Mushi-uta discussion thread [Archive]

BluWacky

07-13-2007, 05:10 PM

I think my standards are dropping. Mushi-uta is undoubtedly generic from a storyline point of view, but somehow it's not exasperating me in the way that these light novel adaptations usually do. The stupidly moe lead female who speaks in almost inaudible ultrasound is nowhere near as annoying as she should be (although I don't quite get why she's not dead or at least completely catatonic post-Kakkou shooting unless we're going to get a reveal that he didn't actually shoot her later in the series; might have missed something along the way...) and I like the relatively low-key nature of everything. Plus none of the characters have really annoying fetishes or "quirks" to piss me off yet.

Having watching episode 2, it's also interesting that they get the implausibly melodramatic backstory out the way this early on. Like Dagger, I like the style with which it's being executed, although I don't know if that'll last.

Maybe it's because it's the summer and mostly everything's a bit shit, and the only other high school superpowered show this season is Zombie Loan which annoyed me by making its female lead an overly passive waste of space in the first episode, so perhaps I'm just giving Mushi-Uta an easy ride in comparison.

hikaru004

07-13-2007, 05:27 PM

Well....

Kako wasn't shooting Shiika but Shiika's bug in ep. 1. The bug was reunited with her in ep. 1 and she became normal again imo. The ep. 2 date was similar to Kanon's date imo.

I don't think that this is generic at all since someone's getting set up for something bad imo, probably Kako. :)

Dagger

07-13-2007, 06:51 PM

Maybe it's because it's the summer and mostly everything's a bit shit, and the only other high school superpowered show this season is Zombie Loan...
You might be onto something. A lot of other shows started to seem more appealing after I suffered through the first episode of Zombie-Loan. :sd:

mrgazpacho

07-15-2007, 08:04 AM

A lot of other shows started to seem more appealing after I suffered through the first episode of Zombie-Loan. :sd:

LOL! I don't think that was quite the point being made?

roastedpekingduck

08-03-2007, 07:41 PM

So after a few more episodes, is Mushi-uta still generic and disappointing? Admittedly, I'm still apprehensive about even giving it a quick watch.

roastedpekingduck

08-11-2007, 09:55 PM

Strangely enough, Mushi-uta has been recieved decently enough by the blogging community at this point, though I'm still not too keen on trying it due to my fears of being disappointed. I often do not agree with the opinions of the general blogging community so I'm not too trusting of most of the bloggers' views to say the least. (The number of people who find Kaze no Stigma to be a masterpiece is mildly depressing.) :sd: I guess no one here at AoD is watching Mushi-uta any more?

something

01-02-2008, 09:45 PM

Good thing I thought to search with the hyphen before posting my thread. :sd:

A little redundant but I'm just slapping the thread I had typed up into this post:

Timely!! >_> Can't say I really expect much discussion seeing as how a thread never even went up when it was airing, [Note: or now that I've found this thread, guess I should say "seeing as how the discussion went nowhere"] but if I really like it maybe I can pester some people into watching it later on down the line. Hey, it's working so far for Touka Gettan (to my infinitely giddy glee).

So what the heck. I'm watching this on a whim when I should be catching up on other things or working on the DVD backlog. I had started a recommends thread on it but just went ahead and looked at the first episode instead. The first couple minutes sold me (strange opening scene...), though I find bugs annoying. Going to go finish the first ep now, then post thoughts.

I also figured I'd try this because I swore it was on the Kadokawa Pictures USA site at one point so it could be something they're shopping around, but I don't see it there now. ::shrugs::

Oh, as per usual:
ANN (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=7716) encyclopedia entry.
Official (http://www.wowow.co.jp/anime/mushi-uta/) website (see also here (http://www.kadokawa.co.jp/sneaker/mushiuta/animation/).

---------------------

Episode 1:

- And it starts with Anmoto Shiika, the main character, being shot in the head, or at least a gun pointed at her head goes off. Then we jump 4 years (and she looks fine).
- Yuuki-kun is readin' the interweb. Yuuki-kun hears about a man in goggles that comes at 4am to steal your "mushi" and take you away. Yuuki-kun's doorbell rings at 4am...
- As he's being chased down, a large centipede-like creature seems to come to his rescue. Someone unseen guides him away as his mushi manifests, only to be shot out of the sky by the guy from the beginning (Daisuke I assume). The resistance movement operatives have to pull back at this point, and Yuuki-kun is toast.
- Then we meet a lot of Daisuke's coworkers, the important one being the Tamura Yukari-voiced Min-Min, who the official site says is really named Horizaki Azusa. Oh, and Daisuke is joining the same class as Tachibana Rina - the leader of the Mushibane group.
- And quickly I realize their personalities are the opposite of what I expected. Rina is actually hiding a pretty unfriendly or just no-nonsense personality under her good-girl exterior, and Daisuke seems a lot nicer and warmer than his mushi-hunting persona would indicate. Though how much of it is him acting isn't yet known.
- Mushibane gets word that "Fuyuhotaru" has escaped from "Garden". The next scenes imply that Shiika is Fuyuhotaru (winter firefly?)

Then things get weirder, because as Daisuke is heading to school the next day, he sees Shiika across the train tracks. He's so happy he jumps in front of oncoming trains to reach her, but the episode ends at this point.

Promising first episode. The whole concept of bugs is a bit of a stumbling block, because there is probably *nothing* more cliche and annoying than bugs. Especially these bugs. On the other hand there's a nicely built up atmosphere after only one episode, and the characters intrigue me. Time for episode 2.

HitokiriShadow

01-02-2008, 09:48 PM

something

01-02-2008, 10:44 PM

Episode 2:

- ...So Daisuke didn't know her. As someone at the train station yells at him for jumping in front of the train, he grabs Shiika's hand and rushes off. Then later he apologizes for taking her along even though they "just met" o_O He's coming on a bit strong here, or rather just seems instinctively drawn to her. She seems a lot more cautious.
- Yeah Daisuke is definitely not acting. He's excited and gets spooked by a cat brushing up against his leg. Shiika eventually opens up to him a little, and they agree to meet at 3 that afternoon. He rushes off to school, and she goes back to wondering how the hell she got where she is, and how she escaped Garden.
- Haha, what a bitch, Rina rats Daisuke out as he's trying to sneak into class late.
- Rina's friends, however, are awesome (and the quiet one reminds me of Izumi from Nadesico, perhaps mixed with Risa from Hayate no Gotoku). They're pestering Daisuke to find out what was up with him and that girl at the station. Rina frames it in the worst light, of course. I don't know if she just unconsciously realizes who he works for, or if she's just getting on his case for the hell of it.
- Shiika wanders around town noting how everything's changed since she was taken into Garden, but is glad to see the clock they're meeting by is still the same. Unfortunately, she's got major emotional baggage involving large trucks, from when she was initially abducted. She gets increasingly uneasy and considers leaving, but when Daisuke arrives at 3pm, she's still there.
- They get something to eat and talk some more. She doesn't say much about herself (not that she can anyway), and they continue to hit it off, albeit somewhat awkwardly. Min-Min watches from inside a animal costume nearby XD
- Before you know it, they've completed the typical date. Food, department store, a movie, and then a crane game. They part for the night and Daisuke tells her to call him if she ever wants to see him again. Minmin watches and snickers.
- Shiika seems to remember where her house was, but nobody seems to have lived there in years. She flashes back to how things used to be: her parents doting on her older sister, but not sharing the same love towards her. Her sister seems genuinely kind of her though, and promises Shiika that on her birthday, she'll give Shiika the hair ribbon she wears.
- One day, on the way to/from school, another girl ran past her and tripped in the middle of the street. A truck nearly hits hits her until Shiika unconsciously manifests her mushi and takes it out, saving the girl. Unfortunately it also killed the driver and everyone nearby ran screaming. When she gets home, she finds out that her dad has sold her out to Garden.
- Back to present day, she walks upstairs, into her room. It's as empty as the rest of the house, except for a piece of paper with "To Shiika, Welcome home. Kazuha." written on it, and the hair ribbon placed on top. Awww...

She calls Daisuke up and asks if they can meet soon. As they're talking, Minmin is sitting on top of the phone booth listening in with her mushi. She... doesn't come across as a nice person.

But she's Tamura Yukari so that's okay, because Tamura Yukari can be whatever the hell she wants, and you will LIKE IT and BEG for more, bitches!

Oh, and the previews are... interesting.

something

01-02-2008, 10:49 PM

I briefly considered watching this back when it was airing but I think it was airing at a time when I had a lot of other things to watch and after skipping around in the first episode, I didn't continue. Let me know how it turns out and I may give it a shot if I have the time.
Will do. I was the same as you, considered it but never seriously, and had too much else going on. After two episodes though, I'm feeling good about it, though how much they fit in just 12 episodes is the big question, as it always is.

something

01-02-2008, 11:37 PM

Episode 3:

- Rina's friends continue to press Daisuke for details of his relationship with that girl. Then they switch topics to their choice of location for a field trip: the garbage processing facility. Basically they just want to see mushi.
- Touko and whatshisname amuse me.
- Rina flips out on Daisuke again when he calls mushi "monsters", then she storms off.
- Daisuke doesn't much pay attention and instead heads out to see Shiika. He meets her at the park and they go to get food.
- Back at school, Mushibane gets another update about Fuyuhotaru, and it becomes apparent there source is Minmin. What exactly is Minmin aiming at? Rina mobilizes the Mushibane and they head to the park, intending to make Fuyuhotaru their ally. Things are getting a bit intertwined here. A SEPB operative is feeding Mushibane information on an escaped Host/Fallen who herself is becoming close friends with another SEPB operative, who himself is attending the school all the Mushibane seem to be attending. And if they do approach Shiika, they'll get in a fight with him and Minmin.
- Centi, appropriately enough the centipede user, asks Rina if he can head up this operation to make up for his failure in the Yuuki incident, but Rina doesn't want to leave it to anyone else, because she doesn't want to lose anyone else. After she leaves, Centi's mushi manifests without his asking it to, and when he tells it to return its eyes glow red and it ignore him. It goes back the moment he's distracted though.
- Minmin is still stalking them... She calls Haji and reports the situation. It's looking like they released Shiika intentionally, and put her in Daisuke's path, as a way to draw Mushibane out of hiding. As the park is cordoned off, police and SWAT-type forces move in.
- Minmin gets on the loud speaker and tells everyone to evacuate. Shiika realizes they're looking for her. Then she notices a glowing light around Daisuke's neck, freaks out, pushes him, and runs off.
- Hahaha, Minmin is so fucking mean. She uses her mushi to pop a little girl's balloon, which makes the girl freak out and manifest her mushi. It starts attacking her mother and sister when Rina grabs the girl and runs. Haji calls Daisuke and half fills him in, and Daisuke hands up on Touko again. Poor Touko.
- Centi tries to attack the beetle user from episode one, but his mushi ignores him. So does the beetle user. Centi, you're useless.
- Daisuke suits up, and becomes a completely different person. He's eager to take down Mushibane. Rina, meanwhile, takes out some guards with a large plastic ice cream cone and saves two younger Mushibane members.
- That boy called "mosquito" runs into Shiika as Minmin watches.
- The young host escapes from Rina and is found by Daisuke. Her mushi finds her, and just as Rina finds them and tells at him to stop, he blows the mushi to pieces. The girl's eyes glaze over and she collapses.

I still think Daisuke looks really silly in his SEPB outfit, but I'm liking the show thus far. Enjoyable characters on both sides, with two interesting leads (well, schoolboy Daisuke anyway) and lots of interconnections among them all. The whole thing with Centi leaves me not giving a shit what happens to him or his ugly bug, but I am interested in Rina, Shiika and Daisuke. And Minmin is a bitch, but in a fun way.

That's enough for tonight, but as the currently running shows continue their new years breaks, I might be able to finish this over the next few days.

something

01-03-2008, 05:55 PM

Episode 4:

- Centi is freaking out. The young boy who followed Rina is also freaking out, terrified of having his mushi killed and turning into a fallen like the little girl just did. Oddly, even though Rina popped up right next to Daisuke and the girl and screamed for him to stop, he seems not to have noticed her.
- She goes to face him anyway, but the whole SEPB seems to be on her. She fights them off but Daisuke gets the drop on her, and she only escapes thanks to Centi, who seems to have regained control of his mushi, for now.
- Haji tells Touko (who ALMOST sounds like Goto Yuko but isn't) to look for Shiika. She asks if it's his illegitimate child, hah.
- Mosquito walks alongside Shiika, and she cheers him up, but Touko finds them. She acts nice and points them towards the exit where Haji's men are waiting.
- Minmin continues ragging on Daisuke. He ignores her, and she attacks him with her mushi. It's a cicada and has the power to immobilize him. Minmin also seems to be pretty fast, and dodges his mushi-fusion attack. He asks what the hell she's doing and she says it's a greeting from Mushibane. Eh? She's part of Mushibane? I doubt that, I think she just hates his guts.
- Rina, Centi and the kid are running away, but get snared in the web of a spider mushi. Controlled by Touko, I bet...
- No, Haji. But Centi bursts out of the web and attacks, only to be stopped by Haji's mushi. The spider mushi then wraps it and Centi up in its web, and Haji fires a number of shots into it. Centi's mushi doesn't die, but instead goes berserk and turns into a giant nasty looking train wreck of wtf.
- Daisuke tells Rina that they have two options: let the mushi consume Centi's dreams and kill him, or kill the mushi and make Centi a fallen. She hesitates, and Daisuke takes the mushi out most of the way, until Rina realizes she has to do it, and destroys the mushi, saving Centi. But now he's a fallen.
- Oh, and Minmin is indeed a traitor, and Haji knew all along. I don't see her as a member of Mushibane so much as a rogue third party out for her own interests.
- Shiika and Mosquito find the exit blocked by SEPB members, but they clear out to go after Rina. Mosquito decides not to run away this time, brings out his mushi, and heads over to save her (...haha, sure). Shiika is surprised to see he's a host, and then her mushi comes out as well.

Eh, this was an okay episode, but not terribly good. I don't much care about Centi and am still iffy on Rina, so the drama here didn't really move me. Actually, nobody in the Mushibane really intrigues me much yet, and instead I'm all about Shiika, Minmin and Rina's three school friends. Oh, and the costumes are still mostly pretty dumb. Cheesy mask and cape? come on, Rina, seriously. And SEPB-version Daisuke looks ridiculous. And I still can't take bugs seriously. The whole setup of the battles makes it seem like some dumb kiddy anime meant to sell trading cards, but outside of the fighting it's nothing like that at all, and is in fact pretty darn interesting. So I'm sort of conflicted.

Of note in this episode, I guess, is the idea that perhaps Fallens can be cured somehow. Daisuke says it, and Rina hopes for it. But for now, Centi is mostly out of the picture, which is actually sort of okay with me.

So, least enjoyable ep of the four but nothing that'll make me stop watching. On to 5.

something

01-03-2008, 06:46 PM

Episode 5:

- We skip all the action (honestly, that's a very good choice on their part) and jump to Shiika waking up in Rina's room. She notes that Rina is pretty, which is what she also thought "when we first met", and then Rina thanks her for saving her. So presumably Shiika and her mushi bailed out the Mushibane at the park.
- They eat breakfast and then Rina has Shiika accompany her to her mother's grave. Rina has... baggage. Her father beat her mother until eventually her mother died. Rina thought only of killing him, and that's when she became a host. She attacked him and severely wounded him, but he managed to survive (sort of).
- This is more like it. Less bugs, more Rina and Shiika hanging out. We get a Shiika fashion show (gothiloli Shiika!) and then they grab something to eat. With this episode, I'm starting to like Rina more.
- Oh yeah, Shiika is totally the best thing to happen to Rina. The bath water warms up, and Rina tells Shiika she can go in. Shiika jumps on her, grabs her arm, and says they should go in together. Then they get in bed together. Damnit, if I didn't already know they both had guys they liked... Sigh.
- Minmin shows up that night, and interestingly not only does Mushibane know who she is, she knows Rina personally and they seem to be on good terms. It's also the first scene Minmin isn't being a bitch in. Maybe she has the hots for Rina =P
- At school, Daisuke takes a second glance at Rina, and seems to find her familiar... (well, duh).
- Flashback to Daisuke's first mission, and the day he turned Fuyuhoraru into a fallen. He's pulled off pursuing her to take out a coup d'etat against SEPB headquarters. He succeeds (having to kill or render Fallen many in the process) and then is ordered to take out Fuyuhotaru, because everyone else they've sent to her has been wiped out.

He approaches, but she doesn't attack. Instead she tells him she wants him to shoot, because she doesn't want her mushi hurting anyone anymore. He wavers, then lowers his gun and tells her he'll take her somewhere far away. But she's insistent, she can't trust herself anymore. She tells him she'll become one with him, entrust her dreams to him. Finally, he shoots, and she becomes a Fallen.

Shiika remembers this, but doesn't know it was Daisuke. Daisuke perhaps remembers this, which is why he smashes the mirror, but I'm not sure. You think he'd put two and two together, though so far I don't think he realizes who Shiika is.

Then Rina tickles Shiika <3

Much better episode than 4, and surprisingly it had no mushi battles. THIS IS NOT A COINCIDENCE.

something

01-03-2008, 07:40 PM

Episode 6:

- Picking up where 5 left off, Asami is posting mushi news to a website. She got hold of a video that shows some mushi battles in action. The homeroom teacher interrupts her and oh man she's totally one of the three individuals that are the origin of mushi they talked about earlier. She has to be. She's... weird.
- Yep... Asami is now a host. Looks like she'll be the plot sacrifice necessary to reveal Daisuke and Rina to each other, if you ask me. Poor Asami.
- Shiika's idea of cooking seems to be a life fish placed between two slices of bread and lettuce. And her idea of being inconspicuous is a big pink ski mask. o_O She really wants to visit Rina's school, especially now that she knows it's the one Daisuke attends.
- So Shiika likes Daisuke, and Rina is falling for him as well. Rina is also going to bring Shiika to school to meet her friends. ...And oh yeah, Minmin can fly. Pretty sure none of the other hosts could do that so far.
- And she brings Shiika while Daisuke is around. Oh yay. She brings her into the classroom, and is met by Asami and the other two, and they hold a mock class for Shiika.
- Then it's to the roof, and Asami has to leave. They follow up with karaoke (Shiika sings the Kemono-man theme) and grab something to eat. Eventually it's Shiika and Rina, and Shiika is overcome with the desire to call Daisuke. She borrows Rina's phone and does so.
- Rumors of a ghost spread at school, and when Rina is there late working on a painting, Daisuke plays a trick on her. Stupidly he does it in the stairwell, which results in him getting a bum on his head. She gets a matching bump when they smack heads as they simultaneously dive for the first aid kit she drops.
- Asami might not actually be a host per se, but the little bug the teacher placed on her is, er, making her disappear. She... seems like she's inside a world of data. Suddenly it goes black and she falls (out of her chair). Her reaction is, to paraphrase "woah, cool, do it again!" I <3 Asami.
- Daisuke is absent the next day so Rina goes to visit. She gets all big-sisterly telling him to take care of himself, and it reminds him of a girl he knew when he was younger - Chiharu. And Rina has completely fallen for him.

Then a somewhat evil looking blond looks over the city and says "I'm back." And haha, she's Kana from Minami-ke (Inoue Maria). Every time she talks I'm going to hear "Serious Business" mode Kana. Needs Bible Black faces XD

Good ep. Enough for today I guess, time to see what else I have.

something

01-05-2008, 11:06 PM

I'm probably more in the mood for something else, but just to keep up the momentum so I don't get distracted and drop by default, I want to watch another ep of this.

Episode 7:

- Two new SEPB characters from headquarters. Horiuchi Erii (codename C), a young girl voiced by Nonaka Ai, who did my beloved Shipon, and Mitake Annelize (codename Kasuou), played by Inoue Marina in her serious business-mode Minami Kana voice. Haji pisses her off so she slices the roof off his car. Touko just says "The stars are pretty!!" XD Touko may be the best thing about this show.
- Haha oh god this is bad, I cannot take Annelize seriously at all. Every time she opens her mouth I start cracking up because I keep expecting her to be wearing an I AM BOSS shirt or make a bible blace face.
- Annelize seems to have a bit of a history with Daisuke -- not a happy one.
- Rina is up late sketching out a portrait of Daisuke. It's going to be incredibly awkward when Shiika sees that.
- Asami is floating around in cyberspace again. She studies a grainy picture of a host, and realizes it's Shiika.
- Then we get Haji in a hospital room where some girl is sleeping, and there's strange noises and then the room turns red... er, ok.
- School the next day, Asami questions Rina about Shiika but stops short of saying anything. Daisuke sees Rinna and remembers Chiharu... by the way, NOTO MAMIKO LOVE. She only had one line prior to this and it sounded a little different than usual, but with her longer line in this episode it's damn obvious.
- Annelize (...hearing her made me laugh again) is trying to get dirt on Haji, and it looks like she's recruited Minmin for the effort. I wonder just exactly what Minmin's role is in everything.
- Shiika sits at Rina's place waiting for her, when Asami comes by and wants to talk. Asami tries to get Shiika to admit she's a host, and Shiika does an absolutely horrible job hiding it. Never, ever become a secret agent, Shiika.
- Asami gets her to admit it, and asks if Rina knows. For one Shiika manages to lie, and says no. Asami seems to accept it though, because she thinks she's become a host as well. Also, her eyes look really weird in this scene. Like they're crossed or something.
- For trying to keep it a secret she's sure being loud. And man the faces are really off right now. They look like they're staring into space or something.
- Haji has a pretty interesting situation going on. Details are unclear, but the girl in the hospital is, somehow, eating his dreams. Not her own, but his, and it seems he has his subordinates film things he can watch and use to remember his dreams so her mushi doesn't ever eat them fully. That explains the noises in the hospital room, he was watching videos on his computer.
- Annelize threatens to hurt Haji's sister if he doesn't give her info on Fuyuhotaru but he doesn't budge. Instead he says he doesn't give information for free, and asks them to capture someone. Asami.
- Asami is frantically deleting her mushi website, hoping that she'll escape SEPB detection.
- Minmin shows up before Rina and tells her about Asami, saying she'd surely join the Mushibane since she's Rina's friend. Minmin sounds like she's enjoying delivering the bad news though. I *really* can't get a firm grasp on Minmin.
- Asami is cameradiving again when she sees a picture with a masked girl who looks a lot like Rina...

Guess I'll watch another, this was a good episode. I fear for Asami though =(

something

01-05-2008, 11:41 PM

Episode 8:

- Three way race to Asami. Rina, Daisuke and Annelize's team all converge but Annelize gets there first. Also, Erii sprouts butterfly wings... from her head. And little antennae XD Asami runs out and Annelize lets her, because if the host runs, she has an excuse to get violent... Erii just asks her not to make too much of a mess.
- Asami is cute and I really don't want her to get hurt but she's not the brightest girl ever. She seems unable to hop the gate in front of school (it's really not that high) and then she goes and runs to the worst possible place - the roof. Yes, you're being chased so you run to the one place with no exit and one entrance and wait for them to find you.
- Kirikiri (guy with the stupid hair) hits the camera out of her hands, and he, Asami and Annelize are all transported into it. In this space Asami is able to fight back, flinging pictures like projectiles. And it's pretty neat, as one image of people at a pool hits Annelize, she enters the water while going through it and comes out trying to catch her breath.
- Asami enters part of the space that has an image of Rina fro the back. She moves around the picture to the front, and sees her, sans mask. Thankfully Kirikiri blows it up without realizing what it is, but now Asami is on the run again.
- Daisuke arrives and asks Erii to transfer him into the camera, and she agrees to do so.
- As Kirikiri is about to kill Asami, Daisuke stops the attack, and returns it straight into Kirikiri's mushi, rendering him a Fallen. For once Daisuke looks pretty cool. Annelize catches up and they fight, with Daisuke having little trouble fighting her off until she catches him off guard by saying Fuyuhotaru escaped from Garden, which apparently he didn't know.
- Asami escapes the camera while they're distracted, and deletes all the data. Then she's about to destroy the memory card when she sees Rina who asks her what she's doing.
- This is when Asami starts to lose it. Instead of being content with getting out alive, she sort of snaps and decides she'll use her power to tell the world about mushi. She also gets snippy with Rina when Rina tells her not to use her power.
- After they leave Erii pulls Kirikiri and Annelize out of the laptop with the data remaining, but Daisuke is still trapped. The next day Asami burns the memory card, with a crazy look on her face.

She finishes up late again and runs to class. What she doesn't count on it Annelize being alive. While Asami sits in class, Annelize crushes the videocamera under her boot. Asami becomes a fallen.

;_; Noooooooo~~~~~~

I have to say that the fights between higher level hosts are much more interesting than the bug to bug crap the others use. Annelize, Daisuke and Erii don't so much rely on big ugly external bugs so much as they've come to internalize some part of the mushi and use it like a superpower.

Of course Rina is very much relying on physical external mushi and looks all the more silly for it, but oh well. A shame she doesn't have some more interesting power she wields rather than just having a dumb ladybug ram into shit.

something

01-06-2008, 12:58 AM

Episode 9:

- Rina is crying in her room, and Shiika knocks and asks if Rina doesn't need to go to school. Rina just hugs her and cries.
- Erii was able to bring Daisuke back. She tells Touko to let Daisuke know that she'll be available should he need any help. Erii is so cute~
- Daisuke and Haji talk from adjacent bathroom stalls >_> Interesting place to meet, had to be Haji's idea.
- Shiika learned to cook! Rina is thankful that Shiika is there with her during such a hard time. She tells Shiika to give her 'boyfriend' a call since she hadn't set up a meeting time. Shiika calls Daisuke and they agree to meet the next day. Also, Daisuke seems to remember more about the event with Fuyuhotaru but I don't understand how he can't connect the dots and realize she looks exactly like Shiika...
- While Shiika gets ready to go, Rina comes over and hugs her again, and makes her promise not to disappear. More good Shiika x Rina scenes, more of me wishing they were a possibly pair ::shakes fist::
- After Shiika leaves, Rina visits school, maybe looking for a clue about Asami. She sees Daisuke looking at her painting again. He tells her he's got to meet someone, but neither realizes the other knows Shiika yet. Rina then asks him to be a model for her painting next time.
- Shiika and Daisuke leave the planetarium and she asks him his dream. He tells her, and she says a boy once told her the same thing. Then Daisuke sees the teacher (one of the three, presumably) looking evil. Shiika sees the same, and is about to pass out. They look again and the teacher is instead just some guy waiting for the bus.
- ...Now Minmin is back talking to Haji. And it seems like she's going to give him info on Ladybird. Or is he? DAMNIT WHO DO YOU WORK FOR?
- Rina comes to the planetarium, and sees Shiika and Daisuke. Knew this had to happen eventually...

She sees them, and drops her sketchbook. Shiika sees the sketches of Daisuke. Rina's mushi comes out momentarily, and she runs way. Shiika chases her, and her Fuyuhotaru comes out as well. She chases Rina, who sees Fuyuhotaru. Shiika apologizes, but Rina isn't mad at her. She wipes Shiika's tears and tells her not to spologize. Oh god I do so want Shiika x Rina.

Pretty much everything just came out in the open for these three. Rina knows Shiika likes Daisuke, and she knows Shiika is Fuyuhotaru. Shiika knows Daisuke is the one Rina was drawing. Daisuke knows Shiika is Fuyuhotaru and Rina is Lady. The only think left is for Rina and Shiika to find out that Daisuke is Kakkou.

something

01-06-2008, 01:35 AM

Episode 10:

- Haji reveals that he planned everything out. Daisuke is pissed and Touko is only just able to stop him from filling Haji with lead. Instead her perforates Haji's windshield.
- Rina is sulking when she hears a noise. It's Shiika trying to leave, but Rina catches her just in time. She needs Shiika, and they promised they'd always be together. She asks Shiika not to leave. Shiika hugs her. ;_; SO MUCH POTENTIAL, SO NOT GONNA GO ANYWHERE.
- Rina says she's okay with Shiika and Daisuke being together but Shiika says she won't meet with Daisuke anymore. And besides, she has Rina, and that's enough for her. ...SEE ABOVE.
- Something happens to Rina after Shiika goes to sleep. Her mushi affecting her, I guess. Then Minmin shows up again with the same smug expression as she tells Rina where Garden is and how to get there. At this point she just REEEEKS of selling Rina out to Haji, but then when Rina says "Thank you, Azusa", Minmin is amazed Rina knows her real name (Horizaki Azusa) and looks... sad? Conflicted? What? WHAT!?
- Er, wow, wtf was that? After class, Rina wants to talk to Kyouko and Miharu, but they completely blow her off and avoid her. It's not like someone told her Rina was a host, or at least we're not aware of such a thing. Do they blame Rina for what happened to Asami?
- The Mushibane is looking pretty pathetic these days. Two kids, Rina, and now Shiika. Not that it was much more impressive with Centi... She leaves Shiika with the kids and goes off on her own.
- Daisuke comes over for the painting, and in the course of their conversation reveals he's Kakkou after she makes it clear she's about to do something she's willing to die for. He tells her not to go to Garden, and that if she does, they'll be enemies. She calls out her mushi (blowing up the apartment in the process...) but stops short of killing him, because she can't bring herself to do it. But she also won't give up, and tells him she's going to Garden to free everyone.
- Shiika reads the letter Rina left behind with the younger girl, and runs back to the apartment. She sees the carnage and the painting of Daisuke. She gets really upset here, but I'm not sure what conclusion she drew. That Daisuke was dead? That Daisuke killed Rina? That Daisuke is Kakkou? What?

Rina takes the train like Minmin told her, and as it enters a tunnel is brakes abruptly, and she hits the ground and loses consciousness. She wakes up in Garden with dozens of lifeless Fallen around her. Then she screams, loudly. Well, what did she *expect* to see? =P

something

01-06-2008, 02:15 AM

Episode 11:

- I find it amusing that Rina's apartment blew up hours ago but there's not a fire truck or police car to be seen.
- Rina enters Garden proper, and sees what Shiika described. An underground city full of lifeless people.
- Man I'm so confused. First, Rina confronts Haji, who tells her that Fuyuhotaru was his aim all along and by letting her come to know Rina, he can make her vulnerable. So far so good. He also says that there are certain individuals who want everyone to become Fallen so the can basically reign as gods over them. He also mentions the Three again, the creators of mushi. Then bajillions of SEPB guys surround Rina.
- But back at the apartment, the teacher reveals herself to be Voracious Eater (is this Claymore?), presumably one of the Three, and that she's been aiding Shiika's dreams in order to feast on them when they come to maturity. Shiika says she'll never hand them over, and her mushi goes to attack a giant beetle mushi, which looks like goggle guy from ep 1's mushi.
- At any rate, There's a large explosion and Minmin saves Shiika. Not only that, Shiika knows Minmin, and I don't think we've seen them meet before.
- But finally, Minmin reveals herself fully, and she's as evil as she could have been. She's pretended to be a traitor all this time, but set everyone up all along. Now she's going to "torture" Shiika thoroughly and then hand her over to Haji. All to become recognized as the best, I guess. BUT... I still don't fully buy it. At least twice now she's got a pained look on her face while talking to Rina. There's gotta be something there.
- Goggle guy tells Minmin not to act on her own, but Minmin isn't paying attention, and she attacks anyway.
- Rina is attacking too. She's taking out hundreds of SEPB. When they can't get her that way, they call in fucking ATTACK HELICOPTERS that resort to missiles o_O She blows a couple of them up too. Rina is pretty awesome right now.
- Minmin is having her fun blowing the town up.
- Rina continues attacking, but sheer numbers begin to overwhelm her, and she can't hold it back anymore. She and her mushi react maturation, and it becomes an enormous four legged... think... crushing the town. Haji almost gets beamed by rubble, but Daisuke saves him and heads to confront Rina.
- Fuyuhotaru destroys Minmin's mushi, and as she's becoming a fallen, Minmin reveals she was in love with Haji, and did it all for him. Her mushi vanishes, and she's gone. Fuyuhotaru is going berserk, unleashing a massive snowstorm, but Shiika pulls it close and begs it to stop.

It does, but right after goggle man stabs a huge projectile straight into Shiika... that would looks all sorts of fatal. Holy shit. Fuyuhotaru snaps, and this is going to get ugly.

Meanwhile, Daisuke is letting his mushi take over more and more of his body as he prepares to take Rina down, and he fires a shot straight through the roof of Garden. Outside is the Voracious Eater, who brings out a giant ugly butterfly face mushi thing. Daisuke starts to become another giant ugly thing, and Rina's giant ugly thing becomes an even more giant, even uglier... white humanoid thing.

What the fuck?

something

01-06-2008, 03:01 AM

Episode 12:

- A giant white humanoid thing with lots of tits. Christ they're not holding back with the bizarre shit at the end here. I hope they don't overdo it, I mean, it's not like we ever got much of an explanation on these mushi, and we're only meeting one of the Three who created them. And this is the last ep so there's no time for the other two.
- I do not like VE >_> She sends down lots of ugly ugly CG butterflies that start turning the SEPBs into fallens.
- Shiika pulls the thing out of her abdomen (oh god its long and looks horribly painful) and there's a nasty wound. She screams for Rina, Daisuke, Kakkou, and a beam of light shoots into the sky and an avalanche starts to bury the town. This is all getting completely insane, far more large scale than the bus vs bug stuff so far.
- Daisuke just barely saves Haji, and survives a blast from Rina's mushi by an even slimming margin. His mushi has almost completely covered his body now.
- Nekkid Rina... somewhere in her mind she's arguing with Daisuke, telling him he's the one who turned everyone into Fallens. She starts to strangle him and her mushi is about to crush him, but she stops at the last second.
- He reminds her who the real enemy is, and she manages to regain just enough control that he's able to blast through her mushi and rescue her. But with the mushi mortally wounded, she's out of time. She asks him to save Shiika, then she... well she doesn't become a fallen, she breaks apart and fades away. What the? Oh, I think Haji is dead now too.
- Kakkou starts to fight on its own, so Daisuke responds by slamming it into the ground and punching it a lot with the hand he can still control. :sd: After putting it back in its place, he unleashes a final blast at Nanahoshi, Rina's mushi. Be blasts the body away and then crashes through the main part. "Merry Christmas, Nanohoshi." Bwahahahah. Fucking awesome line.
- But now Voracious Eater collects all the dreams she'd stolen and her mushi disappears. She pulls out, sated, laughing, mocking. Daisuke falls to the ground, exhausted.
- He manages to find Shiika, who calms Fuyuhotaru down. She embraces him, his goggles fall off, and just before she loses consciousness she sees Daisuke's face.

She wakes up some time later in the hospital. A curtain separates her from a voice. Kakkou's deep voice. She asks how Rina is, and he says Rina never gave up, all the way to the end. He also tells her she'll be under the SEPB's watch, and that Daisuke cannot see her now, but will do so next Christmas, at the planetarium. He disappears, and as she pulls the curtain back she sees Rina's sunset painting.

I... I'm pretty fucking impressed. Who would expect a no-emotional-holds-barred, all-in-all rather depressing, the bad guys get off almost scot free ending from a show about bugfighting?

I mean, let's do an inventory here:
- Daisuke can't be with Shiika, at least not now.
- Minmin, Asami, and Centi are all still Fallens.
- There's no hint as to how to revive a Fallen.
- Rina is, well... yeah.
- Voracious Eater escapes without a scratch.
- The other two of the Three are obviously at large as well.
- Annelize is back and probably hasn't changed her violent ways.

This is NOT a terribly happy ending. About the only bone thrown our way is that Haji survived and the girl he talked about seems to be getting better, and really, Haji is probably the least of the average viewer's concerns, though I'm glad for Touko.

---------------

My reaction throughout this show ranged from "huh this is pretty stylistic and interesting" to "ugh, craptacular bugfighting" to "oh god need Shiika x Rina yuri now" to "holy fuck things are getting insane" and finally "wow, did they seriously have the balls to end it like this?"

It's got some rough parts, and episode 4, I think it was, in particular felt pretty bad with some really lame fighting and a character or two I just totally didn't care about. It was very light on explanation of the mushi as well. It took me a long time to warm up to Kakkou's outfit, and in general the fighting bugs felt pretty silly. It also could really use a second season that I doubt it's going to get.

But that said, many scenes are done in a very interesting way both stylistically and in how they're incorporated into the story, and it feels like this is a show that deserved far more fan coverage than it got. It's undeniably more than just a cheesy action show with rocket powered ladybugs and freedom fighters in masks and capes.

I feel like we got really good interaction between the characters, most of whom were at least likable and usually much better. I liked Shiika, Rina, Daisuke, Asami, Minmin, and Touko in particular. No, I wasn't too big on the 'villain', but this really feels like part of a much larger story. And it *was* sort of cool that it was the teacher all along.

The way this played out is definitely one of the more surprising things from all the 2007 shows I've watched. And I would really, *really* be happy to see a second season, because it's incredibly well set up for one, but without making me feel like they didn't tell a proper story in the time allotted thus far.

BluWacky

01-06-2008, 04:55 PM

The way this played out is definitely one of the more surprising things from all the 2007 shows I've watched. And I would really, *really* be happy to see a second season, because it's incredibly well set up for one, but without making me feel like they didn't tell a proper story in the time allotted thus far.

I can't find anything confirming this aside from the Moon Phase rumour mill but apparently it's getting a second season at some point, you'll be glad to hear.

I should really go back and give this one another shot, I think; I remember vaguely enjoying the first episode but I don't think I watched any more of it.

something

01-06-2008, 09:26 PM

I can't find anything confirming this aside from the Moon Phase rumour mill but apparently it's getting a second season at some point, you'll be glad to hear.
That would definitely be good news. I sort of like the fairly evil, depressing ending with a ray of hope hidden beneath it all, but I'd also really like to see a second question take the story to its conclusion.

I should really go back and give this one another shot, I think; I remember vaguely enjoying the first episode but I don't think I watched any more of it.
I can imagine some of the early-middle episodes losing a lot of people, not because they're particularly bad but because they might not be quite good enough to keep someone with a very busy anime schedule sticking around. But with all the eps available, and it being a short show, that should help people take a quick look at it and decide.

HitokiriShadow

02-03-2008, 12:44 AM

The whole concept of bugs is a bit of a stumbling block, because there is probably *nothing* more cliche and annoying than bugs.

Yes, that was a big reason why this was a very low priority series for me. The main character's design, with the spikey hair and goggles, was another one. It seemed very corny and I figured I'd give a try down the line or just forget about it and it would be no big loss.

This series has Yukari Tamura and Mamiko Noto in it, so those are giant pluses that I was unaware of before. I didn't recognize the name next to Mamiko Noto in the ANN data nor did I instantly recognize her voice, but I wasn't paying much attention to Rina's friends other than Asami (cell phone girl) so maybe it was one of them.

In any case, its an interesting first episode. From the get go, I figured this organization will probably prove to be not as benevolent as it appears (that's pretty standard, really) and the creepy boss pretty much seals it. I'd be surprised if he ends up not being a bastard or a villain to some degree at the very least.

And actually watching the episode rather than skipping around the first half makes it all work better. I really shouldn't 'skip around' like that to try things out, because it always leaves an unfavorable impression.

something

02-03-2008, 12:49 AM

Rhe main character's design, with the spikey hair and goggles, was another one. It seemed very corny and I figured I'd give a try down the line or just forget about it and it would be no big loss.
Heh, yeah, he just looked so out of place. Like he fell out of some cheesy shonen manga. It grew on me though, eventually.

HitokiriShadow

02-03-2008, 12:54 AM

Watching more of it (and not just those couple of seconds here and there), it's not that bad, but it's not something I'm very fond of either.

Oh, and that little spiel at the end of the episode is bizarre, and not in the funny way. It's just wierd. And that music during the notes sure ain't from MushiUta. It sounds very familiar, I'm thinking Yuuki Kajiura, either from Madlax or El Cazador (another series I need to get around to watching, beyond the one episode I saw... I think I'll watch that after Baccano, which is up next after this). ... yeah, that's definitely from Madlax.

HitokiriShadow

02-03-2008, 01:50 AM

- Haha, what a bitch, Rina rats Daisuke out as he's trying to sneak into class late.

I thought it was interesting how she just stood up during the middle of class and walked right up front and opened the door. Unless she's the class rep, that seems kind of odd.

And the teacher is evil. The second I saw the teacher's smile, I remembered it from the silhouette in the OP. We see it again later in this episode in Shiika's flashback as well.

I was surprised that Daisuke doesn't seem to (consciously) even recognize Shiika. But something in him does. The personality we see here is clearly not an act and its a stark contrast to his no nonsense almost cruel personality we saw at the beginning of the first episode. Is there a split personality as a result of the Mushi possession, perhaps?

- Rina's friends, however, are awesome (and the quiet one reminds me of Izumi from Nadesico, perhaps mixed with Risa from Hayate no Gotoku). They're pestering Daisuke to find out what was up with him and that girl at the station. Rina frames it in the worst light, of course. I don't know if she just unconsciously realizes who he works for, or if she's just getting on his case for the hell of it.

Rina's friends are a great source of light hearted amusement in this otherwise dark and dreary world. The tall dark haired girl reminds of Tiamat, Wilhelmia's contractor, from Shakugan no Shana. As for Rina, I think that's just how she is. She seems to have her own issues going on (she sure didn't like getting the award for that painting... but maybe she knows or senses something about the teacher).

As they're talking, Minmin is sitting on top of the phone booth listening in with her mushi. She... doesn't come across as a nice person.

But she's Tamura Yukari so that's okay, because Tamura Yukari can be whatever the hell she wants, and you will LIKE IT and BEG for more, bitches!

Damn straight! She clearly isn't fond of Daisuke/Kokkou but I loved her (too small) role in this episode.

Oh, and the previews are... interesting.

Indeed. They are quite weird. I actually liked this one though, the previous one, not so much.

HitokiriShadow

02-04-2008, 10:27 PM

Rina's friends are quite amusing. But when did Daisuke get on friendly terms with them?

Oh God, I love MinMin. She's delightfully evil. Evil the in the personality sense, not the Evil Villain sense (though she certainly doesn't have a problem doing mean things).

HitokiriShadow

02-04-2008, 11:10 PM

Touko(?) is yet another amusing character. This show is pretty dark, but they made sure to fill it with a good amount of comic relief and moe. And she really thinks she's Haji's illegitimate child. :sd:

So MinMin was actually a traitor. Huh, I figured she was just feeding info to Mushibane for the trap and that Shiika didn't escape but was released as bait for them. In any case, its an interesting development.

So plot stuff happens, nothing too surprising there. <3 Touko and MinMin.

HitokiriShadow

02-05-2008, 12:01 AM

Well, this episode was a little convoluted at times (Kakkou's past for example: we see a random guy that he's upset over seeing on the Fallen list, but for no apparent reason) and it skips things and only vaguely explains some things.

And MinMin seems to be withholding information from Rina. She must know that Shiika is Fuyuhotaru but she obviously didn't tell Rina.

On the postive side, we have lots of Rina and Shiika and we know get an idea of how Shiika and Daisuke recognized each other. Shiika obviously doesn't recognize Daisuke because he was Kakkou at the time (though she seems to recognize him subconsciously). But its still unclear why Daisuke doesn't recognize her. Oh, and we have lots of Rina and Shiika, including a bit of fanservice. Yum.

- Minmin shows up that night, and interestingly not only does Mushibane know who she is, she knows Rina personally and they seem to be on good terms. It's also the first scene Minmin isn't being a bitch in. Maybe she has the hots for Rina =P

It would be a nice little addition. Sadly, I didn't get any yuri vibes.

something

02-05-2008, 08:10 AM

But its still unclear why Daisuke doesn't recognize her.
Yeah I... didn't get that at all. I think I assumed memory loss or something.

Oh, and we have lots of Rina and Shiika, including a bit of fanservice. Yum.
I didn't like Rina much at first but once she got together with Shiika, things completely turned around. Their interaction is definitely one of the high points of the show.

Can't say much about MinMin at this point, other than that they did a great job keeping me guessing on her.

HitokiriShadow

02-05-2008, 11:45 PM

Yep, the teacher is a/the bad guy (and the silhouettes of "The Beginning Three" before only added to it) and, unsurprisingly, Asami is in trouble. As in, she's screwed. Methinks Daisuke is going to have to take her out without his goofy outfit and Rina will see him do it. Angst ensues.

LOL @ Rina's face and Shiika's "cooking" .... and Shiika looks like a seriously fashion-challenged burglar.

Oh boy. Rina got over Centi quick and has the hots for Daisuke. This is going to make things... interesting. Yay for random MinMin appearance.

I've been wondering about the names and VAs for Rina's friends for a while, but I don't see anyone named "Kyouko" on the ANN list (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=7716). Did someone screw up (either in the sub, as I couldn't hear the first syllable of her name myself, or the person who did the ANN entry) and she's the one listed as "Ryouko" on ANN?

Let's see, everyone is having a good time and its an otherwise dark series... the shit is going to hit the fan, incoming angst ahoy. Carefree times at a karaoke parlor in a series like this is usually a bad sign.

Rina gets Daisuke's phone number, though its unclear if she realizes that its the same Daisuke she knows. I guess she doesn't know that Shiika's Daisuke goes to the same school and she probably assumes its a different one. But I could see this potentially leading to revealing Kakkou's identity if she calls at the wrong time. But I think Daisuke killing Asami's mushi would be a better way to do it.

Speaking of identities, does Daisuke know Rina's? I wouldn't be surprised considering how half-assed her disguise is. And his comments could certainly be interpreted to imply that he does know. And it would make sense that he was sent to keep an eye on her.

So Rina just totally missed that Daisuke's room makes Rei Ayanami's look extravagant? Or did she think that was normal? And there's Daisuke's sister, Mamiko Noto's role. Unsurprisingly, it's a role that won't get many lines as she's appearing via flashback.

And here's Annelize (I think, based on that preview from an episode or two ago) It's about time they introduce more of the SEPB members, considering its only a 13 episode series. And it looks like Teh Angst won't come quite yet.

HitokiriShadow

02-06-2008, 01:22 AM

"We're working on a plan for that" I'm sure you are. I do not believe, and never have, that Shiika escaped, at least not without help. I'm sure Haiji has something up his sleeve and let her out. And I wouldn't be surprised at all if MinMin is in on it, but frankly, I've no idea what she's up to and I could see her being on just about anyone and everyone's (i.e. no one but her own) side.

Anyway, we finally get more of the SEPB or whatever members. I'm looking forward to seeing them, well, do things. And yes, I can recognize that as Kana's voice, at least after reading your post mentioning it. Not sure I would have put that together without checking her roles on ANN first. I suck at recognizing voices and the only one I can do even decently at is Mamiko Noto. And even then, there are times I may not catch it immediately (though in Moyashimon's case, that may be because her first lines in the show were being yelled). I keep thinking Touko's voice is familiar, but looking at her roles, none of them jump out as something she sounds similar to. I had initially thought maybe Yuko Goto did her voice but it was someone I wasn't familiar with. Er, anyway, moving on.

"I'll save you." *bug eyes (no pun intended)* what the hell? But Touko continues to amuse me. I bet she's actually really strong and can kick serious ass when she needs to. Heh, maybe she's one of the Beginning Three. I'm not seriously predicting it (though I'm serious about her actually being really strong), but it would be an awesome twist.

Geez, everyone hates Kakkou. Okay, everyone except Erii/C. I guess they are referring to people as their bug/code names because these names are nothing like their ANN entries.

Okay, so it looks like Annelize/Kasuo may actually have a good reason to hate Kakkou.

Considering how quickly Rina covered up that painting, maybe she does realize that their Daisuke's are the same. But she hasn't shown any other signs that she knows yet. Maybe she just doesn't want anyone to see her work unfinished or simply because its the guy she likes.

"I'm.... broken." WTF?

Wait, his sister is alive? I figured she was dead or "missing."

Aha, its MinMin. Man I love MinMin. I have no clue what she's up to as she seems to be playing all the sides. She's probably even in contact with the evil teacher.

Asami clearly isn't one for covert ops or, well, anything that requires bravery or planning and following through with it. :sd: But that's okay...

Ah, so Asami isn't oblivious to the fact that she's a host. I figured she just discovered her powers and said "Cool!" and didn't think anything of it. Asami is such a fun character. Too bad she's still screwed. I will be really, really surprised if she doesn't get her mushi killed or in some way bit the bullet (perhaps even in the more traditional sense).

Oh, so Daisuke doesn't know Fuyuhotaru escaped? I thought he did and just didn't connect the dots before in regards to Shiika. And Touko didn't spill the beans either.

Well, that's uh, interesting. But Daisuke buddy, your boss is fucking insane. I hope you realize this and won't be surprised later when he goes batshit crazy. Broken indeed. Of course, given how he still cant' put two and two together with Shiika, he may not be that bright. Though that could be an effect of the the Mushi eating his dreams.

<3 MinMin. I don't care if you are playing everyone and doing bitchy things, you are awesome and can do whatever the hell you want.

- Asami gets her to admit it, and asks if Rina knows. For one Shiika manages to lie, and says no. Asami seems to accept it though, because she thinks she's become a host as well. Also, her eyes look really weird in this scene. Like they're crossed or something.
- For trying to keep it a secret she's sure being loud. And man the faces are really off right now. They look like they're staring into space or something.

The art and animation in this series is usually decent but sometimes it gets a bit... awkward....

Minmin sounds like she's enjoying delivering the bad news though. I *really* can't get a firm grasp on Minmin.

That's part of why I like her so much. First, I love the slightly evil and devilish characters. Second, I have no fucking clue what's going through her head, and in a good way (and not the Setsuan Siei/Gundam 00 way where he's just a fucking moron). And having Yukari Tamura's voice sure as hell doesn't hurt.

something

02-06-2008, 06:23 AM

Geez, everyone hates Kakkou. Okay, everyone except Erii/C. I guess they are referring to people as their bug/code names because these names are nothing like their ANN entries.
The character list (http://www.kadokawa.co.jp/sneaker/mushiuta/characters/) at the Kadokawa page has the real names under the code names, though it won't do you much good unless you can read hiragana. The problem I had with this page is that the style is so different from the anime so that even when I was looking at a character I'd seen, I couldn't always recognize them :sd:

There also seem to be characters on there that I don't remember from the anime, so I think the site is as much for the novels as the anime. However, I saw nothing on there (and I looked though the char list often and thoroughly) that would be a spoiler unless someone came and told us it was :sd:

HitokiriShadow

02-06-2008, 03:03 PM

I'm working on Hiragana at the moment, actually. So I'm able to read pieces of the names. Recognizing some of the pictures certainly helps though. Speaking of the pictures, they look really nice. I love the style. I suddenly really want the novels to get licensed here. :sd:

HitokiriShadow

02-06-2008, 06:08 PM

I can't say I care for Annelize much. But I love Erii. I'd say she's my second favorite after MinMin. Asami is third but, uh, yeah, not much for her to do now.

In any case, Asami's power was pretty useless for combat but it was an interesting one. Erii's is pretty darn useful and while she uses an insect, it actually looks cool.

HitokiriShadow

02-06-2008, 08:40 PM

Well, pretty most of the secrets of the main three characters came out in the open this episode. Daisuke should have figured out who Rina is, who likes who is clear to everyone and they all know who Shiika really is now (Diasuke is finally getting it). MinMin's true allegiances are still unclear, but I'm not the least bit surprised that Haji was well aware of what she was doing and she was doing at least some of it under his orders. Of course, whether she's really doing it for him or for some other purpose remains to be seen.

I was glad Erii got a little bit of screentime but she needs more. :(

something

02-06-2008, 09:54 PM

In any case, Asami's power was pretty useless for combat but it was an interesting one. Erii's is pretty darn useful and while she uses an insect, it actually looks cool.
Yeah, need much more Erii. These characters are so much more interesting than the ones that use an external mushi that really just does look like a big pet bug. I love Erii's wings.

HitokiriShadow

02-06-2008, 09:58 PM

Then Minmin shows up again with the same smug expression as she tells Rina where Garden is and how to get there. At this point she just REEEEKS of selling Rina out to Haji, but then when Rina says "Thank you, Azusa", Minmin is amazed Rina knows her real name (Horizaki Azusa) and looks... sad? Conflicted? What? WHAT!?

Heh, seeing MinMin not looking smug and evil was nice. And I'm really curious how Rina knew her real name.

On another note, it should be painfully obvious to Rina that its a trap. She just has to get on a train? Yeah, that should set off a few warning bells. I think she may known though, hence her comment to MinMin.

- Er, wow, wtf was that? After class, Rina wants to talk to Kyouko and Miharu, but they completely blow her off and avoid her. It's not like someone told her Rina was a host, or at least we're not aware of such a thing. Do they blame Rina for what happened to Asami?

It would be nice if that gets explained as it made no sense, but I think this will be one of many unanswered questions when it all ends.

- Daisuke comes over for the painting, and in the course of their conversation reveals he's Kakkou after she makes it clear she's about to do something she's willing to die for. He tells her not to go to Garden, and that if she does, they'll be enemies. She calls out her mushi (blowing up the apartment in the process...) but stops short of killing him, because she can't bring herself to do it. But she also won't give up, and tells him she's going to Garden to free everyone.

I like the way things played out here more than my predictions before.

HitokiriShadow

02-06-2008, 10:30 PM

Wait, how does Shiika know MinMin? Eh, whatever. Anyway, MinMin pretends to be nice and then reveals what an evil bitch she is. I'm a little disappointed that her motivation is just to please Haji though.

I love that crazy smile on Rina's face. I don't like the CG bugs but, well, I really don't care for the whole bug motif to begin with so it really only bothers me in principal.

And Rine fucking headbutts (with Nanahoshi) the chopper. Awesome.

You know, the sheer numbers of SEPB Hosts here (or at least their bugs) is a little ridiculous. I wish they could have made this a fight with, say, Annelize or some other high level Host rather than a bunch of damn mosquitos. But that chopper headbutt was still damn cool.

MinMin was a bitch (and I loved her for it) but I really felt sorry for her here.

OH FUCK, SHIIKA JUST GOT IMPALED.

All in all, a very nice episode.

HitokiriShadow

02-06-2008, 11:16 PM

Hmmm.... overall, it was pretty good. After a few episodes, I realized this would likely not have an ending that explained much and they certainly weren't explaining much as it went along. They also introduced some potentially interesting characters (Erii!!! and Annelize to a lesser extent; she needed more time but she had potential) and plot threads that they didn't have time to do anything with and just dropped. Learning that it was based on a novel series explained a lot and at that point I knew not to expect much from the ending in terms of plot and explanations.

They really glazed over some things and the Voracious Eater stuff at the end was disappointing on some levels because it was a boring villain that was barely given any screentime and what we got wasn't very interesting. And it felt kind of shoved in there as well.

But on an emotional and character level, it was great. They had the balls to off a major character and it worked really well. I'd certainly be up for a second season, but there better be a lot of Erii as my other favorite characters are out of the picture. Moonphase saying there will be a second season gives me some hope, but I suspect the anime diverged a lot from the source material in those last few episodes which would make a second season hard. But if there is one, I hope to God they explain things better because it became a little annoying at times.

something

02-07-2008, 07:55 AM

HitokiriShadow

02-07-2008, 09:08 PM

They really glazed over some things and the Voracious Eater stuff at the end was disappointing on some levels because it was a boring villain that was barely given any screentime and what we got wasn't very interesting. ... But on an emotional and character level, it was great.
That's how I felt too. The story made little effort to explain anything that happened either before the show started or outside the core group of characters we see, and so it really makes you feel like you're dumped into the middle of an ongoing conflict... which we were, I guess. The Voracious Eater stuff especially indicates that they did not intend to tell the whole story here, if ever. Mushi-Uta was above all about those three main characters and they focused on them regardless of what would be lost otherwise. And I think it worked, though clearly they expect you to have read (or to go read) the novels. Not really an option for us.

Even with the characters, though, there were things that they put little to no effort in explaining and that's what really annoyed me. Why did Rina's friends blow her off? Why was Rina so annoyed at being praised for her art in the first episode? How did Rina know MinMin's real name? Those are things that were not explained and even if there is a second season, really can't be unless they somehow raise Rina from the dead or, in the case of the last one, bring MinMin back from being a Fallen.

I suspect the anime diverged a lot from the source material in those last few episodes which would make a second season hard. But if there is one, I hope to God they explain things better because it became a little annoying at times.
Hmm, I don't know. I think precisely because they explained so little, pulled no punches, and left it so open ended, that it might be quite close. Obviously, if killing Rina was anime original, a second season would be nigh impossible. But if she died in the novels too... it could be following them almost exactly.

I've been thinking about it more and I think there is a chance they diverged, but I think odds are even that they didn't. Part of what makes me think that is what they did to MinMin as it felt like they did it just to do something with her. But maybe it just feels like that because they removed a lot of material involving her. Initially, I thought they had definitely diverged when they appeared to off Haji (due to the whole thing with his sister which was never really dealt with but surely would be at some point had they continued on in the story) but when they revealed that he didn't die, that "definitely" disappeared.

Regardless of whether they diverged or not (though it would certainly be far less likely if they did) I want a second season. And there better be a lot of Erii since MinMin probably won't be doing anything.