Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: CROSS ANGE Rondo of Angel and Dragon
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18179 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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The difference between CA and something like, say, DxD is that CA, with rare exceptions, has taken itself completely seriously. With DxD and most other heavy fan service shows, the fan service is part of the series' more frivolous aspect. Not so here. In fact, the more that I think about it, the more that it occurs to me that CA is unusually serious by recent standards for the amount of fan service it has.
So while I think it's possible that there was a direction change, I think it's more likely that the producers just decided that sticking characters in outlandish swimsuits would have been more disruptive to the tone they're trying to maintain than most of their other fan service efforts to date. |
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Izanagi009
 Posts: 464 Location: Pittsburgh, PA, USA |
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Of course, that seriousness can clash severely with fanservice if done poorly on either front given the uproar about the first two episodes. As for the disruptive nature of the swimsuits thing, i guess pulling the rug under us and actually having some restraint with the fanservice can make it slightly more arousing (watch Shiroyasha's speech on art from Problem Children, it's funny but it does bring up a good point) As for the virgin thing, in my place of education, I typically hear "new" "newbie" "newb" and the like for someone new to a task so in my eyes, the virgin lines just felt a bit off. I can understand that people who have been exposed to the slang before would be numbed but I sure haven't and it just felt like a giant slap |
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Key
Moderator
Posts: 18179 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Oh, I'm not saying that using "virgin" that way is common, and I typically only hear it used like that in certain kinds of company. But I have definitely heard it used that way on several occasions.
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mangamuscle
Posts: 2658 Location: Mexico |
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Episode 8 preview seems to imply that Hilda's happiness will be short lived (either her mother will hand her over to the authorities or she will be killed in cold blood for hiding a perp). Ange will make Rambo proud and rescue her little sister (we have seen in this episode how mana users are real pushovers when in real hand to hand combat against a violent norma that has killed several dragons). If the previews is not trolling us, then there must be more revelations to keep the story going. At the end of this chapter we have seen the empire of mitsurugi name being cross out from a banner on the road, so another country or royal house must be in control.
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HaruhiToy
 Posts: 4118 |
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The Norma training included hand-to-hand combat for some reason. Also I suspect that it helps that mana can't be used directly against Norma which partly explains why it would be so easy to be afraid of them. I also suspect the Norma ability to counteract mana has something to do with them being recruited to fight dragons. |
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mangamuscle
Posts: 2658 Location: Mexico |
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The official reason no doubt is "To keep them fit and teach them discipline", but no doubt the real reason is that insurrection has been planned for quite some time. No doubt next episode ange and momoka will do a nice combo, using momoka's mana to shield them from bullets and when they are close enough ange would open fire to force them to raise their own shields, proceed to break said shield and then knock them out with good old up and close violence. Last edited by mangamuscle on Thu Nov 27, 2014 10:25 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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JaggedAuthor
 Posts: 981 |
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The spirited debate that continues to unfold in these forums has convinced me to give this series a chance.
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mangamuscle
Posts: 2658 Location: Mexico |
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As for the episode 9 review I would like to remember people that in episode 1 Angelisse was the crown princess (whether it was a ploy to prevent her becoming dragon killing fodder or because Julio was a rotten apple all along is yet to be seen) and the same the reaction of many people after seeing this episode is "Julio must suffer" I have no doubt that Julio felt just the same about Ange for stealing him his chance of being king, but once she became a dragon hunter Ange was probably out of the reach of even the seemingly new king.
As for Ange's little sister, I think she suffering from Stockholm syndrome from the abuse of her twisted brother, who no doubt have made her believe all of her suffering is due to Ange's existence. The only part I disliked about the episode is when the helicopter like vehicles crashed and then exploded, to me that kind of Hollywood like physics seem quite cheap, more so when this puppies run on mana, not gasoline or diesel! Last edited by mangamuscle on Sun Nov 30, 2014 7:29 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Raneth
Posts: 271 |
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Agreed with the above poster. Time and exposure to the other side of the arguments has cooled my initial shock to the events of the early episodes. I've been following the reviews, and this show hasn't devolved into what I thought it was going to devolve into. I'm giving it another shot.
spoiler[Of course, the characters in this show do some pretty dumb things that are symptomatic of bad writing, or at least poor explanation for character actions other than fanservice. Yes, lets send Ange, a brand new, clearly delusional arrival, into battle without any training or decent explanation of what she'll face, and also let's attempt to rape her first. That clearly won't go badly at all! ] That said, I do like the way this show handles character development. Ange reacts believably and pacing is handled well. |
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HaruhiToy
Posts: 4118 |
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It wasn't that hard a sell for me, at least not compared to Ange. Granted that Hilda was more than a bit of a bitch on the island, before she was sent there she had nothing to do with running the system which treat Normas that way. Ange on the other hand was one of the oppressors and showed she was perfectly happy having what was done to Hilda occur as a matter of policy. In fact she openly wondered how to do it even more. In comparison Hilda was just minding her own business and was truly innocent when she was snatched. Not that I don't like Ange, but she just has more to answer for. |
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Cptn_Taylor
Posts: 925 |
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I'm sorry but nothing justifies Julio's coup d'état. He's crooked to the bone.
No no. We have seen that Angelise was directly responsable for her sister's fall. That the sister could harbour resentment is very realistic. Moreso if she never even knew Angelise was a norma. It would feel like a double betrayal. Seriously if you look back all the way to episode 1 there are only 2 people that care about Angelise as a person. One is her mother who died to protect her daughter and the other is Momoka. Momoka is a true friend. 2 out of how many (including direct family members) see her as a human being ? It's no suprise the same kind of betrayal happening to Hilda. There is no need to invoke brain washing or stockholm syndrome. People in this world HATE normas. If they didn't need them to fight the dragons I have no doubt the normas would up in a crematory oven.
Did you notice the 2 helicopters were right next to each other and that Ange lobbed a grenade on one of them ? The grenade ending up near one of the engines. |
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Shippoyasha
Posts: 459 |
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I am supremely entertained by this show when it has all these suffering divergences. I knew it was getting too cozy for the girls the past 3 or 4 episodes or so. At least nobody is in danger of dying. Yet.
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mangamuscle
Posts: 2658 Location: Mexico |
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We have clearly seen how it is a rule to take Norma while they are still babies from their parents and make them part of the conscript army (Hilda was an abnormality because she was from a not very populated area), so with no rules in how to train a Norma that is already an adult and with each meal carrying a hefty pricetag (that SOMEBODY has to pay) I see no reason it would have gone any other way. She probably got that meager training week because the top brass at the base negotiated, as far as the empire is concerned if she had died in her test flight it would been better.
Indeed, up to the point where the helicopter crashed into the ground it was ok. But then there was no reason for them to explode in flames. Were they carrying fireworks? Did they carry incendiary bombs (inside the capital, no less)? I am tired of this kind of scenes where vehicle crashes MUST explode, I was impressed when I was 10, nowadays it only makes my eyes roll. BTW, anyone noticed the sound as Hilda was shot (by a stun gun probably) before they started rodneyking-ing her? |
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wonderwomanhero
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Perfect Blue, Kite, Legend of the Overfiend.... But in all honesty Kite was too upsetting for me. I watched it only because someone told me that since I love Noir, I would like Kite. (And because Gwen Stefani used a scene from it in one of her music videos/Tarantino told Chiaki Kuriyama to watch it so she'd get a feel for her character Gogo in Kill Bill) They were wrong. I have never seen such a misogynistic OVA....when I heard they were making a live-action version I nearly vomited. But in regards to CROSS ANGE, have there been any more uncomfortable scenes like the end of episode 1 so far? |
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mangamuscle
Posts: 2658 Location: Mexico |
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There was a surgical operation without anesthetics in episode 1 and an attempted (yuri) rape in episode 2. From them on I have not seen any seen any episode with that kind of shock value, but YMMV. |
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