Toaru Hikuushi e no Koiuta – 04-05
The perfect disguise.
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My internet was out all day due to… well, I don’t know, but it’s back now and that’s the important thing. As for the plot itself, I’m really happy with where this is going. |
There was more backstory revealed about Kal, and it filled in a bit about Ari as well. Her and Ignacio have been kind of flat compared to Kal and Claire, and episode 4 did a bit of good for both of their characters. Ignacio in that he seems to (probably) have some sort of concern for Kal (or maybe that was Claire) and Ari in how she came to accept Kal despite his lineage and angst. …The rest of the dorm seems to be getting along well enough and Fausto doesn’t seem to be as much of a jerk as he could have been at this point. Maybe his moment is coming, but for the moment, he’s been bearable.
It was also finally revealed that Claire is also Nina Viento (I only say “finally” because the official site spoiled this for me at like, the 2nd episode). Of course, this means that Kal is going to go through quite a few complicated emotions when he finds out. He said that he likes Claire for who she is/wants to be her partner, but how will he react once he knows the truth? Though really, this development probably should have been expected even without anyone spoiling it. Koiuta seems to be playing out kind of like a fairy tale, so these kinds of really convenient coincidences are bound to happen. Claire certainly seems to be going through some emotions of regret, since she’s come to the realization that Kal might be Carl. She seems to have been regretful since the day six years ago when they first met though.
…Plus she may or may not have killed her entire village.
Claire and Kal’s relationship seems to have come on really fast, but I see why they might have done that so they could move right into Claire’s conflict. It feels like Claire being a figurehead as opposed to the main instigator is to be expected. She’s not entirely innocent regarding the whole event and she certainly feels regret, but the way the flashback looked, it seems like the organization (or whatever it was) was just using her for their own ends. It’s not a terribly deep plot twist, but it works well here, since it explains a lot about Claire’s actions now, why she seems a bit naive about some things, and why she seems so empty when she’s Nina. It’s interesting about how both Claire and Kal recovered from their trauma a bit after going for plane rides, but I suppose that’s just plot convenience fate at work. They have a lot of similarities, in that their childhood issues were cause by a third party, their meeting 6 years ago caused some sort of trauma, and a plane ride helped/ is partially the reason why they’re at the school at this point in the story.
And given how this anime is progressing, it seems like we can take most of what the characters say and seem to feel at face value. This seems like an anime about warmhearted redemption, not about backstabbing and treachery (or at least between the two main characters). There’s not even really a main antagonist (yet at least). The people had their reasons to revolt and were’t doing it just for the sole sake of specifically ruining Kal’s life; he was just caught up in public unrest. Claire’s antagonism towards Kal was her simply trying to feel needed. Though there’s space for a main villain to reveal itself, I guess. If the people Claire joined weren’t helping the people out of the goodness of their hearts, there’s the chance they were doing it solely for their own personal gain. And since the spring seems to have guardians, maybe the entire expedition that Kal is on could be an antagonist, since maybe there’s a good reason why no one has made it to the edge of the world before. From what we’ve seen from the country that they come from, they don’t seem to have a track record of being nice to those who are different.
Despite probably having reasons, the entire country that these characters are part of seems to be comprised of ignorant, intolerant people. Or at least, a lot of citizens who get caught up in the mob mentality. For Kal, his parents were murdered because people wanted scapegoats for their terrible lives. Maybe the revolution was justified since it didn’t look like the royal family was doing much based on the flashbacks, but at the moment, it seems that Kal’s parents were probably nice people who probably tried. Or at least, Kal’s mother wasn’t completely oblivious. Perhaps they were just misunderstood (which in turn, was probably made worse by the people who Claire was working with). In Claire’s case too, her childhood must have sucked because people didn’t understand wind powers. Given the non-modern setting though, this kind of attitude is probably to be expected. Some people are more open-minded, but for the most part, people probably weren’t exposed to a broad range of opinions or a lot of education that could develop said range of opinions.
There are a lot of cliches going on, but this show still has some kind of depth to it, so it’s not like they’re completely unwelcome. Koiuta seems to have a nice grey area going on in terms of people antagonizing one another, which is keeping things interesting. Of course, the grey area is needed if this anime is going to go with the theme that love/friendship/whatever redeems people, but it still contributes something to the anime’s story. They… spent more animation than I thought they would on boob movement in the beach episode than I thought they would (based on the quality of animation thus far), but overall, the show isn’t too bad. Now let’s see if they do something interesting with the appearance of a new “enemy”. Koiuta seems like it’s getting a tiny bit more complex as it goes on, so maybe this will add even more to the story.
Could this mean some side character development as well?
About Karakuri
University student and the one at Metanorn who's known for wearing glasses. Likes blood, insanity and plot twists, but also plays otome games and adores cute romance anime. It balances out... somehow.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I hate it when my internet goes out. I’ve been with it for so long that it’s unbearable to go without after a certain period of time.
Strike the Blood, Noragami and now this. Wow, you really have bad luck running into all these spoilers. Maybe you’ll find a way to break that curse.
These two episodes were well done and a forbidden relationship just got more complicated. A nice plot twist nonetheless. What makes this even more of a slippery slope was that they spent the night bonding while stranded in the middle of the ocean. Kal was unknowingly getting to know the one person he’s supposed to hate. He’s definitely going to have moral issues when the cat gets out of the bag.
If there are any antagonists, it’s the organization, which I’m sure is the government, that used Claire as a means to an end as a focus of hate/salvation for the concerning mass six years ago and now that she’s lost her power, her usefulness has run its course. Not to mention things seem to be working in their favor still. Both the Prince and Nina Viento are on a drifting mass of land which one can say they’ve practically been exiled to.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Noragami I chose to read on my own accord, so I don’t really think that it counts as spoiling myself but for Strike the Blood and Koiuta, I think I just need to avoid the internet xD.
I’m kind of surprised that you’re on board with this anime. It doesn’t seem like the kind of genre you usually watch (not that I’m complaining that you’re here or anything xD). Kal is definitely going to have issues, but I’m sure they’ll be solved once he realizes that his feelings about Claire were true and whatnot.
I kind of hope that they can pull the organization into a grey area, but if not, they do seem like the most likely candidates to being the series’ antagonists. The fact that they seem to have abandoned Claire after she outlived her usefulness certainly points towards that.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
There was a time it wouldn’t have been. Well, I do my best to try out new shows to stave off boredom and this one isn’t so bad. If it’s interesting, I’ll give it a chance but if does poorly or is simply too ridiculous, in my opinion, to watch, it gets dropped. I’m not a big fan of romance but saw White Album 2 last season.
And between you and me, if I watch a show, then I’d be able to comment on it and my count will rise. 😉POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Not even wanting to be included in commenting on shows got me to watch this past episode 1. Some people are saying how great it is, but it sure didn’t seem like it from that hackneyed first episode.