Jan28

Absolute Duo – 04

By , posted under Absolute Duo, ANIME

AbsoDuo 4-02

<<Irregular>> meet the <<Exception>>….

Well, I have to say it again. But this one went rather by the book as well, from the introduction of a new character, to the not-date-date, and a few finer points in between. Still, they are borrowing some fairly good pages from said book….

Lilith Bristol

AbsoDuo 4-01

 <standard buy the BD line here> Click for stitch..

I honestly don’t know if the original LN writer is in on the joke, or just chose a name at random, but the word Bristol is or was a fairly common rhyming slang (England’s the land of our new character Bristol City…you can do the rhyming, the pic is a dead giveway..or at least it would be if not for sun-chan). But what’s in a name, it hardly matters in the long run. What does is her straight-shooting modus operandi. She takes aim, she fires, she hits the target, accepts nothing less…

And I for one am all for that. My only wish is that I wanted them to play it with less than a heavy hand. So far, this is all we know about the character. Her determination, be it rational or not, is under-minded by the perceived rudeness of the character. For all we know she could have a lighter approach, with all the charm and grace of the type they made her station out to be. But no….short, sharp, shock…this is anime!

More School Rumble

AbsoDuo 4-03

Sakura has some Headmistressplaining for ya’ (click for stitch)

I’m sure Lilith will settle into school life proper after her transfer from England takes it’s pace. But in the meantime the gang has more serious problems at hand. In a hyphenated word, Bun-Bun. It seems that her killer approach last episode was not at all a normal procedure, and for all intents it lead to her dismissal. But quicker than you can shout plot device, she’s back in the fold. Why? She gets results. And if we go by hindsight, we had two possibilities. She either could have killed them all outright, or she could end up making them stronger. That last one is the outcome this goth-LOLi-LOLi wants. THE Absolute Duo, by any means necessary.

She mentions a Ritual of Sublimation to get them to advance a level ( Bun-Bun, back in instructor mode, mentions quite the difference between levels). At first I thought she was talking about chemical sublimation, cause I really am that nerdy. But psycho-analytic theory also has a similarly-named principle; a process where our baser instincts, libido, anger, aggression ar channeled into socially useful operations. Like beating on people with soul-weapons, I guess.

It’s a Date

AbsoDuo 4-04

Julie: That looks like a good spot to get drunk…

Well, Thor/Tor/Tooru went from frying pan to slow-cooker in one fell swoop. Once again, he falls victim to Julie’s nocturnal somnambulist cuddling. The sum total of the soft meeting was a hard fall. With that firmly in mind, the next evening, he tries to distract her from further cuddling (idiot!) by suggesting they go for a break, off the Academy island. Now for him, this isn’t a date (idiot!). But we know that is what she is thinking.  She can’t wait. Oh, why do they have to write him that way?! (Idiots!)

But for all the male-inspired bluster, this was a rather cute date, with all the attendant charms; holding hands, spring clothes shopping, puppy-viewing, kindergartner surfing, and some time with ice-cream. Did anyone else set an alarm to this scene? Goodness, for all it’s predictability, it was cute as heck. Hey, Julie has a penchant for that…

Oh, Rum Raisin, Rum Raisin

AbsoDuo 4-05 AbsoDuo-rum

<caption contest> <—click top image for WebM

And then it’s the inevitable march of the poorly timed cliches. Being the “can’t break school rules” type she is, Tomoe cannot help but bring Miyabi for a bit of tag-along. That would be all fine and well, but for the addition of the idjit crew. How do they even get into a mall? But no matter. Tomoe has superior training is superior all figured out if necessary; which would have been interesting and cool, if not for the “man’s gotta do” cliche rearing it’s head (idiot!). All he really needs is a cliche-drunk Julie with him….oh wait, there she is.  So just when things get settled in for a nice sequence of static frame beat-downs, cue the British Invasion!

AbsoDuo 4-08 AbsoDuo 4-07

Strait-shooter

…which brings the idjit gang to a well deserved if not usless end. Damn girl, aren’t there better ways to show off? At least she could get rid of the weapon easy, and soul bullets aren’t exactly trace-able….

Absolute Extras

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Well, all in all this episode did a fair balance of both badly done cliches and some well appropriated ones. Those that failed felt oddly inserted, and the ones that succeed had the shows mark on it. But besides that we got some information and a good feeling about the upcoming tone of the show. Sakura is going to train these guys hard, by hook or by crook, come what may. She’s not exactly up-front with the reasons why, but as I’ve been guessing so far, it has to be for some serious opposition coming their way. The first episode cold open suggested something coming that could be both a beat down and a game changer. Can’t wait to see how they turn it all out…with a few less derpy bits, please.

AbsoDuo 4-010

Until Next Time! We launch a new ship!

About

All around nerd that enjoys just about any anime genre. I love history, politics, public policy, the sciences, literature, arts...pretty much anything can make me geeky...except sports. Follow me @theskylion
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46 Responses to “Absolute Duo – 04”

  1. Di Gi Kazune says:
    January 28, 2015 at 5:11 am
    POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments

    Click for stitch..

    Bloody damn water vapour!

    Is that headmistress Kuroneko?

    I’d rather watch Date-A-live. At least it has Kurumi.

    Reply
  2. Apathy says:
    January 28, 2015 at 5:20 am
    POWUH: iLurker with 9 comments

    Kindergartner surfing, Hahaha, that was adorable…and it happened twice!

    “3 times a night! No more! Dammit’ girl, I’m not a machine!”

    Reply
  3. BlackBriar says:
    January 28, 2015 at 8:45 am
    POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments

    I don’t know which is worse to have: a power crazed headmaster who expects results no matter what the means or a possible bipolar homicidal maniac like Rito (a.k.a Bun-Bun) for a teacher who could bare her fangs at a moment’s notice.

    Three cheers to Tor for putting “Miss Priss” Lilith Bristol in her place. Probably the first time anyone actually said “no” to her. These arrogant high-born types get under the skin too easily. Where do they get off thinking they can do as they please and the rules don’t apply to them? Well, enough evidence to see she isn’t going down without a fight.

    This came to mind a while ago. Has anyone noticed that transfer students in anime, particularly the females, are mostly blondes? Are they implying blondes should be obligatory foreigners?

    Reply
    • Highway says:
      January 28, 2015 at 9:04 am
      POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments

      You don’t have to choose between the headmaster and Bun-Bun. You get both. I’m still surprised that she wasn’t on the school’s payroll to knock off kids in the first place. It’s totally in keeping with everything we’ve seen from the school.

      In Japan, it’s pretty darn rare to have a blond who isn’t a foreigner (I get the feeling that the second largest category of blondes is “rough youths who want to appear exotic” i.e. like a foreigner). So if you see a blonde in anime, they’re most likely going to either be from or have parents from England (even though in America, we associate blondes more with Scandinavian countries, which end up with silver hair in anime). It’s not necessarily an obligate trait, but it is a highly facultative trait.

      Reply
    • skylion says:
      January 28, 2015 at 9:07 am
      POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments

      Which is worse? Implying I have to pick one? The LOLi, of course. Damn, she’ll kill you when you least expect it…

      Yep, it’s one thing Tor has done right when it comes to women…

      The Trope, You Gotta Have Blue Hair, doesn’t apply to blondes, and it could be argued, gingers. As you say they are usually either foreign or half. Silver hair as well…

      Reply
  4. Highway says:
    January 28, 2015 at 9:24 am
    POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments

    This show is doing well maximizing its best thing, which is Julie. I really like the way they’re playing her with the straightforward attitude. She seems to know what her goal is, and continues moving toward that without embarrassment or coquettish behavior. It’s almost like Tor is trying to play the normal harem MC lines, which would have normal Japanese harem anime girls backing and filling, or turning away in embarrassment, and Julie stymies him with an honest answer. She even gives *him* an excuse for why they should hold hands, not because she’s embarrassed about it, but because he is. That girl is smoooooooooth.

    Reply
    • skylion says:
      January 28, 2015 at 9:39 am
      POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments

      …her only weakness is Rum Raisin…and even that’s pretty darn smooooooth.

      I think my only complaint (as I went on and on in this post) is his still wooden/blustery reaction after all this time; dude should loosen up a bit…

      Reply
      • Highway says:
        January 28, 2015 at 9:49 am
        POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments

        What is it with kids liking Rum Raisin ice cream? That stuff is vile (of course, I’m not a fan of rum anyway) but even those who like it don’t really come to it until they’re a bit older.

        Yeah, Tor is as stiff as it gets. Julie comes off as kinda stiff, but as she goes along you realize it’s more just reserved. She has a very good economy of emotion. It’s something I like to see in a show, but rarely do (Urabe from Nazo no Kanojo X had that trait as well). It leaves a lot of room for genuine reactions, rather than everything being over the top.

        Reply
        • skylion says:
          January 28, 2015 at 9:59 am
          POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments

          I think the penchant for Rum Raisin is supposed to show a sense of maturity that you wouldn’t expect.

          …ah, thanks for bringing up Urabe…Yeah, that nature is one of the reasons I enjoy her character as well.

          Reply
          • BlackBriar says:
            January 28, 2015 at 10:07 am
            POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments

            I think the penchant for Rum Raisin is supposed to show a sense of maturity that you wouldn’t expect.

            I’ve never tried it. Still, to get drunk off one tasting, Julie is quite a lightweight.

            Reply
            • Highway says:
              January 28, 2015 at 10:32 am
              POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments

              Anime frequently shows people getting drunk from soda. The actual mechanism has little to do with it. The amount of alcohol in ice cream is approximately zero.

            • skylion says:
              January 28, 2015 at 10:50 am
              POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments

              Back in the day of Star Blazers, the good ship’s doctor got tipsy on “spring water”….which was really sake, but you don’t show that on a “kid’s show”.

              This trope is weird…..

            • BlackBriar says:
              January 28, 2015 at 8:10 pm
              POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments

              @skylion: Ah, so you’re aware of “Seraph of the End” now, eh? I’ve known about the adaptation since its first announcement toward the end of Summer 2014 and came across the manga in 2012 when there was only one chapter available at the time. Now that it’s getting animated, calling this feeling “hyped” is putting it mildly. And by Wit Studio and music from Hiroyuki Sawano, the same collaboration behind Attack on Titan, no less.

              @Highway: Much like Mayo Chiki’s Nakuru Narumi when drunk off of soda goes into “Stripping Drunken Fist” mode.

  5. IanDK says:
    January 28, 2015 at 7:43 pm
    POWUH: Beginner (20-35) with 26 comments

    /shoo Lilith

    Is it bad that all I can think of is how marriage vows are not ’till death do us part’ these days, and how this is a reflection on that?

    Also, I keep on hearing Chaika saying ‘Tooru’ in my mind throughout this show…

    Reply

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