July 4th, 2005
Since it’s the end of the series, I’ll put the episode synopsis in the extended entry, but there’s only one real spoiler and even then it won’t make much difference because, rather annoyingly, Loveless doesn’t really “end” as such. I strongly suspect JC Staff want to make a second series - the plot didn’t really go anywhere in these 12 episodes, and this episode in particular just opens up a whole new line for the show to pursue. There’s no resolution of the issue of the Seven Moons at all, and I have to say I’m a little disappointed by this as there’s no guarantee there will ever be a second series.
Overall, Loveless didn’t quite measure up to what I expected from the beginning of the series, as the later spell battles didn’t necessarily capture the flair and imagination of the early ones (mainly because they all took place in deserted places with no real environmental features to utilise) and the story arcs, while enjoyable, were paced for a full 26 or so episodes rather than the measly 12 we got. If a second series ever gets made I suspect I’ll be a lot more positive about Loveless - it still has an interesting story to develop, decent direction, and some pretty damn good animation and music - but as it stands it’s frustratingly incomplete and insubstantial.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Loveless | 68 Comments »
June 26th, 2005
All the major characters head out to Yokohama for a day trip, and we revisit the events of the day from three different points of view - Kio’s, Shinonome-sensei’s, and Ritsuka’s. Basically, all that really happens is that Kio thanks Ritsuka for making Soubi act more like a normal human after Seimei’s death, there’s a misunderstanding involving a ferris wheel, and everyone is very, very happy.
What an odd choice for a penultimate episode. It was perfectly enjoyable and fun, but almost totally disposable - I can’t imagine how anything can get properly resolved except the basics of Seimei’s death in the next episode. What about Ritsuka’s crazy mother? Does he even have a father? What is Ritsuka’s “name”? I can’t see us getting anywhere with these questions, really, and as such episode 11 is slightly disappointing despite being decent in and of itself. I guess we’ll have to wait and see how things play out next time, really.
Posted in Loveless | 6 Comments »
June 24th, 2005
Yamato coerces Ritsuka into skipping school on the day of their fight, where she probes him about his brother’s true personality and his proper Sacrificial name - in the meanwhile, however, Ritsuka works out that the Zero pair can actually feel pain, they just have a mental block stopping them from processing the physical sensations. During the duel, Ritsuka orders Seimei to attack Yamato mentally, and her ensuing reaction causes Kouya to abandon the fight; the two of them give up being Zero and sever all contact with Nagisa-sensei. Ritsuka, however, is left with doubts as to who his brother really was, and how he treated Seimei.
I’ve left out a few of the more interesting things - the explanation of how Yamato and Kouya won last week’s fight, for instance, and their backstory. Again, much like Emma, there seems to be so many things that could be explored in Loveless that I can’t imagine them getting around to in the two remaining episodes, and it’s a real shame - the pacing is off in that we’ve spent so long on these little Zero arcs that there’s been very little development on the whole Seimei’s-death-and-the-Seven-Moons front as a whole. It’s all been interesting, obviously, and I like the show a lot, but once more I just wish it was going on for longer.
Posted in Loveless | 8 Comments »
June 5th, 2005
Natsuo and Youji arrive to help Soubi home only to find Ritsuka already with him - they all head back to Soubi’s place, where the Zero pair fill in Ritsuka on some of the details about Fighters and Sacrifices that he somehow hadn’t managed to grasp - basically, because Ritsuka and Soubi don’t have the same Name, their bond isn’t as strong as it should be, and massive hints are dropped that there’s a proper Fighter out there somewhere for Ritsuka (oh please, make it Yuiko!) In the meantime, Yamato and Kouya report to Nagisa-sensei, who created them - her insinuations that she can just replace Yamato if she’s a poor choice of Sacrifice trouble Kouya significantly. Ritsu-sensei, in the meantime, orders Nagisa to call a rematch between Loveless and Zero since Soubi had to fight without a Sacrifice - this is done, but not before the female Zero pair apparently kills Youji.
All the way through watching this I was thinking about how interesting Loveless is, and now I’m writing this I can’t really think of anything in particular to comment on! A return to the more sombre atmosphere of the start of the series, perhaps, with angst galore - but then I’m an angst fiend, so that didn’t bother me one bit. My one gripe is that, given there’s only three episodes left, Ritsuka and Soubi’s relationship hasn’t actually changed all that much since the beginning, except Ritsuka is slightly more trusting and concerned. I suppose we will vaguely resolve what happened to Seimei soon and there will no doubt be some kind of showdown with Ritsu-sensei, but given that the manga is ongoing I don’t hold out much hope for anything particularly conclusive - does anyone who reads the manga know how closely the anime follows it?
Not that it really matters much - Loveless continues to be a nifty little series that will probably be mostly ignored because of the shounen ai, but hopefully gets some recognition anyway. Hopefully someone will take a chance on licensing it at some point - my bets are on either Media Blasters or Geneon, but who knows really?
Posted in Loveless | 11 Comments »
June 2nd, 2005
LESBIAN CATGIRLS!
Now that I’ve got your attention…
Ritsuka makes Soubi swear to stop lying to him and that he won’t get into a fight on his own. Of course, he disobeys when another Zero pair turns up - this time, it’s two girls, Kouya and Yamato, who are better engineered than the previous pair such that they can withstand the cold. As such, they once more gain the upper hand, and both break Soubi’s arm and leave him paralysed. Ritsuka manages to find him, but he is swiftly unconscious…
Honestly, Soubi is an idiot, after going on about how he needed Ritsuka to be his Sacrifice for him and now just going off and getting himself almost killed. It makes for good drama, sure, but like a lot of Loveless it’s a rather implausible situation. Nevertheless, the battle sequence was particularly good this time, and Kouya and Yamato are more interesting than the previous Zero pair (and not just because Yamato made Kouya lose her ears on a subway train…)
Posted in Loveless | 5 Comments »
