Soukyuu no Fafner again!!!
[ mood | 
studious ]
Well, I finally watched "Right of Left", the tv special of SnF.
First of, I can't describe how good it felt to be back on Tatsumiya!!!!! The few first seconds, even watching the "producer XEBEC" label displayed on the blue sky... it lifted my heart, I really felt very emotional!!
And even though I hated it when in the tv series Soushi was playing the role of the spokesman, hearing Ryou commenting just added to my coming back into Fafner's atmosphere. *sigh of nostalgia*
So, let's enter the subject fully!
The quality of the anime, in terms of animation, chara design, colors and scenes was just as good as the tv series, everything was there for the fans to feel happy again. The musical atmosphere was great as well, I can't really remember the song during the anime, I was too busy with handkerchief!!
As a whole, I pretty liked it, but I found it a bit short. They could have added maybe 30 min and deepened the characterization of whatever chara they wanted. It's sure that the tv series was supposed to deal with Soukazu, and so this tv special was more focused on another set of characters. It's a bit frustrating for the Soukazu fans but it's rather understandable, they kinda wanted to renew the series by bringing up original chara.
So let's talk about plot and characters!
I didn't have many expectations about RoL b/c I was disappointed when I learned months ago that it wouldn't be a sequel but a prequel.
So basically, it was a tragic love story between two doomed characters, one doomed b/c of her dedication to her father's cause and the other b/c of his health and the wish to be able to accomplish at last something before he disappears. That's how I view Yumi and Ryou. Well maybe love story is a bit too strong, as the struggle against the Festum takes up much of the anime plot line. Let's just say it's the story of two children who decided to take part in a war.
Of course even though I didn't have so many clues when I started my watching it, I knew it wouldn't be a happy ending, I couldn't help my extensive use of handerchieves!! Compared to the FMA movie in the emo field, it's the total opposite! XD
I found Yumi to be a rather classical character (I'm not sure, but I think she's very similar to Relena in GW): she's a basic student and wouldn't have changed for a bit, but the death of her father and the load of guilt not to have been there led her down the path of war, as she adhered to his lifelong task, to counter the Festum. She obeyed honor, duty, guilt, even though she wasn't maybe the best suited. It's hinted by some words by Ryou, but not really explained more, and that's a shame. We know she has difficulties to adapt to the piloting but we don't really see how she overcomes it (or at least I don't remember).
As for Ryou, I really liked him. Not that his story is very original or anything exceptional, but the fact that he's telling the story, he seems so reasonably and calmly aware of what's happening, so resolved and resigned to his fate... it moved my heart and led me to like him, even though from his first words on, I knew what would be his fate, I couldn't help myself. He takes life as it comes and knows the outcome, so it makes him someone tragic, but he couldn't help feeling hope at a moment, b/c in spite of everything he yearned to life and that was good to see. That makes even more tragical the resolve he takes when they have to stop themselves from going back to Tatsumiya. Somewhat it seems a bit too quick, as if hope was only a fragile illusion, but wars are like that, when you're in the middle of a battlefield, things turn and one has to take decisions fast.
So that was for the 2 original characters.
Another good point is what we learn about some Fafner basics, such as how pilots are assimilated through the piloting of their Fafners. We saw it through Sakura in the tv series, but we didn't see how it would end (of course those were old fafners and the treatments for the pilots weren't as they are in series). On that respect, I found the prequel to be interesting b/c it showed very rational information, what tehcnologies they had in the tv series didn't come from nowhere and now we know how painful it was to gain such knowledge.
Now let's talk about the "bad points", that is our favorite pairing, Soukazu (or the other way around, I don't mind ;p ).
Almost nothing to feed our critical withdrawal!!!!!
Only one scene where the 2 of them appear together and they don't even exchange a word (but Soushi is so gorgeous during that scene ♥ !). The only good point for me, personally, is that my dj could actually fit in that canon ^^;; . It really shows that the producers wanted to give some background info about Tatsumiya world and the fight against the Festums, but weren't focused at all on the Soukazu relationship.
Of course there's the gorgeous suit!Soushi, but again, it fleetingly short, a bit like fanservice (fans MUST have complained about that lack in the tv series while we were baited with the ending!).
But I was totally relieved by the lack of Karin chara development, I have no interest at all in her! But I found her sweet in her shouldering Soushi and Ryou's action in her innocent way, and her deep concern in her friends' fate. So I got to actually like her a bit.
The short moment featuring Shouko and Mayaa and Sakura-tachi... just winks to the fans, a bit of a shame, I think, but along the line of the development of Yumi and Ryou *sigh*
There was so many promises about insights about some side-characters, those weren't fulfilled if you ask me.
So on the whole I liked the story b/c it was rather a honest story, plausible and interesting in a way, and of course, seeing Soushi-tachi again after so long felt very good, even though it wasn't satisfying on that respect, but I wasn't expecting much to start with.
Now we're left with the tiny hope there'll be more for us in an eventual sequel (Please nothing like Wolf's Rain OAV, please!!!)
studious ]
Well, I finally watched "Right of Left", the tv special of SnF.
First of, I can't describe how good it felt to be back on Tatsumiya!!!!! The few first seconds, even watching the "producer XEBEC" label displayed on the blue sky... it lifted my heart, I really felt very emotional!!
And even though I hated it when in the tv series Soushi was playing the role of the spokesman, hearing Ryou commenting just added to my coming back into Fafner's atmosphere. *sigh of nostalgia*
So, let's enter the subject fully!
The quality of the anime, in terms of animation, chara design, colors and scenes was just as good as the tv series, everything was there for the fans to feel happy again. The musical atmosphere was great as well, I can't really remember the song during the anime, I was too busy with handkerchief!!
As a whole, I pretty liked it, but I found it a bit short. They could have added maybe 30 min and deepened the characterization of whatever chara they wanted. It's sure that the tv series was supposed to deal with Soukazu, and so this tv special was more focused on another set of characters. It's a bit frustrating for the Soukazu fans but it's rather understandable, they kinda wanted to renew the series by bringing up original chara.
So let's talk about plot and characters!
I didn't have many expectations about RoL b/c I was disappointed when I learned months ago that it wouldn't be a sequel but a prequel.
So basically, it was a tragic love story between two doomed characters, one doomed b/c of her dedication to her father's cause and the other b/c of his health and the wish to be able to accomplish at last something before he disappears. That's how I view Yumi and Ryou. Well maybe love story is a bit too strong, as the struggle against the Festum takes up much of the anime plot line. Let's just say it's the story of two children who decided to take part in a war.
Of course even though I didn't have so many clues when I started my watching it, I knew it wouldn't be a happy ending, I couldn't help my extensive use of handerchieves!! Compared to the FMA movie in the emo field, it's the total opposite! XD
I found Yumi to be a rather classical character (I'm not sure, but I think she's very similar to Relena in GW): she's a basic student and wouldn't have changed for a bit, but the death of her father and the load of guilt not to have been there led her down the path of war, as she adhered to his lifelong task, to counter the Festum. She obeyed honor, duty, guilt, even though she wasn't maybe the best suited. It's hinted by some words by Ryou, but not really explained more, and that's a shame. We know she has difficulties to adapt to the piloting but we don't really see how she overcomes it (or at least I don't remember).
As for Ryou, I really liked him. Not that his story is very original or anything exceptional, but the fact that he's telling the story, he seems so reasonably and calmly aware of what's happening, so resolved and resigned to his fate... it moved my heart and led me to like him, even though from his first words on, I knew what would be his fate, I couldn't help myself. He takes life as it comes and knows the outcome, so it makes him someone tragic, but he couldn't help feeling hope at a moment, b/c in spite of everything he yearned to life and that was good to see. That makes even more tragical the resolve he takes when they have to stop themselves from going back to Tatsumiya. Somewhat it seems a bit too quick, as if hope was only a fragile illusion, but wars are like that, when you're in the middle of a battlefield, things turn and one has to take decisions fast.
So that was for the 2 original characters.
Another good point is what we learn about some Fafner basics, such as how pilots are assimilated through the piloting of their Fafners. We saw it through Sakura in the tv series, but we didn't see how it would end (of course those were old fafners and the treatments for the pilots weren't as they are in series). On that respect, I found the prequel to be interesting b/c it showed very rational information, what tehcnologies they had in the tv series didn't come from nowhere and now we know how painful it was to gain such knowledge.
Now let's talk about the "bad points", that is our favorite pairing, Soukazu (or the other way around, I don't mind ;p ).
Almost nothing to feed our critical withdrawal!!!!!
Only one scene where the 2 of them appear together and they don't even exchange a word (but Soushi is so gorgeous during that scene ♥ !). The only good point for me, personally, is that my dj could actually fit in that canon ^^;; . It really shows that the producers wanted to give some background info about Tatsumiya world and the fight against the Festums, but weren't focused at all on the Soukazu relationship.
Of course there's the gorgeous suit!Soushi, but again, it fleetingly short, a bit like fanservice (fans MUST have complained about that lack in the tv series while we were baited with the ending!).
But I was totally relieved by the lack of Karin chara development, I have no interest at all in her! But I found her sweet in her shouldering Soushi and Ryou's action in her innocent way, and her deep concern in her friends' fate. So I got to actually like her a bit.
The short moment featuring Shouko and Mayaa and Sakura-tachi... just winks to the fans, a bit of a shame, I think, but along the line of the development of Yumi and Ryou *sigh*
There was so many promises about insights about some side-characters, those weren't fulfilled if you ask me.
So on the whole I liked the story b/c it was rather a honest story, plausible and interesting in a way, and of course, seeing Soushi-tachi again after so long felt very good, even though it wasn't satisfying on that respect, but I wasn't expecting much to start with.
Now we're left with the tiny hope there'll be more for us in an eventual sequel (Please nothing like Wolf's Rain OAV, please!!!)