal is the 30th Jeanne d'Arc. I wish I could say I was making this up. There's really no limit to how ridiculous they're going to get with this now. Now off to find the next descendant of some random famous fictional or historical person and get another few hundred years knocked off Aria's mom's sentence. And maybe Kinji will get another girl added to his harem while they're at it.

[superdry]

Aria and Kinji infiltrate Vlad's summer home (essentially that...) to get Riko's pendant back. Most likely this person is a vampire and is a descendent of Dracula.

Hohoho...what do we see, Sayonaki-sensei in the house doing research. Something is definitely fish with him...especially when he talked about breeding roses to Aria. Is he doing genetic research to breed an army of superhumans? Why is he in one of Vlad's homes doing the research?

Aria and Kinji get the pendant back...and Riko wants to then kill them. Not very surprising...anyone could have seen that coming.

Forgot to add...the preview for the next episode was rather humorous going through the list of names of other male characters paired with Kugimiya tsunderes.

[superdry]

Okay...so lots of action packed into this episode. We learn who is Vlad (really no surprise there, but a small surprise nonetheless) in the beginning.

I have to say that was pretty brutal what he did to Riko after she was stunned. Of course since this is anime...she doesn't look too terrible. I would have expected broken teeth, swollen face and other broken bones after having one's face being stomped and squished on and having a fist jammed into your mouth.

Why do final bosses always have weak spots one can exploit?

So...things go well in the end for Aria (I guess now her mom will get 200 years or something like that taken off of her sentence?) and sets up a possible sequel. I now wonder what episode 13 or whatever it's going to be will cover (beach episode, considering Aria was trying out swimsuits in the end. I approve if it is going to be a beach episode).

[FUNiOP]

Riko is an enemy? What a twist! No, wait... that was a twist 6 or 7 episodes ago. Now it's just proof that Kinji and Aria are gullible idiots. Well here we go again with this fight. Only one more episode? I guess they'll have to fight both Lupin and Dracula in the next episode.

[FUNiOP]

Oh, no Riko fight. Obviously-Vlad-Guy interrupts it immediately and switches Riko's role from traitorous bitch (again!) to pitiable victim within a minute of her role changing back to traitorous bitch this time. They obviously couldn't tell that this guy was Vlad, but they really couldn't figure out that Vlad is the descendent of Dracula after all this time? Anyway, he decided that just being a vampire isn't good enough these days, so he ditched that gig to become a werewolf! And of course Riko teams up with Kinji and Aria to beat him, and agrees to knock off her hundred or so years from Aria's mom's sentence. Cool. Why did I watch this whole series? I have no right to complain about it at this point; it's my own fault.

[bear]

Why did I watch this whole series? I have no right to complain about it at this point; it's my own fault.

Could be for the same reason I did. I was fascinated. What weird shit were the going to pull next? Maybe Kinji is a descendant of Don Juan?:)

[FUNiOP]

Why did I watch this whole series? I have no right to complain about it at this point; it's my own fault.

Could be for the same reason I did. I was fascinated. What weird shit were the going to pull next? Maybe Kinji is a descendant of Don Juan?:)

Yeah, I was a little disappointed that Kinji didn't reveal (or have it revealed to him) that he was the descendent of someone ridiculous.

[Fencedude]

Oh yeah, this show. Also I never posted on 6. eh, whatever.

This episode was pretty dull until the end, though Shirayuki looks nice in a kimono. But otherwise, *snore*

[Fencedude]

Haha, WTF. Durandal is Jeanne D'Arc the 30th, and Shirayuki is fucking Himiko the SomeFuckingRidiculousNumber.

Huh, that was two shows recently that have reference both Jeanne and Himiko.

And of course, Jeanne was Kawasumi Ayako. Who the hell else could it have been?

[Fencedude]

Oh thank god Riko's back, and as a student. The show is so, so much better now. She's by far the best of the girls. Absolutely loved every single scene she was in this episode.

Shirayuki's stuff wasn't bad either, but Aria's just getting tiring.

[Fencedude]

Oh, of course Jeanne goes to the school now. Where else would you put your dangerous, superpowered criminals than in a school where they are required to go around armed. That makes perfect sense!

THATS NOT HOW PLEA BARGAINS WORK

Anyway, Riko is still just absolutely amazing, truly the best character in the show. And we finally got some information on Reki, but the bit with the wolf would have been more of a surprise if it hadn't been spoiled by the goddamn eyecatch.

And apparently Aria really is Kinji's type. She does have nice legs though, but not nearly as nice as Riko's.

[bear]

Oh, of course Jeanne goes to the school now. Where else would you put your dangerous, superpowered criminals than in a school where they are required to go around armed. That makes perfect sense!

THATS NOT HOW PLEA BARGAINS WORK


Well, for a show that's based on high school kids going around armed, including sniper training, it's not that ridiculous. Did I just say that with a straight face?;)

[Fencedude]

So who the hell is Kana?!

Anyway, Riko turns on them (obviously), but I'm sure something will come up and she won't be the actual final boss of the series.

[Fencedude]

Jesus, I expected something to happen, but not Riko getting the shit kicked out of her by Vlad. But she made a comeback and was COMPLETELY AWESOME.

Seriously, she's by far the best character in this show. Absolutely love her.

I kinda hoped Reki, Shirayuki and Jeanne would show up to help, but oh well.

[pianocello]

I think if they make a 2nd season, they will probably have more girls that asre descendents of historical/literary figures who will be villains one moment and after they are defeated, they become part of Kinji's harem. The best way to enjoy this is to treat this show like a comedy. This sounds cruel but for me, the part I enjoyed the most was watching Riko being bashed - she looked so moe in a pitiful way.
This is selling well enough for a 2nd season, is it?

[Fencedude]

This is selling well enough for a 2nd season, is it?

Its doing decently enough. 7k sales for volume 1.

Riko really was the best part of the show. Aria and Kinji, while not terrible, were decidedly "meh"

[Suwako Moriya]

Riko really was the best part of the show. Aria and Kinji, while not terrible, were decidedly "meh"

Aria has a design that appeals to me quite a bit, but even I have to admit that she didn't have much going for.

Of course even though the show is called "Hidan no Aria", the main focus was on Kinji. Yeah, yet another one of those series.:sweat:

As for Kinji, his main role was "I have an uber mode and these girls are causing me problems".

I had mixed feelings on Riko though. She was hot and kind of amusing on occasion. However some of her actions made me want to slap her.

[something]

This is selling well enough for a 2nd season, is it?Its doing decently enough. 7k sales for volume 1.
It's selling well enough for a sequel in a general sense (v1 7,323 after 2 weeks, v2 5,655 after 1 week), but in this specific case it's already been implied that they expected more (http://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=303608) and it hasn't sold enough to justify a sequel. Vol 2 was less than Vol 1 (well, that's normal) so I doubt they've changed their minds. I suppose they were expecting some sort of major 10k+ hit?

[Suwako Moriya]

I have to wonder how things would have progress with Riko's fight against them had Vlad not come in and beat the crap out of her. See, I find scenarios like this kind of funny.

Yes, I know Riko had problems in her past, and all that jazz. However let's not excuse her and admit that she has "evil tendencies" and is bordering on being murderous.

Forget bordering, she blatantly tried to kill Aria. Then again, so did Shirayuki. Of course the fun part is when one does it, it's considered a serious event. The other is just comedy...

Still my point is this. It seems the only thing that stopped Riko from going through the "I'll be the final boss now, prepare to die!" scene was Vald interrupting with

"I'm even more evil! Thus I deserve the right to be the final boss!"

Also, putting aside the fact Riko is a hot female and the "tragic past" scenes, it's hard to decide how I should react to things like her being beaten Vlad.

It's definitely brutal and I do want to feel sorry for her. Yet, I can't exactly forget the fact that she was ready to "defeat" them. Defeat doesn't have to mean "kill", but if kill is what she meant by it...

[Shiroi Hane]

However let's not excuse her and admit that she has "evil tendencies" and is bordering on being murderous.
Isn't she an ex-serial killer? Or am I mis-remembering that?

[Suwako Moriya]

However let's not excuse her and admit that she has "evil tendencies" and is bordering on being murderous.
Isn't she an ex-serial killer? Or am I mis-remembering that?

Now that you mention it, I think something like that was kind of brought up. Meh, maybe I should have refreshed myself on the show before posting that. Yeah, I'm crazy like that.

[Draneor]

Isn't she an ex-serial killer? Or am I mis-remembering that?

Riko's never killed anyone, actually.

[Fencedude]

Isn't she an ex-serial killer? Or am I mis-remembering that?

Riko's never killed anyone, actually.

And even if she had, I really doubt I would have it in me to care.

Edit: And wouldn't she have made for a far more interesting main character anyway? Her backstory actually makes sense! Notably unlike Aria's.

[Suwako Moriya]

Edit: And wouldn't she have made for a far more interesting main character anyway? Her backstory actually makes sense! Notably unlike Aria's.

Assuming that being the lead doesn't force her to be bound by "rules" that decreases her potential to be interesting. Seriously, in spite of the variety of leads out there, I still sometimes wonder this.

If perhaps sometimes the main reason supporting, side characters, and so forth can be more interesting than the lead is because they don't have to be bound by certain err let's call them rules.

That and there's the whole because we see them less often, we end up desiring them more. In theory. Some characters are so bad we'd be happy if they never showed up again.

Side Note, I still think the most idiotic plot point is the one with Aria's mother. I still find the whole several hundred year prison sentence hard to swallow.

[Draneor]

Edit: And wouldn't she have made for a far more interesting main character anyway? Her backstory actually makes sense! Notably unlike Aria's.

I suppose that comes down to whether you like the twin-tailed, tsundere loli archtype. I'm rather fond of it. Personally, I like Aria (even if I'd rather see a Shirayuki/Kinji pairing). Really, I like all the girls, and I find it hard to rank them. Also, I think Riko works best when she can be mischievous and annoy Aria with her flirting with Kinji , which would be hard to do as a main heroine.

In any case, this isn't really the kind of property you want to try to make sense of. More like just roll with the craziness. I like Hidan no Aria because every subsequent novel somehow manages to exceed my expectations on complete utterly ridiculousness. It's a fun property that doesn't take itself seriously so I don't take it seriously.

[superdry]

So, at the end of episode 12 when Aria was shopping for swimsuits, I thought the OVA episode would be a beach episode. Turns out, they're going to a hot spring instead (hot spring, beach...same difference in anime nowadays).

The episode was humorous with Aria being a little more hotheaded than usual. The argument between Aria, Riko and Shirayuki between who's going to bed Kinji first on the trip was funny. The typical thing of boy trying to muster a peek over at the girl's side of the bath is there. I did wish that Kinji entered hysteria mode though at the time.

I personally love epic ping-pong battles and I wished the event was extended in the episode.

Anywho...whoever wrote the script for this episode probably was watching one too many Japanese horror movies.