First impressions:
Like I mentioned earlier, my first impression is totally not good at all. I was confused and irritated because I initially thought the anime was having pacing issues. The pacing problems though not really a huge turn off for me but still was enough to overwhelm me from enjoying the other cool scenes and elements from the anime. The thing is I was getting a bit confused about the tone the anime wanted to set up. Remeber the last DGM Hallow ep2 review I mentioned I love how the anime balances out tension and humour effectively? Well, in this episode it seems they lost some control with it. Fluctuating tones and choppy plot scenes really affected my impression of this episode.
Highlights:
1. Alma's body
Here we see the Order's scientists hiding his body in a secret location which only a selected few knew about it. We also get to know that it was the Chang and Epstain family that were in charge of experimenting on Kanda and Alma and eventually Alma went out of control and murdered at 46 staff members. Also, not only revealed to us that Kanda killed Alma as well as how he killed him. It was horrible and gruesome however I wish there was a few images flashing on the terror that Kanda had to do. It will really add on to this horrid atmosphere and would make me connect more with Johnny's response. Speaking of Johnny, I find myself liking him a bit more. He has this more humane side of him not commonly seen in the Order. Yes, most of the people in the Order are normal human but most of them have became indifferent to human suffering and some were even willing to go through unscrupulous methods to achieve their cause. Getting to see this humane side of Johnny was refreshing and also sympathetic.
 |
| Alma's body hidden in a secret location |
2. Earl and Road
Wow, this is the first time I've seen the Earl in a human body! I guess it would make sense because all Noah were once human. I also like how his voice changes when he shifts from his normal Earl get up to this more down to earth human side. When he stated that there was "Nothing sadder than infighting", I snickered to myself. What an irony. I can't really fully judge on this human side of the Earl but I just can't really connect to this Earl. Bringing out the human part of him was supposed to give this character more layers and make him sophisticated but really, to me it just seems off. What freaked me out was when he suddenly started crying. I have seen the Earl cried a few times but this is just something else...it almost makes him good. I can feel that in some way or another, he was genuinely sad. Hence this conflicted me because this is really a different Earl that I'm seeing and I'm not sure how to feel about it. In any case, I would still love to see how this anime continue Earl's character development from this direction. I know the anime follows closely to the manga but an anime brings the character to life and enhances the personality. Written words can mean so many things which then translates to different tones which would still be relevant.
 |
| Road and Earl |
3. Future?
Okay, so there's this part of the anime where a "prophecy" is told. Whether this is legitimate or not it's unsure however since it's coming from Wisely, there must be some truth to it. This scene with Link and Tewaku looks out of place. From the previous scene to this it seems to be a bit of a stretch. I think what was missing was a smoother transition instead of the cuts seen in the anime. Back to the point, the future that Tewaku saw was Madaro and Tokusa would be killed by Allen Walker and that eventually she would kill him. This is really a huge deal! Allen Walker being killed by a third exorcist?! This got my attention because hey firstly Allen losing to Tewaku is like a bit mindblowing and also he is the main character! Of all people, he had to die by the hands of a newly introduced character? Still, we can never predict these sort of things so I'll just have to wait and see.
 |
| Tenwaku explaining what she visioned in her head |
4. Desires
From what I know in the manga, Desires is the "father" of Road, the fourth Noah...And he is damn freaking strong! He can manipulate a person's body without even touching them, also the fact that he controlled the whole of the Branch reflects the extent of his ability. His ability also extends beyond to non-living items. It's cool seeing his powers and I hope I get to see more of it in the future coming episodes. Other than Desires, I hope that we can see more of the other Noah members and their abilities especially those we have not yet seen in the previous anime before.
 |
| Desires |
5. Allen/Neah and the Earl
I think this was probably the ultimate highlight of all. Neah and the Earl face to face. Apparently, when Neah talked to the level 4 akuma, the Earl was aware of it. From this scene we also understand his motive; he wants to kill the Earl and become one himself. The shock displayed on the other Noah's faces adds on to this tensed atmosphere. Wisely, probably the wisest one of them all should have known but the fact that he didn't says a lot. Neah is still a mysterious character we don't really understand and probably won't ever for this season. Also this scene reflects Allen slowly losing grasp of his memories and struggling for control. His determination to stay Allen is still dominant thus it's safe to say for now, Allen won't be completely lost in control.
 |
| Neah stating his motive to the Earl |
Okay this part while it is awesome there is a thing that really really irritates me. Some characters stop moving halfway or rather they became still. I know that there are certain parts where you want characters to shine but the way this episode does it is is not only cringey but also a bit painful. You have Allen being ready to fight halfway then acknowledging Kanda's presence so casually. This makes it feel anti-climatic and too sudden of shift in tone. This shifting of mood is not unkown to DGM but all this while they have been pulling it off smoothly save for this episode in my opinion.
5. Road and Kanda
This scene is adorably cute! Not only is it funny but with the seriousness of Kanda's face we do not completely ignore the current situation and get too involved in the funny. Also, this is an example for how to effectively shift the mood. The tensed atmosphere is still present but there is now just a lighter tone to it. It doesn't ignore the dire situation. This is what I would say a good example of balancing between humour and tension. Neither outweighs the other.
 |
| Kanda stealing away Road (doll) |
6. Kanda
Kanda has always know to be stoic and indifferent. This scene shows how scary he can be. When Kanda does not acknowledge Alma because he already killed him, his face is extremely scary. Honestly, it sent chills down my spine. Also the way he so easily crushed Road in doll form reinforces this fear and tensed atmosphere. I can see Kanda getting more of the spotlight for this season and after all since it is his ark so naturally he shines more. Expressions like this enhances his character and adds more depth to him because we do not really know much about his background after all. Also, it is notable that Road mentioned Kanda searching for a woman? Hmm...that's interesting.
 |
| Kanda's glare |
7. Back to the past
Wisely uses his powers to send both Allen and Kanda back to the past or rather into Kanda's childhood memory. The first thing I saw was the horrible condition in which Kanda had to survive in. It breaks my heart and finally we will soon get to understand why Kanda behaved the way he is now. Also my heart breaks when Alma pulled Kanda out of this liquid container. His eyes looked so sad and there is some child-like innocence (no pun intended) in his expression. His story has not been told yet and I'm already feeling sad for him :(
 |
| Kanda when he was young |
Overall there are some problems with this episode but that does not mean that it is not entertaining to watch. If you don't dig too deep, this episode is pretty enjoyable by itself. Just that compared to other episodes, this may not be as good. Now let's weigh the positive and negatives!
+ Road as a doll is just cute! I like how she is like the one trying to instigate Kanda's emotions. This manipulative side of hers is something that I quite missed.
+ / - Earl's human side is just weird I guess? Probably will have to see more in order to judge
+ But I would say Earl's duality is kind of interesting and does help to bring some layers
+ Allen/ Neah and Earl scene is something I've been excited over! That scene is like a huge OMG moment!
+ The characters Desires and Wisely from these past episodes have constantly grabbed my interest. I'm pretty much invested in them.
- The other characters. That's kind of the problem when you introduce too many characters before we truly get to know them. Before we even get to learn more about the Third exorcists, they seemed to just slide pass them. Also there's this part in the episode where there are still images of different exorcists fighting the Noah. Yes, you want to make us remember that there are other excorcists other than Allen and Kanda but the anime could have made them move a little. Let me see them fight for 3 seconds instead of giving me still images of 3 seconds. Honestly, this makes me feel like the anime is really neglecting the other characters. Yes, Allen and Kanda are the main but there is a classier and more effective way to let them have the spotlight but still bringing in the supporting cast.
- Some parts in this episode looks really choppy. It's like looking at a story board without any in between fillers to make a smooth transition
- The shift in mood is weird in some parts. They want to answer and show so many things that it destroys the flow and the mood as a whole could not set properly.
No comments:
Post a Comment