Anaglyph’s Anime Appraisals

It’s been bugging me for a while now: every time Kuroda appears I get the feeling I’ve seen him somewhere before. Today I realised who he reminds me of: Leonard Bernstein.

Bernstein look-alike Kuroda

Maybe there’s nothing in it but, given Red Garden’s Broadway leanings and the fact that Bernstein is the composer of a rather famous musical (West Side Story), it doesn’t seem completely beyond the realm of possibility that Kuroda’s design was inspired by Bernstein. That said, this and the previous episode have not featured a song. It seems odd to start out with such a big stylistic decision and then drop it after two episodes; not that I’m complaining. Maybe it was felt that the songs weren’t working; maybe there will be songs in future episodes. Either way, I’m thankful for their current absence.

I’m going to loosen up on the synopsis/thoughts format of previous entries by cutting down the detail of the summary and mixing it up more with my thoughts on the episode. It’s still full of spoilers though, so steer clear of this post if you want to avoid them. On with the show.

The episode begins with an interesting scene with Lula and lackey that suggests the dog-like (wolf-like?) men are created by Lula and her faction to train the girls for some future task. Cold, as lackey says, but with her back turned to him Lula’s face reveals how much it pains her to take these actions. I’ve always liked characters that are ostensibly cold or arrogant or otherwise unappealing in some way but who reveal a more vulnerable side during unguarded moments. Lula = win thus far.

Lula aggrieved by the actions she takes

Kuroda continues his investigation into the death of Lise by interviewing students at the school. His god-like powers of investigation touted in the first episode seem a little doubtful when his interview with Kate leaves him with only a vague suspicion that she knows something. Considering how obvious her reaction was when asked whether Lise had a boyfriend, which he even appeared to notice at the time, you’d expect him to do a Columbo-esque pause on his way out. Ah well - moving on…

While Claire goes out on her own to search for the mansion they remembered in the previous episode, Rachel wallows in self-pity at home. Interestingly it’s Kate and Rose who seem to be most able to adjust to what’s happened. They spend the day together bonding and decide to make the best of their situation. Kate, who had initially seemed quite timid and frail, is actually turning out to be the most level-headed and solid of the four. She wants the girls to stick together and get through this; however, her efforts are thwarted by Rachel’s complete inability to cope and subsequent lashing out, and the fact that Claire is very much a loner.

Kate and Rose decide to make the best of things

Finally they’re summoned by the butterflies to fight the dog-man that Lula planted at the beginning of the episode. Rachel, unable to take any more, loses all self-control and goes psycho on his arse with a baseball bat; a fairly disturbing scene. Clearly she’s the weakest link. With Claire keeping her distance and Rachel on the verge of a nervous breakdown it seems as if it’s up to Kate to pull the group together so that they have a fighting chance of staying alive.

Rachel goes slightly bonkers

A good episode for the characters, though I didn’t find it as entertaining as the previous one. A little repetition is starting to creep in and it’s probably about time for a shift towards more solid plot developments instead of the occasional dropped hint. It’s nice to see so much attention paid to character development, but the pace of the story needs to pick up a little now or the series is going to start flagging.

As I’ve mentioned previously, I don’t have the most discerning eye when it comes to the visual quality of anime, but sometimes the characters do look quite poorly drawn. It doesn’t bother me that much but it is a shame when the backgrounds look so beautiful with their rich colours and atmospheric lighting.

Cheer up - things could be worse - okay, not by much

It seems likely that the next episode will have an already tortured Rachel having to deal with her brutal actions on top of everything else. Will she break down completely or will she pull herself together? Will Lula’s lackey get a name (please give him a name already)? Will the plot shift up a gear? Will Grace have a massive yuri orgy? Will I stop asking these stupid questions?

Yes.