April 12, 2005
Sousei no Aquarion Episode 2 - The Beast of Darkness
Still no OP, but we do have an ED - Omna Magni (Yui Makino) - how...odd. Makino's singing voice sounds just like Gabriela Robin (who wrote the lyrics), so we have a slightly baby-ish, strangely melodic music-box tune set to Da Vinci-esque drawings. It's growing on me.
Toma, the sleeping Shadow Angel, awakens to the news of the return of the Solar Wing. Meanwhile, Apollo is forcibly interrogated by Gen, the leader of DEAVA (the organisation in charge of the Vector Machines and the Elements) before the mysteriously vampiric Rina quizzes him as to his true nature. While the Element candidates deal with the fallout of last week's episode, Reika goes out in a team with Sirius and Silvia to fend off the next Shadow Angel attack. However, Reika suffers debilitating flashbacks, such that Apollo forcibly takes her place to fight the Cherubim. While they successfully defeat it, Otoha uses her song to transfer Toma's soul inside the Cherubim, with disastrous consequences for Apollo...
Remember what I said about not watching any more raws? Well, seems that was a lie.
Aquarion was a bit iffy when I first watched it, you may recall. Then I found myself rewatching the "SOUSEI GATTAI!!!" sequence from the first episode over and over again - I chalked this up to listening to what will eventually be the opening song. Now I find myself sitting with a dictionary on hand puzzling over vocab and actively considering where all this is going after two episodes. Basically, I'm hooked.
We've basically got all the elements I look for in a decent mecha show now we've got past the initial inordinate amounts of cheese (it's still fairly cheesy - the white rose scene and the 2001-esque fight between Aquarion and Thoma in particular are very, very silly - but I don't really care). Angsty character dynamics, gorgeous animation (say what you like about the CG, I think it's great), kickass music and a properly intriguing plot - if Sirius isn't the Solar Wing, who is his past incarnation? Why is Toma so obsessed with Apollonius (fangirls at the ready)? Why is Pierre a flaming footballer? (the last of these may not be so interesting).
I know it's derivative, I know it's stupid, but I can't wait for the next episode. I just hope there's a bloody opening sequence next time!
Posted by BluWacky at April 12, 2005 02:55 PM | TrackBackAquarion strikes me as one of those show which, like Gungrave or Heat Guy J, which doesn't find its audience until well into its run or until it hits its DVD release. Personally, I think its a great show (but then I like this kind of thing), and reckon this is going to do really well when the US DVD release rolls around, despite the current otakuish rantings (and, really, this is the kind of show which always gets panned on fansub).
I also agree that the CG is rather good on this one, and I also like the fact that most of the female character designs are actually realistically proportioned, which is unusual for the genre.
I do wonder if we are actually going to get a proper OP - Arjuna didn't have one, did it? (They did use Mameshiba as an OP in one episode, I suppose)
Posted by: DiGiKerot at April 12, 2005 10:34 PMI'm so tempted to make a flash animation of Otoha going "Thoma! Thoma!" with a limp Thoma at her arms, and then suddenly have the "Before no kodomo-tachi" BGM playing in the background...
And then 30 seconds of seeing the various characters with a shocked expression.... shaking. (and going "A...a...a....")
Oh, and the flaming football shoe was HILARIOUS. Also, I read the producers promise next ep there'll be an opening sequence so fear not ;)
Also, I DIDN'T KNOW FALLEN ANGELS HAD GAY MARRIAGES. That's all I shall say.
Posted by: wao at April 17, 2005 02:18 AMHahahahaha! Classic! Cheers, wao. Every time I read that comment I crack up.
I should have paid more attention to the dialogue when I watched this the first time round, I didn't realise that Toma really DID love Apollonius. What a crazy mishmash of ideas this show has!
Posted by: BluWacky at April 17, 2005 10:48 PM