the continuing saga of erie's nabari faggotry.
But first!
ULTIMATE TO DO LIST OF ULTIMATE DESTINY:
+ finish Yoite (undocreation) for Nabari gang-app
+ letter of challenge for SD vs. SC dance-off (during Shakespeare curse)
+ BEHOLD THE MARK OF ZORRO post for Rive
+ REFRESHER RE-READ FOR SKET DANCE
+ AUDITIONS for fourth and fifth member of TEAM SKET-DAN!
+ dance-off tournament (BUT HOWWWWWWW????)
+ recruitment post
+ sket-dan hotline
+ Fairy Tail: YOUR NUMBER ONE CHOICE IN PRINCESS-SAVING
+ write Kouichi app
+ PIMP FOR A YUKIMI.
+ read Soul Eater and DOGS
+ /wrists
EPISODE 3
So. I finally went ahead and watched the episode 3 raws since I'd already read the relevant chapter and could at least follow what was going on. AND I WAS REALLY STOKED TO SEE THE KIRA TECHNIQUE ANIMATED OKAY. I... was kind of bummed because they really minimized the damage it can do. I'm not a fan of gore by any means (quite the opposite as Rika and Jamie could tell you) but it serves to highlight the brutality of the technique and it's a striking contrast to its wielder Yoite who quite like Miharu is very taciturn and impassive. There's no malicious glee in causing people to explode, just a very quick and effective way to dispatch his enemies. (Since I'm apping Yoite, I've been thinking about the Kira technique... but more on that wankery later) Sure it's still kind of gross (bleeding eyeballs) but in the manga, he cut a guy in a half and there were falling decapitated hands and limbs. It's a forbidden technique as much for its almost unstoppable brutality as it is the toll it takes on the user.
That's really my main complaint against the changes in the series but it doesn't really diminish my love for the anime all that much. Still as beautifully rendered as the first two (SO PRETTY!). And YUKIMI The ninja who uses a gun haha. Well by the reviews I've seen they're foreshadowed Raimei's past with Raikou pretty early on and wow that girl can fight. Kouichi I think is also being played up as more of a badass, maybe to hint that he isn't just a background megane character early on too? Not that I mind. LOEV KOUICHI LOEV. I wonder if they kept that line by Raimei "Don't do such things with a kind face." which I really loved in the manga.
AND NOW. MORE YOITE BABBLING. Does that guy ever move around like... NORMALLY? He's animated the entire time as just soaring over Thobari, jumping over the group, you'd think he was flying more than he was walking. Also LOL@ how he basically let Thobari drone on and on to Miharu. He's polite at least! He'll let you finish your dramatic motivating speech of loyalty before he kills you!
Okay now onto the other changes between the manga and anime. This isn't quite a complaint because while on the one hand I'm aware that of course they'd have to adapt to the time constraints, I do feel that some of the changes are deliberately aimed for characterization adjustments. WTF am I talking about? Okay for example, they padded episode 3 with more scenes of the battle between the Fuuma-nin and the Kairoshuu but gave the cool shuriken merging technique to Kouichi instead of Miharu. That I feel was more a choice for how they're portraying Miharu.
It's not just that Kouichi's skills are getting played up; it's that it's at the expense of Miharu. Despite his seeming and stated indifference to the Shinrabanshou and his situation, he is shown to be practicing. One of the most common remarks I've read was how Miharu was being passive and constantly protected whereas in the manga he was training and was able to hold his own.
In the first episode for example, Yamase-sensei as a villain was bumped up (he doesn't actually turn up until volume 3 after which Raimei, Kouichi and Thobari beat him and then Yoite kills him) Miharu actually leaves the school and wanders off to get attacked again. Even prior to that the first attack showed Miharu able to fight back somewhat. The second attack leads Miharu to realize that it was actually the Shinrabanshou that lent him the knowledge to fight. Changing up these events I think leads to the later changes on. In Episode 2, they again changed the scene that causes Raimei to reevaluate Miharu. In the manga, she sees him training by himself (then falls) and in the anime, she sees him saving a baby bird (and then falls. but also WHUT?) I think Miharu's training in that instance comes as a reaction against the Shinrabanshou controlling him. He doesn't want the power flowing out of him even unconsciously. And then of course in episode 3, the change-up of who performs that awesome shuriken combo technique. Why? Isn't it part of Miharu's quiet character growth that he's training and learning and it also leads to another character nuance that he doesn't want to use the power even in the unconscious way that its lending its strength to him? (also because honestly, that shinrabanshou is NOT a benevolent entity)
My conclusion is this is to draw out and play up Miharu's apathy towards his situation so that it... emphasizes if you will the 180 he does when he decides to use the power for Yoite's sake. I also think this is why the violence of Yoite's Kira is getting downplayed, so that he doesn't look so villainish (which isn't what I necessarily agree with)
But who knows? It's just a theory.