Melody of Oblivion eps 6-10

[meganbmoore]

These episodes toned down the other stuff enough that I could appreciate the plot.  Kind of.  (By "toned down," I mean they reduced the misogyny to the 5 eps combined having about what one other episode had, and about 5-10 times as much as the average other anime I watch has.)  It helps me look past that stuff and appreciate the pretty decent shounen action plot, though.

They seem to have finally got a grip on Bocca's character, which is good, though I continue to not find him very interesting.  Sympathetic, at this point, but not really interesting.  He seems a bit slow on the uptake, but  at least Sayoko, for all that the series tends to portray her as brainless fanservice, seems to catch on to things.  The first arc(in these episodes)  seems to be trying for a story like Kino's Journey or Mushishi, with travellers encountering a town  with odd little things going on.  Uhm...I suspect I would have appreciated ehat they were doing there more  if I hadn't kept getting distracted by the boy who spent the whole time plugging the hole in the dam with his hand.

See?



See?  He does that for three whole episodes.  It's actually an important plot point.  (An interesting one, too, but I can't begin to think of how to describe it.)

We also meet 2 more Meros warriors, both female.  Toune, who dislikes Meros warriors (it's connected to the boy with his hand stuck in the dam) and wears a school uniform even though the story makes it clear she's well past school age, and Koto, and actress and bibliophile who seems to be actively investigating and opposing the monsters union is an organized way(with help) instead of randomly running around, looking for monsters.  Part of me is glad to have more Meros warriors(as tends to happen, Bocca, while ok enough, is less interesting than the other 3 warriors we've met) but part of me is focused on the fact that

Toune's tattoo is on the inside of her thigh, and the arrrow activation looks like That, and while Koto's is on her cheek(eerrr...the one on her face...) she gets the same expression while activating it.  Also, both have Ivermachines that turn into cute boys with horns.  Koto has 3.  I'm not sure if that's an attempt at balancing things, or if it makes things worse.  It's not helped, though, by the fact that Toune is in love with hers, and Koto's Ivermachine's unabashedly stare while she changes.

Though, aside from that and the fact that the monster's underlings (well, the female ones) go through bondage sequences when they get in their mecha, there's a lot less to fuss over aside from

the focus on Sayoko's crotch when machines were about to pull her apart.

These episodes more made me sigh with annoyance but still be entertained, as opposed to be entertained but uncomfortable, like the first 5 episodes.

But telophaseis determined to taunt me with promises of misogyny that will break my brain, so I'm sure it's just an evil ploy to lure me into feeling safe.

Comments

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Do I now have you ANTICIPATING the brain-breaking misogyny? XD

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

If by "anticipating" you mean "fearing"...

(It gets worse then Koune's tattoo being on the inside of her thigh, and her literally going into battle straddling her love interest?)

[telophase.livejournal.com]

So. Much. More. Worse.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

AM WATCHING EPISODE 13. HAVE SEEN KUROFUNE VS BULLJEEP. IT IS DIFFERENT FROM THE ONE IN THE FIRST ARC.

Am disappointed yet not surprised that Sayoko's thing for Kurofune seems to all be because he saved her that one time.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I think you may now know why I can't say for certain if the classmate/first love person comes back or not. XD

Anyway ... BULLJEEP!

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Yes, not-really-classmate/first love just offered herself up on virginal white sheets, while unbuttoning her clothes.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I'm really not getting why Bocca's considered to be such a hot property by all the women. Other than general anime-geek wish-fulfillment, of course.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

No kidding. I get it with real!Elle(I have now learned her name) but I'm not remotely feeling why Sayoko's switching over to Bocca from Kurofune. (I suppose there's the argument that Kurofune runs off and Bocca lets her come with him, but you know, the second she gave him the shackle so he could hunt for Kurofune himself...) But all these random girls? Nada.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

The shackle also intrigues me - in FLCL, the character of Whatsherface also has a shackle that points the way to someone. I'm wondering what the origin of that is.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've been thinking I've encountered it before myself, but I can't figure out where. (Haven't seen FLCL, though.) I'm thinking it was a manga.

(I have no idea what to say about this maze arc, as I only understand half of it. I may just post caps of Kurofune vs Ban Midou's evil twin and his bulljeep...)

[telophase.livejournal.com]

If you remember, let me know. :D

You should see FLCL, though. It's only four episodes long and it's INSANE.

(The maze arc ... makes a bit more sense than other parts of the story. But only a bit. I think. It's all sort of jumbled up in my head because the crack ceased to entertain me as much when they started explaining the plot near the end.)