Spiral: The Melody of Logic eps 6-9
Feb. 15th, 2007 01:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meganbmooreGot sidetracked from the rewatch, but I'm back to it.
Before I get started...the non-FF-able previews(worst DVD feature ever) for Full Metal Alchemist remind me of why I passiomately intended to never check out the series back when Spiral was coming out...narrator and limited choice of footage makes it seem pretentious and stupid. Makes me wonder how many other decent animes look stupid because of bad previews.
Moving on...
first, a cap I found from an ep just after this disc(ep 11, I think) where Ayumu is exhausted from being a good OTP and needs a nap:
Oh, and I'm hereby ordering
dangermousie and alexandral (and others looking for a good anime) to watch it for OTP awesomeness and anime angst.
Episode 6 starts off with one thing that bugs me throughout the series, one thing that continually amuses me, and 2 of Ayumu's "best boyfriend ever but no one would ever realize it because he's Ayumu moments.
First of all, the rib thing...you can recognize the Blade Children from their x-rays because they're missing a rib, BUT...everyone else in the series? Round eyes. Blade Children? Cat eyes. No need for x-rays or girls blowing themselves up to hide it or anything like that.
Next up is Kousuke's constant conviction that Hiyono is the biggest threat to them. Lemme see...Ayumu is the super genius angst boy who's constantly beating them and Hiyono is the super chipper reporter girl...which one would YOU think was the biggest threat? Personally, I've always thought he had a crush on Hiyono. Actually, I rather feel for the guy...he's basically Rio's pet, constantly gets trumped by Ayumu, and is pretty much Hiyono, Rio and Ryoko's punching bag.
Finally, we have Ayumu(as always) constantly hanging around Hiyono and bringing her foods she likes as "bribes" and then walking her home. Granted, he says (and is telling the truth) that's it's for her protection because helping him makes her a target, but that really is just his current excuse to hang around. And then his lost abandoned puppy look when she tells him that he doesn't need to follow her home the last bit because it's just the train makes me want to squish the woobie(and, frankly, I'm on her side...I don't care what an adorable angsty woobie you are, if you're calmly talking about people poisoning me, shooting me or blowing me up, I'm dumping you first chance too) And then he goes home and finds himself singing the song she's always singing *squishes* And then promptly talks about Madoka putting on weight with the same calm detachment that he talked about people trying to kill Hiyono...uhm, yeah...no wonder he's unphased by Hiyono 90% of the time and takes being beat over the head with her hand puppets(yes, hand puppets) likes it's his just reward...his prepared him for his future OTP-ness.
OTP stuff aside, this episode was mostly setup for the Rio/Ayumu battle, showing us how far she'll go to get ahead and cover for the Blade Children. While I know Eyes is the one who's presented as Ayumu's equal, I've always thought Rio was the most interesting of the Blade Children(though Kousuke is my favorite)
Episode 7 is the start of said battle, beginning with the hospital test, where Rio(and her sidekick Kousuke) challenge Ayumu by making him guess which glass of water has sugar, and which has poison. The main point of the challenge, though, is to make Ayumu doubt himself and lose faith in his abilities. Of course, even though he figures it out, they're still able to pull it off because the boy has one of the biggest inferiority complexes ever. Unfortunately for them, he also has Hiyono(just because it amuses me doesn't mean Kousuke isn't right about her) who has enough confidence is Ayumu to compensate for it, and, convinced he was right, she grabs and drinks the entire glass of water and declares that Ayumu won because they cheated, then chews Rio out and calls her a coward when Rio calls Ayumu a loser. And then, since Ayumu's inferiority complex has gotten the better of him, Hiyono tricks them into falling into her trap(which Kousuke is too impressed with to bother realizing what a bad thing this is for a few moments there) And then what does she do with her evidence? Demand a fair, cheat-free rematch(sweetie, you're one of my favorite anime characters ever, but next time, just keep quiet and turn the crazies over to the police) instead of utilizing her stun gun so the two of them can hoof it. Though, I must admire a girl willing to be a hostage(cheerful about it, even) so that her OTP can rescue her and get his confidence back.
Episode 8 starts off with Kousuke learning what a terrible hostage Hiyono makes...a hostage with no fear whatsoever that you'll kill her because you need her alive means you get chewed out, a lot. And then she channels her boyfriend and points out all your organizational weaknesses. Makes you wonder who REALLY needs rescueing. Then Eyes tells Rio that whats getting to her is that in the end Hiyono beat her, so Rio turns the tables from him by pointing out his own hangups. Then back to Hitono and Kousuke, when she figures out what's REALLY up with the Blade Children's interest in Ayumu.
This episode also gives us one of the few focuses on Ayumu and Madokam showing that, while she's not his REAL sister, she's a better sister to him than most real sisters are, and certainly a better sister than Kiyotaka was a brother. She may not know everything that's going on with him, and may not approve of what she does know, and he does make it hard, but she is completely devoted to him, and the reverse is also true. And she gives the woobie head hugging and lets him know that, even if he can't see himself as anything but Kiyotaka's shadow, that's not how she sees him. Then he inadvertently refers to Hiyono as something important to him that he has to protect and the shipper in be goes "awww"
Of course, that's what he needs to get his confidence back(what with Hiyono being unavailable and all) so that he can confront Rio and Kousuke again.
episode 9 finally kicks the Rio/Ayumu battle off and Rio starts to see for the first time what he's really made of, as he points out that they both hold each other helpless by having their weaknesses(they have Hiyono, he has the tape proving their guilt) and calls their bluff about killing her outright(of course, those 3 REALLY need to get a move on, because Hiyono will get too bored and start rescueing herself if they don't get moving soon. Then we get one of those insanely complex Spiral plots that involve a scavenger hunt with Hiyono as the prize and a bomb around Ayumu's neck. But hey, it's much funness(I have to worry about Rio's fondness for bombs) and I love Ayumu's little revenge for the bomb around his neck(calling Hiyono on the cell and deliberately pissing her off and hanging up so that her full fury will be unleashed on Kousuke) even though he was expecting it. Though, I really think Ayumu needs to worry slightly less about Hiyono's safety and a little more about his own(did I mention that he let them attach a bomb to his neck? How does he expect her to keep out of trouble if he's suddenly headless, huh?) Also? Hiyono needs to not be worried about being caught by Rio...Rio's a head plus shorter and a good poke in the ribs would have her writhing on the floor in pain...just saying...of course, Ayumu being Ayumu, he sees Hiyono stuck on the train as her being safe(yes Hiyono, he DOES Think it's ok if he dies as long as it means your safe...it means that he's being a good OTP and you need to get off the train so you can yell a sense of self preservation into the boy)
I've seen some comments that these episodes are too talky and don't have enough action and forward movement, but I disagree. The purpose of these episodes is to emphasize how little self-confidence Ayumu has, and how desperately he needs Madoka and Hiyono. And we start to see what he can really do with confidence of his own. Yes, they tend to over complicate things, just like Death Note does at times, but it's because that's the level the characters think at.
First of all, the rib thing...you can recognize the Blade Children from their x-rays because they're missing a rib, BUT...everyone else in the series? Round eyes. Blade Children? Cat eyes. No need for x-rays or girls blowing themselves up to hide it or anything like that.
Next up is Kousuke's constant conviction that Hiyono is the biggest threat to them. Lemme see...Ayumu is the super genius angst boy who's constantly beating them and Hiyono is the super chipper reporter girl...which one would YOU think was the biggest threat? Personally, I've always thought he had a crush on Hiyono. Actually, I rather feel for the guy...he's basically Rio's pet, constantly gets trumped by Ayumu, and is pretty much Hiyono, Rio and Ryoko's punching bag.
Finally, we have Ayumu(as always) constantly hanging around Hiyono and bringing her foods she likes as "bribes" and then walking her home. Granted, he says (and is telling the truth) that's it's for her protection because helping him makes her a target, but that really is just his current excuse to hang around. And then his lost abandoned puppy look when she tells him that he doesn't need to follow her home the last bit because it's just the train makes me want to squish the woobie(and, frankly, I'm on her side...I don't care what an adorable angsty woobie you are, if you're calmly talking about people poisoning me, shooting me or blowing me up, I'm dumping you first chance too) And then he goes home and finds himself singing the song she's always singing *squishes* And then promptly talks about Madoka putting on weight with the same calm detachment that he talked about people trying to kill Hiyono...uhm, yeah...no wonder he's unphased by Hiyono 90% of the time and takes being beat over the head with her hand puppets(yes, hand puppets) likes it's his just reward...his prepared him for his future OTP-ness.
OTP stuff aside, this episode was mostly setup for the Rio/Ayumu battle, showing us how far she'll go to get ahead and cover for the Blade Children. While I know Eyes is the one who's presented as Ayumu's equal, I've always thought Rio was the most interesting of the Blade Children(though Kousuke is my favorite)
Episode 7 is the start of said battle, beginning with the hospital test, where Rio(and her sidekick Kousuke) challenge Ayumu by making him guess which glass of water has sugar, and which has poison. The main point of the challenge, though, is to make Ayumu doubt himself and lose faith in his abilities. Of course, even though he figures it out, they're still able to pull it off because the boy has one of the biggest inferiority complexes ever. Unfortunately for them, he also has Hiyono(just because it amuses me doesn't mean Kousuke isn't right about her) who has enough confidence is Ayumu to compensate for it, and, convinced he was right, she grabs and drinks the entire glass of water and declares that Ayumu won because they cheated, then chews Rio out and calls her a coward when Rio calls Ayumu a loser. And then, since Ayumu's inferiority complex has gotten the better of him, Hiyono tricks them into falling into her trap(which Kousuke is too impressed with to bother realizing what a bad thing this is for a few moments there) And then what does she do with her evidence? Demand a fair, cheat-free rematch(sweetie, you're one of my favorite anime characters ever, but next time, just keep quiet and turn the crazies over to the police) instead of utilizing her stun gun so the two of them can hoof it. Though, I must admire a girl willing to be a hostage(cheerful about it, even) so that her OTP can rescue her and get his confidence back.
Episode 8 starts off with Kousuke learning what a terrible hostage Hiyono makes...a hostage with no fear whatsoever that you'll kill her because you need her alive means you get chewed out, a lot. And then she channels her boyfriend and points out all your organizational weaknesses. Makes you wonder who REALLY needs rescueing. Then Eyes tells Rio that whats getting to her is that in the end Hiyono beat her, so Rio turns the tables from him by pointing out his own hangups. Then back to Hitono and Kousuke, when she figures out what's REALLY up with the Blade Children's interest in Ayumu.
This episode also gives us one of the few focuses on Ayumu and Madokam showing that, while she's not his REAL sister, she's a better sister to him than most real sisters are, and certainly a better sister than Kiyotaka was a brother. She may not know everything that's going on with him, and may not approve of what she does know, and he does make it hard, but she is completely devoted to him, and the reverse is also true. And she gives the woobie head hugging and lets him know that, even if he can't see himself as anything but Kiyotaka's shadow, that's not how she sees him. Then he inadvertently refers to Hiyono as something important to him that he has to protect and the shipper in be goes "awww"
Of course, that's what he needs to get his confidence back(what with Hiyono being unavailable and all) so that he can confront Rio and Kousuke again.
episode 9 finally kicks the Rio/Ayumu battle off and Rio starts to see for the first time what he's really made of, as he points out that they both hold each other helpless by having their weaknesses(they have Hiyono, he has the tape proving their guilt) and calls their bluff about killing her outright(of course, those 3 REALLY need to get a move on, because Hiyono will get too bored and start rescueing herself if they don't get moving soon. Then we get one of those insanely complex Spiral plots that involve a scavenger hunt with Hiyono as the prize and a bomb around Ayumu's neck. But hey, it's much funness(I have to worry about Rio's fondness for bombs) and I love Ayumu's little revenge for the bomb around his neck(calling Hiyono on the cell and deliberately pissing her off and hanging up so that her full fury will be unleashed on Kousuke) even though he was expecting it. Though, I really think Ayumu needs to worry slightly less about Hiyono's safety and a little more about his own(did I mention that he let them attach a bomb to his neck? How does he expect her to keep out of trouble if he's suddenly headless, huh?) Also? Hiyono needs to not be worried about being caught by Rio...Rio's a head plus shorter and a good poke in the ribs would have her writhing on the floor in pain...just saying...of course, Ayumu being Ayumu, he sees Hiyono stuck on the train as her being safe(yes Hiyono, he DOES Think it's ok if he dies as long as it means your safe...it means that he's being a good OTP and you need to get off the train so you can yell a sense of self preservation into the boy)
I've seen some comments that these episodes are too talky and don't have enough action and forward movement, but I disagree. The purpose of these episodes is to emphasize how little self-confidence Ayumu has, and how desperately he needs Madoka and Hiyono. And we start to see what he can really do with confidence of his own. Yes, they tend to over complicate things, just like Death Note does at times, but it's because that's the level the characters think at.
The main cast, left to right: top: Hiyono, Kousuke, Rio, bottom: Ayumu, Eyes
The 4th guy in this one is Kanone, who is something of a mentor to the other Blade Children
a manga image: Tokyopop needs to stop taunting me and get licensing sorted out so I can read the blasted thing already:
anime/manga combo:
Some more manga:
uhm...yeah...that was more than a few pictures...and I stopped myself...
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no subject
Date: 2007-02-15 09:30 pm (UTC)In unconnected, I have watched the first episode of "Dresden files". I like it A LOT (even though raven people were totally ridiculous)!! The main guy is fabu , and so is the boy and his mum. And I sense OTP!!
no subject
Date: 2007-02-15 09:42 pm (UTC)The first ep was the weakest of the 3 we've seen so far, but it was the best for an introductory ep. And yes, the ravens were silly.
Hopefully the OTPness you picked up on was Harry/Murphy, though it's understandable if it was otherwise, as Murphy was barely in the ep(she's in the 2nd and 3rd eps a lot more) They're also one of my favorite OTPs, though I don't want them together until Harry gets at least half of his junk sorted out...he gets Murphy too involved for his comfort as it is. They're the kind of OTP who, before long, when the bad guys hear they're coming, there will be mass exoduses.
no subject
Date: 2007-02-15 10:05 pm (UTC)It's OK, I still have Champloo to finish...
no subject
Date: 2007-02-15 10:12 pm (UTC)It really is one of the best, though.