Chaos Dragon: Sekiryuu Senyaku – 04
…interesting character, boring character, interesting character…
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….has this show ever really cared that much about decent exposition….but they do manage to inject some cool points into this outing… |
I really like it when a story can come up with an interesting thematic element and stick with it. You can get in depth exploration of values, ideals, conflicts, and resolutions that way. But sometimes the theme has to go down a layer or two or it’s likely to get in the way of how a story should reasonably unfold. We have great nations at odds with each other and the character’s that represent those nation’s ideals and situations. But we need these character to be…characters…
The Mistress of Siege Warfare
Since the first episode, part of Chaos Dragon’s problem has been shoving twenty gallons of ideas into a ten gallon bucket. That sloppiness has been seen in most of it’s facets. The last two episode did a reasonably good job of mopping up, but it looks like they’ve fallen back to bad habits this fourth episode. Namely, tell don’t show, save show for later?
First off Hagia is a pretty boring city all things considered. It’s in the center of a siege with two not-at-all-friendly nations vying for control; add to that the fact that it sits on a hotly contested island nation anyway. This place should be busy, slightly off balance, and the center of all sorts of activity.
Nah. The Kouran general basically treats her camp like she’s in the middle of a beach episode, the leader of Hagia is asleep, and if you blink, you’ll miss that D’natia even has a camp set up nearby. I was promised a besieged city….and this is what I get? I know that things like that can hit a lull in the action, but now? When it would make for a more interesting story and compelling story otherwise?
Sol and Shaddy….Seriously….tell me why these two seem well disposed and Eiha is basically sleep-walking….
And for all my hype, Kaguraba just ends up being something of a punk. I like a guy that follows his own rules and all, but being asleep during all this stuff? Just so he can get out off a deal? What the heck? He’s effectively immortal, has resources at his disposal, and valued servants that can seal any deal that comes his way. So…he uses people he doesn’t even know, who have motivations beyond his own, all in an attempt to do….something.
I guess it was all to lead to a showdown to put Ibuki, Eiha, and the enemy general in one place to provide some tension? Bring back the “will he sacrifice a friend to gain power” question. A situation they actually did admirably on. The question is expanded, “aren’t I your friend?”. No, he isn’t. Why would you blame him for not being your friend? Have you been paying attention Bound One? Or can you?
That could be some interesting character development for Eiha, later on. Which is one of the better things they did for her all this time. They do manage to leave some plot points gaping along the way thou…D’natia’s forces that just come along for some reason or other, the whole question of whether or not Hagia supports the revolt. I know they can get to these things in time, but when does that leave room for this grand expedition?
Still, this was a nice way to frame the conflict…
Well, there were a few decent things about the show. We get the glimpse that not all is lost in the grand scheme of things. Ibuki has grown a bit, and has learned to keep the curse he labors under in check. He answered Eiha’s question to the best of his ability and it didn’t end up costing her her life.
She’s a subject, and you don’t toss them away when you have other means in your grasp. Ibuki realized he was being played; even if the game in question was pure arse-gravy, he knew it and acted on what he observed to bring the situation to his advantage. He primed the pump, and now he gets a flow of information about his quest.
I’m beginning to think that Nil Kamuia is not such a great place after all. Sure they’ve got the down-but-not-out scrappy revolution business going on and playing our sympathies well. But Eiha’s character is something of a lead-in to me. She’s dull. And I’m not talking about in the narrative sense. She’s listless, somnambulist, detached. With Sol and Shaddy we get the a hybrid and a Bound One, but their disposition is much better inclined towards us.
So it asks the question….why is she so down? With a mad dragon floating around, and a royal family put to the torch, and with it looking like they are this macabre death cult, I’m thinking that this scrappy revolution is not at all what it seems. But as the show goes along, is it picking up steam? Or is it obvious that it can’t juggle this much?
About skylion
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
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
And for all my hype, Kaguraba just ends up being something of a punk.
Maybe he’ll become more interesting later. Narita Ryougo DID create him after all.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
….something I found on the interwebs….
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Good: LOLi
Bad: where the f is all this going.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Good: Very much agreed
Bad: Let’s see, let me make a INT roll. ::shakes dice:: Oh, natural 20! I would say there are going to go pretty deep into the characters before this quest gets under way…
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Subpar as usual and I really can’t see what direction this series is trying to go in.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Well, it’s a spiral, usually headed downward. Someone might put the stopper in at some point….
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
Argh, Ibuki is so annoying. He’s right up there with Shuu from Guilty Crown. I want to throw something at him. Repeatedly.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I want to throw a second draft of the script at all of them…I mentioned that now the characters really feel like player characters in a game; but as I usually say, what works in one medium won’t necessarily work in another.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
Is that the fault of the player (not being up to par as a storyteller)? It feels like the characters weren’t really that developed beyond an outline.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Well, I’m faulting production. I’ve read a bunch of the Replay notes that I linked in my episode two coverage, and it looks like the anime is loosely inspired by those notes. Which makes it hard to appreciate who did what when, and where it really went wrong.