Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Rage of Bahamut: Virgin Soul
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tophg
Posts: 22 |
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Episode 23: Heh, it looks like I'm in the minority of people here, as I'm still quite enjoying this series despite its obvious frustrations with pacing and whiplash plot developments.
Looking back over the whole arc so far, the major mistake as far as I can see is that Charioce's true motives weren't revealed much sooner. So the big surprise reveal has just backfired somewhat by not leaving enough room for viewers to ponder the real dilemmas here faced by Charioce & co: once Bahamut's return is confirmed to be both inevitable and imminent (relatively), what should a beleaguered humanity do about it? What unfolds, as we discover too late, is the tragedy of desperate people driven by fear and total loss of faith in the gods - or demons for that matter - as they face their own complete annihilation yet again while the graves from the first catastrophe are still fresh. Rather than encourage them to forge new alliances, this desperation pushes them into the reckless, self-destructive madness of trying to revive Bahamut early so that it can be defeated decisively. Cleaving to this brutal logic, they throw aside all moral qualms, committing atrocities and corrupting themselves in the single-minded cause of saving humanity, losing their own humanity in the process. Yes, this is a tragic narrative, in the end, where the effort to save something leads only to its loss. And it's not like we haven't seen this kind of folly in human history before ... We see the same corrupting effects of existential fear on a smaller scale in Alessand's story, and I guess this was its purpose in the overall arc. There's real poignancy and pathos here, but again without the proper groundwork in the plotting we aren't left enough time or space to reflect on these connections, and so Alessand's actions are just jarring. Nina's presence in the story is enough to sow seeds of doubt in the minds of the main players, and it seems obvious enough by now that Charioce/Chris is utterly divided over the chosen course of action, but incapable of pulling back from it as he sees no other way forward. This blindness to alternatives is pretty much the textbook tragic flaw. Fear and pity are the right responses. But the tone of the series so far as well as some of the more blatant setups (like El's body) suggest to me that, far from seeing our tragic heroes careening inevitably to their pitiful ends, there will indeed be some major redemptive moments to come. It seems like this will be too late for many fans, though. |
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AholePony
 Posts: 330 Location: Arizona |
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I'm sure Rita will make a Kaiser zombie. Still rolled my eyes at most of this episode, glad it's almost over and I am now on Team Bahamut to just erase everyone.
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SilverTalon01
Posts: 2404 |
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Uh, didn't they just do that in episode 22 already? He is flying around blasting stuff so he looks pretty unsealed to me. Is this actually even done by the same people? I get this feeling like I was faked out and its an entirely different group behind this season. I don't just mean the ending, but the entire thing just never had the same vibe. |
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vonPeterhof
Posts: 729 |
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Merida
 Posts: 1945 |
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Whatever happens in the final episode, as long as we'll see zombie!Kaisar getting finally reunited with his hand and living happily ever after with Rita (now here's a couple i can get 100% behind!), the show will not be completely ruined for me...
I actually enjoyed the action quite a bit, especially the Azazel/Jeanne teamwork and Lucifer looking sexy doing nothing (also, his fangirls!  ). Alessand's death was probably supposed to be poetic justic and i felt bad for Dias, but that entire scene just dragged on for way too long.
Btw, was i the only one who found the tragic demise of the Onyx Knights unintentionally funny? All that bravado and "Hail Charioce!" followed by coughing up waves of black blood felt a bit like it came straight out of a Monty Python skit |
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WeNTuS
Posts: 65 |
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Am i only one angry becase reviewer keep giving this show worst ratings just because her wet dream about Azazel x Nina didn't come true?
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ChibiKangaroo
 Posts: 2941 |
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Although most of the viewers seem to agree with Gabriella, including myself, I am kind of mystified by those who question her motives in these criticisms. I mean, sure there are other possible explanations for the way the plot has worked out and I totally get that some people just see Charioce as this deep, complicated dude who is just raging against a world gone mad. I don't buy it at all myself, but I understand it. But really, the criticisms are so obvious that I don't understand how people can say that it is improper or unprofessional to bring them up.
I was literally laughing during the entire Alessand scene in episode 23. Seriously, I am not exaggerating for effect. I literally sat there laughing at the absurdity of it all. It was so ridiculously over the top. On the one hand, yes, I did like the idea of him being humiliated for what he did to Mugaro, but this was too much. The guy has gone from "one of the team" to some cartoonish, insane villain who literally crawls about on the ground, talking to himself, begging shamelessly for his life, grinning evilly and trying to knife those who forgive him, scrambling about some more on the ground, and creepily hugging little children before they stab him in the gut. This was just... so bizarre and I get that they wanted to give the audience justice here, but I'm with Gabriella, have justice delivered by Dias. Don't make it be some random BS after he crawls about babbling incoherently and committing a few final evil acts just as icing on the freaking cake. All they were missing was having him lick a damn knife before he was done in. And yes, Kaiser's death was the type of dumb, over dramatic/sentimental good guy sacrifice that anime tend to love cramming into any story. Under normal circumstances, it would be an eyeroll situation. Here, it is particularly bad since as others hAve mentioned, he doesn't even know about Charioce's plans and is simply sacrificing himself to "end the killing" by saving the bad guy and then cause him to change his ways in honor of the good man who saved him, or however this particular trope tends to play out. You know how this could have worked better and been more legitimately dramatic? Have Jeanne and Azazel kill Charioce just as Nina is arriving, and she tells them to stop (too late) because he's the only one who can kill Bahamut now. Then as Charioce is dying, he confesses all his sins and apologizes to Nina for everything he's put her and the world through, acknowledging that his plan was messed up but he lost himself in his own rage about his mother being killed. Then as he's dying he hands her the macguffin of Bahamut killing, and Nina uses it somehow and transforms into a bad ass powered up dragon and kills bahamut, sacrificing herself in the process. The end. Oh yea, and Mugaro comes back alive to bring peace between humans and demons and angels, then the last scene is him and Jeanne laying flowers at Nina's grave. Ok the real end. |
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WeNTuS
Posts: 65 |
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I wish I read your reaction on Code Geass episodes. Or Death Note. Reading you it seems you would call them worst anime in history. "Bad writing because i dislike grey morale!" probably.
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11429 |
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It's not, and that's not what I said. What's problematic is that she's been so angry (by her own admission) about how this has unfolded that she's blinded to things going on right in front of her (like thinking Bahamut is still sealed). This isn't the first time she's missed plot points because they conflicted with what she wanted to see instead. I wouldn't have had an issue if she'd said what she believed the series was aiming for, and that it didn't work for her and why. But that's not how these reviews have been presented. I too think that Dias should've dispatched Alessand rather than putting it on a child, but Gabriella refused to even acknowledge why killing him would be any problem for him. To me, that's a little too subjective for a proper review. And what she wanted would've been nice retribution and all, but impossible, as Azazel and Jeanne were kinda busy elsewhere. Like Merida, I thought it was funny how the knights were all dying in splooge after splooge of blood vomit, but there was no mention of how that was poorly handled. I do get why people don't like how this is playing out, but I expect more insight from reviewers than "this is pissing me off, I can't even." We usually get that kind of insight from Gabriella, which is why this is so mystifying to me. Since it started going downhill when her desired ship didn't sail (though it was never even in drydock), that strikes me as unprofessional. I have to say, all the people here crying for the blood of the characters they don't like, regardless of the prior relationships with the people they'd task with shedding it, makes it pretty clear to me why Charioce instituted the gladiator games using the demons so hated by his people. 
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ChibiKangaroo
Posts: 2941 |
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^
The problem I think is that the last few episodes have been sort of the half assed Charioce redemption tour. It's half assed because we haven't seen an attempt at full redemption, just revelations about his plan and suddenly some characters are giving him more sympathy. That's kinda been the focus for those episodes. That doesn't leave a whole lot of room for other good stuff to rise to the top, as development of other characters has been sidelined by the big reveal and the revenge war for the death of Mugaro. The action is there, but it's not as exciting as earlier battles involving Nina. Unfortunately I think this show kinda put all its eggs in one basket and then made them go rotten. Dragon girl Nina and her danger and intrigue was what made this show amazing. Once they largely sidelined her and made her into Charioce's love sick puppy, it took the teeth right out of this show. Now it's just a random conventional fantasy show following the usual tropes (albeit rather exaggerated with Charioce's turn as the "complicated villain.") Nina is just another rando party member. |
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WeNTuS
Posts: 65 |
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And if she killed Charioce (which would be awesome despite that i'm rooting for him) the plot wouldn't be much better because it's again will be the same as first season's end with Bahamut destroying everything, 90% of randoms dying and someone will have just sacrifice his life (probably Favaro) to bring Bahamuth down with this hand weapon. People would still be crying how it's not a happy ending. |
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Mad_Scientist
 SubscriberModerator  Posts: 3011 |
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Yes, because the rest of us are (well most of us) are actually reading the reviews which are full of criticisms about many aspects of the show, including terrible plotting, bad characterization, terrible "twists", and so on. You may disagree about these aspects, but if so, actually disagree with them instead of taking cheap shots. |
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chaccide
Posts: 295 |
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No. I've seen this happen before and it's incredibly frustrating. The reviewer gets into a rage because something they wanted to happen didn't and then they subconsciously seek out negative molehills and build them into mountains as if to justify their hatred. That in turn blinds them to what's actually going on in the show and they make mistake after mistake in the review about what's happening. Almost all receivers do it at some point. I've done it too. Hell I even saw a Roger Ebert do it once. But when you want to read an actual review it's frustrating. Honestly it's why I've been spending more time on Reddit anime these days. There are a lot of inane comments that you have to wade through, but there's some great impartial analysis in both comments and links. |
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WeNTuS
Posts: 65 |
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Yeah, and i don't see those aspects in anime. In reality they exists only in your head and head of reviewer. I remember back then Gabriella made some reviews of anime i don't really remember name which sparked outrage here. I guess adequate people already left ANN forums and now only her fans are lurking here. |
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ChibiKangaroo
Posts: 2941 |
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I would hardly call myself a "fan." I have been highly critical of a few of Gabriella's reviews in the past. However, for me it's not about being a fan or not of a certain reviewer. When she's right, she's right. And with this show, her insights and analysis have been absolutely correct. |
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