Red Data Girl 08-10

So what did I miss? A lot, apparently.

Sorry for having to combine not two, but three posts into one. Anime North and E3 have been giant time sinks. Not only that, but after watching things like Shingeki no Kyojin, Detroit Metal City, and the most recent (and bloody) Game of Thrones episodes I didn’t feel like my head was in the right place to write about RDG. I’m still a little buzzed from E3, but I think I can calm down enough to type now without punching a hole through my laptop out of excitement.

Saving Manatsu and Masumi

I really liked the story arc about the triplets and their attachment to a dead sibling. It’s not exactly the usual type of thing brothers and sisters fight about, now, is it? I like how RDG mixes normal shoujo drama with crazy spiritual dragons rampaging through alternate dimensions. That’s something I can really bite into.

The three of them had a very interesting relationship that was starting to get a bit muddled once Manatsu became self-conscious about hurting Mayura by dying early from his illness. His decision to run away was very extreme and probably made in the heat of the moment. As a result of this, he changes his mind when Izumiko comes to rescue him and starts to help her. A perfectly normal thing for someone to do, but nonetheless, a rather boring way to have him come back.

It’s a little unsatisfying to see him flip flop so much on what was essentially a life or death decision. It makes sense that Manatsu would realize how stupid his idea was only after the fact, but I wish he had been at least a little bit harder to persuade. Izumiko had a very easy time saving him. After going through all that trouble, I wish there was something a little more than “Manatsu, come back!” “Oh, okay.” I feel like a lot of his insecurities weren’t solved at all – at least in a way that we could tell he had adopted a new perspective. Yeah, he’s ready to live again, but what does he think about the fact he’s still got a high chance of dying young and leaving Mayura behind? A bit too much time was spent on flashy dragons and raven wings instead of actually solving the core problem. The whole razzle dazzle approach is super cool and probably the most action-packed thing we’ve seen on the show so far, but it’s still lacking a bit of closure for me.

I think the lack of verbal reconciliation disappointed me because I thought the talk between Masumi (who was technically Manatsu at the time, but bear with me) and Izumiko was setting up something like that so well. They could have easily dispelled his worries about death with a little more talking, but it was cut short. It seems like as a rule of thumb, any conversation between Izumiko and Masumi is some of the best-written dialogue in the show. Masumi asks some really hard questions about his existence and Izumiko provides all these practical answers that are right, but not what Masumi wants to hear. He wants her to pick one, but she can’t. That’s the truth.

Bonus scene I found to be unintentionally hilarious: Show ▼

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The Himegami Appears

This was basically a well put-together info dump episode. It’s not a jaw-dropping showstoppers when the Himegami explains her past, but it definitely gives us some much needed background information. In the future, she destroys all of mankind, and now she’s gone to the past to try and prevent that. Unfortunately, she can’t just pop in whatever time period she wants. She has to travel through thousands of woman down a long, long lineage until she finds a way to stop this future calamity. So far she’s failed every time, and this will probably be her last time. If she can’t fix things now, then mankind is doomed. Miyuki will hopefully stop this from happening and keep Izumiko as the one in control of her body. As much as Miyuki has been growing fond of Izumiko, he’s not so scummy that he’d take advantage of her whilst being possessed by some frisky spirit. Are all spirits just sexually frustrated? The Himegami and Masumi should have a little “chat.”

Ghosts Gone Wild

Anyways, the Himegami is a lot more complex than just being the cause of a huge calamity. Miyuki will actually have to work with her to stop the world from ending. This cultural festival may seem innocuous, but I’m guessing this “experiment” will provide the right kinds of pressures to make Izumiko react in a certain way. Thankfully, a little hugging from Miyuki (who has finally got the romance ball rolling) turns her back to normal. Ah, the power of love!

Now that we know enough about the Himegami to distinguish truth from bullshit, I wonder if anyone will ever call out Yukimasa. He’s been a bit MIA recently, but I still feel like he’s one of the villains. Izumiko even accuses him of only caring about the Himegami, which is the closest thing to sassy she’s ever gotten since she was drunk. With her newfound confidence, I hope she continues bringing on the sass and shutting down Yukimasa if he even thinks about misusing her.

 

Ghosts Gone Wild 2: Sexytime at the Shrine

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Sengoku Era School Festival

This episode got me successfully invested in the whole school war going on underneath the surface of this peppy cultural festival. It’s very tame so far, but I like how seemingly benign things such as haunted houses and modelling could turn out to be treacherous. There’s just so much that could go wrong that it makes you suspect even the littlest events as being deadly traps. I still find it amusing how dangerous it is for Izumiko to dress up as the princess. No Izumiko! Don’t be a model! Anything but that! You’ll be lead into a lifestyle of catty women and anorexia…also the world might end.

The best princess Leia cosplay ever

Fortunately, nothing big happens quite yet. Izumiko falls into some pitfalls, but she shakes off the ghosts and manages to dodge another opportunity to let her braids out. Things are still building up to what I hope is a much more threatening situation. The show is nearly finished, so there is a lot that needs wrapping up. The world has to be saved in a handful of episodes and Miyuki has barely scratched the surface of the Himegami’s purpose. I don’t think Yukimasa will be as much of a setback as Izumiko thinks, because Miyuki is now soulfully devoted to helping Izumiko and the Himegami. It’s nice to see him obediently work with her, albeit a bit boring. Now Izumiko is the one being difficult and back-talking to him while he just complies. It’s kind of amusing how their roles have changed, although not quite reversed. The more I see Izumiko talk to strangers willingly and speak her mind, the more proud I become at far she’s come.

Miyuki mentions that Izumiko and the Himegami are quite alike in some ways…but polar opposites in other facets of their personalities. Izumiko is usually a lot more meek, but lately she’s been inheriting some of the Himegami’s boldness. It would be convenient if they were actually the same person so that both of them could continue to exist, but I’m not sure how likely that would be. Izumiko would never be quite as flirtatious as the Himegami. Even with all that confidence, I don’t think it goes with her morals. She only acts like that when she’s too drunk to care about the consequences, and that doesn’t really count. So if they’re separate entities, how is Miyuki going to make both of them happy? Change the future then exorcise the Himegami? It has to end with Izumiko surviving so they can be a lovey-dovey couple, after all.

RDG is setting up a very interesting path for the penultimate episode and the finale. So far I’ve been enjoying how they handle the transformation Izumiko and Miyuki have been making. Not just as better people, but as better people who have to deal with freaky ghost nonsense everyday. They’re finally starting to accept that this is going to be the norm if they continue down this road. You’d think sprouting raven wings and chanting spells would make Miyuki realize this sooner, but I guess denial can be pretty strong sometimes.

Preview: The cultural festival gets more intense as this “curse” Masumi and the kouhais were talking about starts to rear its ugly head.

Mmmm yeah gurl, I know you love dem neck ruffles.