As for someone who really likes the experience of playing MMORPGs, the idea of Sword Art Online was very fascinating because every now and then, I’m still missing the experience I had during the times that I have played several titles. Actually, I try to relive those days from time to time whenever I miss them during the holidays.

Sword Art Online possesses the basic characteristics of a virtual reality game, which other existing anime(s) also have as a setting (or a sub-setting, primarily as a mini arc involving MMO gaming). It’s very much dependent on the idea of battling monsters, power leveling, setting exploration, character and role creation, and lastly, online community interaction. The first four factors would likely simply produce a battle shounen – unlike the last one, making it my favorite discerning factor. I honestly didn’t read the synopsis of the light novel when I initially found it but I was very certain by the time that I saw it that it’ll be about MMOs — I just had to pick it up for reading.

It’s probably cliche already for a certain game to suddenly become a reality for some people, either via magic of some sort etc., but as for this case, a preposterous game developer simply wants to witness an all new world experience through the virtual game setting he created. He decided to remove the log out button for all the players (isn’t that nice)! And, of course, he pretty much made sure that no one will be able to stop his plan.

The game is made in a way that disruption of the game from the real world during the duration, ie. turning off the console, will lead to some disastrous death of the player because it will release some electromagnetic wave thingymajig to fry the player’s brain. So yeah, to make it short, the players were all in some sort of coma with their heads equipped with a helm-like headgear called NervGame which is the console. It was explained in the novel why the players won’t be able to wake up themselves on their own and it involves some brain signal redirection function of NervGame, which I think is borderline sci-fi so… never mind.

The most disturbing thing is that they are all force-fed while in hospital care. Their bodies in the real world, of course, still take its natural course, a mortality clock which dictates how long their bodies would last given this kind of nutrient intake. This serves as the deadline as to how long the players would take to finish the game, in which the big bad boss Mr. Game Developer promised to log them all out once they clear it. Also, it’s almost expected — but I guess I still have to say it. Dying in the game means truly dying in real life.

Despite the seemingly cliche premise of the story, I was actually a bit surprised on the way that the story is presented. I was expecting that the existence of the real player outside the computer would be deemed insignificant to be known by the reader – just as how .hack handles it because it’s assumed that the avatar that he controls in the game is very much the same entity as him, and for everyone. Despite this, it was made clear during the early narrations that the author recognizes and freely includes and discusses the events in the “real world” or the world of the player, aside from the online game world itself. This was very much different to the selected few that have virtual reality gaming as a theme since they almost disregard the existence and the condition of the player controlling the game and simply focus on the avatar during the gaming process. I was just appalled when I read about someone ordering a pizza for dinner, and thus he has to “log out” for a moment.

I think that it’s very refreshing to see a story that unfolds focusing simultaneously both on the online world and real world contrary to .hack’s format which focuses solely on the online world. Thanks to this concept, there is a good bunch of things to ponder upon regarding the duality of the two worlds, and everyone’s “online” persona. I was actually worried as well that it would seem so .hack~ish which I won’t like at all.  .hack tends to be overly bizarre and at the same time, vague, when it comes to plot execution, and in trying to complicate the system of MMOs. Meanwhile, SAO definitely gave me what I was trying to look for in an anime that’s about MMOs, and it’s the extent at which it tries to recreate the experience in playing MMOs. The skill leveling, in-game quests, item crafting, treasure hunting, boss hunting, guild formations, party leveling, and role-playing (this is broad but I’d like to focus on the player factions). Although these things are most likely present as well on other anime(s) that deal with MMOs, SAO’s characters act/react more genuinely due to the death factor of the game.

I’m definitely not spoiling  the contents of volume 1  yet since I’ll do a proper review of it. I just can’t seem to write a post about it without trying to deliberately blurt things about MMOs in general! Imagine reading all of the texts above before I actually discuss the first volume. I bet it’ll be tl;dr.

image credits: (official artwork)

I don’t know if this will turn out a bit technical but I’ll try my best not to (or at least explain through layman’s terms). I have to say as well that this representation in [C] is rather weird. I am well aware of how bad IMF’s reputation is to developing countries because of the disparity in the bargaining power of the developing country to what IMF/US demands as a compensation for the loans and debts that they provide as a form of assistance to the countries. This is why it was quite surprising that one of the good guys (well, I consider her as one) actually came from IMF. I know that I’m biased but because of this, it’s as if IMF has become a great institution all of a sudden (which up until now, I still can’t seem to accept!).

Side B: Satou

Having studied economics as a major, most of our perspectives were from the point of view of the government which aims to “regulate” and make sure that the market is favorable for all of its stakeholders, or so that’s how it is supposed to be. I am well aware of the conspiracy spiraling right now and the arguments of other economists who prefer to have a laissez-faire policy wherein the government is encouraged to let the market as is and not meddle whatever happens. Why? because some economists says that the government is actually the one causing the irregularities and distortions in the economy. They build new roads and provide jobs to people who did the construction but was there really a need to construct new roads? Of course, this is just in theory but, some economists say that the government is creating an artificial demand to supply for which of course is a distortion in the economy.

As you can see, I believe that this is Jennifer’s stance. She kept pointing out that what Mikuni is doing are mere stop-gap measures (which is absolutely right! I am referring to the absorption he did to the pharmaceutical company) and doesn’t really solve the problem. She appears to be nonchalant with what’s going to happen because she knows that it was meant to happen in the first place. As for this, Mikuni represents the government. What made this portrayal obvious was Mikuni’s possession of the Darkness card which allows him to control the printing of Midas money. Who else could control that in real life but the government (well, indirectly through the central bank)?

Of course, back then when we were still kids, it should have crossed our minds at least once. Why not just print lots of money? I bet we’re all guilty of thinking innocently on how that could be a solution to poverty. To cut it short, it will result to hyperinflation if done wrongly without any proper reason. Proper reason, as in, eg. increase in the demand for money due to increasing number of transactions, not the likes of “because Japan is about to vanish”. But since Mikuni needed the cash to buy and rescue the stock prices… He had to print money.

Maybe several people are still puzzled why printing additional Midas money equates sacrificing the future. It is quite related to future inflationary effect. If people have 100 USD in their time deposit right now, then in the future, its value could actually become mere 10 USD simply because a lot of people have USD already due to the printing of more Midas money; thus, the depreciation on the value of the currency.

Satou’s efforts in trying to stop Mikuni for a third round of printing money was more or less justified because that will really leave JPY worthless in the eyes of entrepreneurs. Mikuni might be saying that it’s for the sake of preventing Japan from vanishing (which of course is a metaphor) but, it doesn’t really help the economy recuperate. It’s just there to prolong the present.

So, what do you prefer, an economy with people like Mikuni doing machinations in order to “save the country” by deteriorating its future or an economy free from any external influence? Mikuni might be doing a favor for everyone in the financial district since they don’t have to commit suicide anymore after losing a deal but, I don’t think it outweighs the future he steals from everyone else.

Just like what I mentioned from the previous post, you can’t really be a real Entre if you’re not prepared for the risk of being bankrupt. It’s a natural effect of competition ie, the deals.

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image credits: pixiv users ポ中, 糸吉, カナン

I honestly think that the show was vague during the last episodes due to the fast pace but I guess it was just reasonable for a show showcasing the world economy, considering the minute and ever changing prices of not only stocks but also commodities. Time is of the essence after all, if we are talking about trading stocks.

Side A: Sennoza

The first concept which readily entered my mind ever since the episode, which involved Sennoza, was intertemporal consistency. As a brief description on what the economic concept is about, it primarily discusses the unequal consumption and allocation of one’s resources for the present and the future. In my case, I’ve always believed that the optimal situation lies in the balance of the two, but of course if I delve further, it’ll go on and probably touch the concept of risk-aversion which is not that relevant in [C] per se. Note that the key concept in here is “balance”.

Obviously, Sennoza tries to argue that the present would mean nothing if therein lies a future left without any choice to choose from. A linear path for everyone (a repetition of the present). Mikuni meanwhile argues that this kind of disposition is only for those who are better off compared to everyone else because they have the luxury of planning ahead for their future. Other people who are faced with coping with the present won’t even be able to think that far ahead if they are faced with something difficult in the present.

Of course, I disagree with Mikuni. He must be underestimating those who are economically disadvantaged. Even if a person is poverty stricken today, that doesn’t stop him from planning what he should do in the future. Although I get Mikuni’s point for his remark on how unpredictable the future could be, I think it’s better to do something about it rather than get complacent on what’s the current state. What he’s doing is like what Msyu told Q during the final episode. He only keeps providing blood for the transfusion for a bedridden person, but the fact is that, the problem is still there. The kidney or the liver is still not functional and thus needs to be replaced!

It’s quite ironic that Mikuni was able to get onto the top of the financial district with this kind of mindset. He’s very much a risk-averse person who would probably keep on hedging just to avoid risk, which is why he prefers the certainty of the present compared to the unpredictability of future. But of course, everyone knows that hackneyed statement about investing already. “The higher the risk, the higher the return”. He’ll never achieve his full potential if he’s afraid of what the future holds.

What I liked about the show is that it further presented the conflict between Sennoza and Mikuni through that dialogue from one of Kimimaro’s company from his part time (the old guy) when he mentioned that he planned to cancel his insurance. There was this side of me telling me that it’s just common sense to act and choose that option because of how the present economy was portrayed in the anime but another part of me was saying that it wasn’t a wise decision as well because the economy could get even worse than the present and that he might lose that back-up support if it happens in the future once he cancels the insurance.

But of course, I’m not saying that Sennoza is entirely correct as well. Just as how I phrase it, it really should be a balance between the  present and the future. It might be loosely related to Economics but future is equally important with present. Sacrificing the opportunity cost of either of the two for one will distort your living. Are you willing to party all day night today for the sake of having fun even though you know there would be an exam tomorrow? Are you willing to save up 99% of your allowance just to buy that trendy gadget to the extent of skipping your meals?

Next Post >> Side B: Satou

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image credits: pixiv users カナン, ina

Sorry, the title is such a troll. I shall be honest, I was one of those who were fascinated when this anime began airing last Fall 2009 because of its intriguing and rather “wtf?” storyline. I don’t remember anymore what was my reason for putting it in on-hold back then but I really remember that I felt awkward after the Kuroha incident. And yes, this is a rant review.

I don’t know if it was just a coincidence that the OP sequence is entitled “Falling Down” because I honestly think the  series had a slump after the Kuroha incident. It’s not like I didn’t liked that arc, but I think the series failed on trying to establish the story properly because of the vast amount of conspiracies and information it is trying to introduce to the audience — to the point it doesn’t make sense anymore. I’m not trying to mention here the good graphics and smooth animation of the series because the viewers would probably agree that it was one of the good points that the anime has, but of course, it won’t be fair to judge it simply because it looked good.

Really, I thought I was watching a very good show. I mean, it introduces lots of interesting fictional technologies such as the Eden of the East, the Society Computer ( Juiz, and the Selecao phones! <3), and I enjoyed it, with all these ideas of making a paradise for NEETs, the memory recovery of Takizawa, and how the game will end. I had a very large expectation on how the series would wrap these things up but — I was surprised with how lame the Takizawa’s reason was for wiping his memory! And yes, the lamest of all was the conclusion in the movie between Yuuki and Manonobe. They were supposed to be antagonists in the story but after the whole thing about the pursuit for Juiz(s), it went on a slump. Especially the case of Manonobe, I was really trying  to figure how he would be defeated on the end, only to find out he’ll surrender and stop the fight. Lame right?

Okay, okay, Air King was pure win. The interception scene of the missiles was epic. What sucked was his request to be the King. And yes, I’m blaming Juiz for saying Noblesse Oblige! The movie was overly complicated simply because of that, with all these issues trying to find and confirm his identity. I mean — I actually do not care anymore. “Just give me the ending” is all I could think of.

I felt compelled to simply watch the movie to know the ending. With the kind of presentation, they used, I really do not want to bother already about other stuff, simply because there were lots of it already prior to the movie… The fact that they are trying to introduce conspiracies once again gets to my nerves when they haven’t really establish yet a strong cohesion with all the things that happened. Watching the movie felt like I’m being bombarded with all non-sense things I shouldn’t care about anymore like who’s Akira’s real parents are. More like, I was interested in Mameshiba’s true owner than anything else.

I could have appreciated the series better if the movie tried to resolve the remaining issues with regards to other Selecao members. I mean, they introduced the idea of this game wherein there has to be someone that should win, but the ending was so vague, and even if it’s implied that Akira won, it just doesn’t feel right, after he had shouldered yet again a responsibility by the time the movie ended. Also, is it just me, or — I just didn’t get the bell sound after Mr. Outside proclaims the end of the game, and that he had chosen the winner of the game.

I guess– there was story development, but I was left hanging. The whole cause of the game was to improve the status of Japan. It feels like the ending was hijacked. I don’t know if all of the NEETs were willing on their part but, I honestly think they were just used and taken advantage of, even by Akira himself. Enough of the idea he was trying to create a paradise for them. I mean, does the place that was established at the end of the anime could really be defined that way? In the end, the more concrete way to establish the paradise was to encourage all people to get on moving, which was the thing he did in the ending. I was hoping for something bigger and exciting plans he laid as part of ending the game but it turned out to be a cheesy phone conversation with everybody in Japan.

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image credits: pixiv users hati & はづき

We all already know the ending. What made me watch this? I was curious HOW things would turn out, simple as that. But seriously, what made me watch this was the opening song! Who wouldn’t recognize that marvelous piece even if it was in Japanese lyrics? I was surprised to hear such music out of Animax, and so I was lured to watched Romeo x Juliet.

I’m giving you a piece of warning as early as now, this post is definitely not for a Shakespeare purist, if you are one. Spoilers ahead.

I wasn’t having high hopes for the show because I was merely interested on watching how Romeo and Juliet will die — or would they even die? What if this retelling was actually a production out of frustration due to the original bad end and that the producers decided to revive the two in the retelling? Of course I do know that it would a betrayal of the story — which is why I was intrigued to see the show through its end.

I definitely do not hate Shakespeare but I honestly find Romeo and Juliet’s story very idiotic. Romeo didn’t even noticed that Juliet was simply faking her death. Romeo even took his life after learning Juliet “died”. Oh come one, what the hell was that? I’m going to kill myself because I can’t live without you here beside me? Sorry it’s just not my taste for romance. Of course I know it’s suppose to be a tragedy that it has to end in some tragic way for sure… But such plot tool was totally uncalled for.

Back to the anime. Right at the start, it would be a bad decision to even compare it to the original when you see a flying Pegasus right at the opening song.  Comparing to the original and saying that Romeo and Juliet has a superficial and fake plot is just not right. We all know that it is just an adaptation. No adaptation has ever been so similar to its predecessor.  The predecessor is just a basis. As simple as that.

I think the adaptation played out a very good alternative plot of how to present the dispute between the Capulet and the Montague. I am fond of revolutionist ideas which is why I was easily captivated with the idea of taking back what the Capulet has lost fourteen years ago.  I even do think that this is a much stronger background story for both families on why Romeo and Juliet shouldn’t be together. It’s not as simple as falling in love to the son of the rival family, it’s falling in love to the son of the family which killed your parents. Both characters are much more involved in the circumstance on why they are star crossed unlike in the original (oops, why am I comparing the two!) where the two have little to no knowledge about that certain ancient grudge that has been keeping their families at war. Of course, I’m just here to point the things that I think the anime did something to reinforce the original work.

I’ve read that most viewers found the idea of Escalus inappropriate. I also find it inappropriate. It was hinted already during the first few episodes the role magical stuff but they would have made a better story out of it compared to this one because I just can’t think of any parallelism or at least, relevance of the idea to the original work. Again and again, I am to focus that this is just an adaptation so adding something to the plot isn’t really that crucial and all (but all I could think of is that, they should have at least tried to relate it right?).

I know I am bias to this show because just liked what I’ve said, I didn’t really liked the ending of the original work. Meanwhile, the ending of the anime wasn’t really that strong to give that much of an impact but I honestly liked the idea that they died this time trying to do something for the people of Neo-Verona and not because of selfish matters of committing double suicide because they can’t be together anymore. They weren’t as foolish in the novel. Just like the vow they committed to each other, they are together even if they are apart from each other. I’d like to say that it is a much more matured thinking.

P.S – I liked the banner designs for both Capulet and Montague

Hi guys, and to everyone who are reading this post. I must admit that I only have limited time to spend in the animeblogosphere, since I have to tend to school duties (my thesis project), which is why, this post will be the one to wrap up for this winter season of 09/10. Spring is now again coming, as well as the nearing 2nd anniversary of the site. It’s just sad that I might not be able to prepare anything for it since there would still be final exams for me. Meaning to say, I really don’t have the time to fool around, and so, to shorten and speed up the blogging process, I’ll do this lump sum entry for other anime(s) which I watched and finished airing this season, and from the previous.

Also, I might only be able to start doing first impression posts for this coming season during the last week of April.

Anime(s) that will be reviewed in this post would be Baka Test, Kimi ni Todoke, Sora no Woto, and Kobato, in order of appearance. Apologies for not writing in-depth individual entries for the four.

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image credits: pixiv user プロ猿ファー・ゴル

Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu

I actually made an entry saying how superficial and misleading the anime is, but I guess I wasn’t entirely correct. I was able to appreciate the entirety of the show, thanks to Akihisa’s sister, who always lecture Akihisa regarding effort simply being a means to an end. Of course, no one would be able to defend the anime with regards to its weak, and linear plot structure, which is why I sometimes just don’t care about it and just enjoy the anime which is by switching off your brain and pretend to be an idiot as well. The story and character developments of the show is very cluttered on every direction.

One thing I liked with Baka Test is the sudden shift of mood in the theme of the anime with regards to studying. I particularly liked Yuuji’s proclamation on why he is trying to beat Class A, and that is to prove that studying is not the only thing that matters.

Yep, undoubtedly most of the people believe that if they study hard, and graduate with flying colors, they’ll be successful in life and all that. The series somehow wants to say that this is not necessarily true, which I heavily agree! You can see how Class A struggled during the last minute when Class A used different tactical measures to beat them, such as focusing instead on physical prowess of the students.

Libera mentioned from one of her posts about Kubo’s(glasses guy) relative absence in the story and I agree that he would have been fun to tease as well if he appeared more regularly. I didn’t particularly liked any gender-directed jokes to the characters but– I’d say it was pretty much funny to watch them interact, as simple as that. I don’t have anything to say about the content of the series because there’s essentially nothing to discuss about.
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image credits: pixiv user 雪見@ばかてす

Kimi ni Todoke

I was expecting a one or two kisses and I was disappointed I didn’t witness any. Kimi ni Todoke, similarly to what others have said had this refreshing feeling when you watch it, but sadly, I’d say it fades and fades every after episode. It wasn’t very consistent on making me feel absorbed in the show. I don’t really know why half of the season were already directed towards Chizu, as if Kazehaya and Sawako was already forgotten. It’s not like I’m not shipping Ryuu and Chizu, but it’s just that viewers aren’t still satiated with the thigs concerning Kazehaya and Sawako, and yet the focus already shifted from their relationship. As the anime progressed, the development between the two also lessened, which is why I didn’t really feel satisfied on how it ended.

There were countless cheesy moments that I sometimes want to puke. I was expecting a lot from the Kazehaya/Sawako ship but there was a sudden turn of focus directed towards Ryuu and Chizu, which I didn’t really liked. I think I expected a lot from this show because it gave a different aura at first, but I think it waned because of lack of Kazehaya and Sawako moments.

Now I’m having second thoughts whether I should rate this anime high because it didn’t really became that awesome I thought it would be, probably driven by the myriad of positive insights the anime garnered during the first few weeks. I mean, it was just a new mane but it is actually an old swine. Things were cliche, especially on Kurumi’s case– considering she didn’t really reappeared again for a nice comeback. I don’t know how the show would be able to redeem itself for me if ever it will have a second season. It lost its touch to me already.

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image credits: pixiv user さくた

Sora no Woto

Sora no Woto would have done great, but there just seems to be a lot things left unexplained, and too many to speculate. It encouraged me a bit to expect something due to episode 7 being great and all, but it gave me false hope that it might do something spectacular at the end.

I’m also one of those who wasn’t really amused on how Rio’s actions were just shown late in the series. I think she should have left a little bit earlier in the series so as to make it appear more essential to the development of the events. Probably one thing I liked from the show is the idea of diversity, differences and misunderstanding of humans. This could be witnessed on how the legend was told differently on Helvetia and Rome.

Sound of the skies indeed. Language is a complicated thing because it may imply different meanings, but a harmonious sound — it is rather simple and could be understood by everyone, as long as you intently listen to it. I liked how Kanata’s sound remained to be the instrument for achieving the peace on Seize.

The concept of war also touches Sora no Woto due to its post apocalyptic setting. I firmly believe that it failed on showing us the true ways soldiers live their lives in camp sites they are situated, since we can see how carefree these teenage girls are most of the times. Even so, I think it was still great that we see on the last part on how much soldiers themselves don’t really want conflict as much as possible. Although, of course soldiers such as Hopkins really exists, then again it also shows how only few really are bipolar in the army.

The ending was rather happy though, considering it was said during the first episodes that the end is actually nearing its end. Contrary to that, it’s as if that the falling sakura petals signifies life. Then again, I don’t know if that end of the world was explicitly stated literally, because it might have just meant the end of the world due to the turmoil the world is currently facing due to conflict among countries.

I really didn’t expected Rio’s return. Considering the past conflicts between the countries, I don’t really think the Emperor was that kind enough to let her return to Seize. Then again, we could definitely see here again how misleading the legend was (refer to the Soro no Woto wiki). The negative notions to the Emperor can’t be helped, just as how different versions of the legend proliferated on the two countries. Misunderstanding and cultural diversity was the root cause of it all.

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image credits: pixiv user あーさら

Kobato

Kobato has lots of shallow episodes, not even related to the main plot of story oftentimes. Only few episodes could back up and support the main storyline which I what I didn’t liked because Kobato seems to me a very weak anime, in terms of development, in terms of events. Bulk of the anime were mainly focused on collecting konpeito and that’s it. I could only mention very few episodes which I liked, namely the fire flies, the tree, kohaku involved episodes, and the Ioryogi developments. Most of the happenings with regards to that of Yomogi Nursery is very flimsy. I thought the anime would give significance to Sayaka, and yet the anime deviated from her relationship with Okiura right after it was decided that the Nursery would be demolished. Not much was shown on her side whether the two reverted to their past relationship. You would just see them at the end starting up a new Nursery.

Much of the story wasn’t really disclosed, and much of the plot would just happen during the latter part of story, which is why I’d say Kobato is not that bad — it’s just that it didn’t really gave that dazzling aura at first sight.

I’d say Kobato is such a trying hard moeblob character that she is sometimes a pain to watch. I can’t exactly figure out if the studio/CLAMP is trying to project her as a moe character or not, but if they are trying to do so, I think they failed because her cutesy antics didn’t really captivated me that much, it actually sometimes annoys me a lot. Fujimoto’s extreme tsundereness is irritating as well which is why I can’t really feel the romance in the air when he’s with Kobato.

I’d say the last part didn’t really took me that much because… Is it just me or — I don’t feel Kobato and Fujimoto shared enough moments to be identified as a “couple” so I was just barely touched on the final moment Kobato bid farewell to Fujimoto. Oh, and one of the best moments for me was when I saw Ioryogi still continuing his quest to protect Kobato. And of course, The Ashita Kuru hi moment was my favorite. I didn’t get though the whole idea of the place Kobato was trying to reach. Does this place explicitly means a location or does it imply ambiguity when it simply means besides Fujimoto? That was the only idea I was able to deduce since Kobato was seemingly reincarnated in the end.

Now now. I was actually questioning how come all the konpeito have the same sizes? I mean if Kobato really helped a lot, should it be a lil bigger? It’s unfair that you only count simply in terms of how many you’ve helped. Shouldn’t it be on the degree of how you helped other people? Right? I mean CLAMP has this concept of equivalence in xxxHolic so I thought they should be applying that as well here. I lol’d a bit though when Fujimoto’s konpeito was large enough to fill up the bottle on the last minute, because I was somehow thinking of that as a plot device.

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image credits: CLAMP

I was actually motivated to finally finish XF and do this post because my Wild Arms post here in the site is making quite a traffic. And just so people who view my posts would be updated, as of November 24, 2009, Wild Arms 6 is just a rumor.

And so, let’s continue with this review of Wild Arms XF.

Wild Arms XF is not really appealing to a gamer like me because I’ve had enough already of turn-based strategy games, but since, this was the first try of the merchandise to delve in such genre of game, I might as well, try it out to see if they succeeded in doing so.

System

The beginning part of the game is very challenging. Yep, it was very hectic managing your party because learning the skills just to master your current job will really take you up until the 2nd Act of the game. Well, it’s not that I didn’t enjoyed it but, it was hassle battling every now and then just to accumulate about 250 points when every battle just gives you 3 to 4 points. Yep, You will still be on your basic job up until the 2nd Act of the game and that is very boring, if only I wasn’t determined to finish it. Some battles, especially the story-bound ones give about 10 points though. The job system is not that dynamic and it’s easy to understand since you’ll just have to master the abilities of your current job and you’ll be able to equip it alongside another job.

Some fights are damn difficult! Why? Because some battles do have countdowns of how many turns your are just allowed to take, while taking on account the turns of your opponent as well. These battles requires you to temporarily shift your job to the fastest one to defeat all opponents, and at the same time, reach a certain part of the field.

If you have already experienced the intricate puzzles and conundrums from Wild Arms 5, just to open that door that leads to a boss, expect nothing less from Wild Arms XF because some dungeons here will keep you entertained for hours, doing trial and error just to make the correct sequence of shooting some switches, and such. Some switches even require a certain job just to activate. Well, this is just about 10% of the game so don’t be so stingy about it. I’ve seen numerous forum posts of having certain battles from the game being impossible to clear but, it really just depends on your party, especially the jobs you had assigned to each of them. Even though it was tough, all in all it was challenging at the same time.

[Spoiler Alert!]

Plot/Story

The story is actually divided into 4 primary chapters, and another one, which is the final act.

Hmm. Well, the start of the game wasn’t really exciting because it just shows Clarissa chasing someone after and it doesn’t really reveal anything about the latter development in the story. The story actually goes along the line of some sort of insurgence towards the current government because it was actually just the council of the king, who is bedridden, are the ones managing the country. Yep, it’s about social decay and political conspiracy. Coincidentally, Clarissa, happens to look a lot like the princess, who is supposedly dead already for several years. After being involved to some incident, she decided that she’ll help out the citizens of the country by shouldering the responsibilities of saving the country through disguising as the princess. Under these circumstances, she founded a resistance group named Chevalet Blanc, which has the objective to defeat the council that usurped the throne of the king. Well, it was not that long though before it was disclosed that she is just an impostor by the enemies.

Well, that was just the gist of the summary, and not the complete one because a lot more happens after that. You won’t really think that some aliens are behind it right? But I’m already telling you this, Wild Arms XF has still something to do with aliens from other planets,  similar to Wild Arms 5 — which is rather irrelevant to me already and I think the story has been better off without it because they should have focused instead on creating twist on the main focus of the story, which is restoring the peace and political stability of the country. Because of the alien thing, the ending somehow became “saving the world”- themed when it’s not in the very first place. The plot really diverged after introducing this certain antagonist that has something to do with the alien stuff. Thus, it somehow ended up as a hodgepodge of allies of justice kind of story with sprinkles of aliens and planet restoration, which has been the problem of Filgaia ever since.

Characters

Well, because of such wide-scope array of plot and happening within the story, the characters are somehow confusing to take a look as well.

Clarissa Arwin, the main protagonist of the story, is rather irritating during the first part of the game. I mean, why the hell should you do that disguising thing when you’re not really involved with this country?! That was some kind of whimsical idea that sprung all of a sudden just because she was involved in some kind of incident. Well, because of this weak grasp of her responsibility of decisively taking that crucial role, it backfired to her when she was forced to pull the trigger towards someone in the story just to save the country. Sometimes you see, you need that resolve first before doing something or you’ll fail in doing so. Just to make it clear though, before the true campaign of the resistance happened, her true objective alongside Felius is to find an artifact that would restore Filgaia’s land, as well as retrieving Iskender Bey, the sword of her mother which was stolen by someone.

Felius is your meek and mysterious type of male protagonist. He comes along Clarissa at the beginning of the story and the two of them are supposedly “family” but Felius actually belongs to some past that will eventually be disclosed in the story. I just can’t say anymore about him because it might just a heavy spoiler. Anyway, you’ll just know it near end that he has some big connection to the plot.

Labyrinthia is the court magician of the kingdom but she decided to rebel against the present corrupt officials, which is why she ended up as a fugitive. She was actually the root cause why Clarissa and Felius was involved in the first place. She comes along with a dog named Tony. Labyrinthia is indebted to the king which is why, she tries her best to retrieve the old kingdom the king originally founded. She has always been viewed as the most educated of all the characters, and thus making her the strategist of the party oftentimes.

Levin is the son of the captain of the Royal Knights, situated at the palace. His father still believes that the Royal Knights still has the duty to defend the palace until the end , even if those who lead are corrupt. Levin didn’t stand this view of his father, which is why he left the kingdom, tossing aside his “royalty”, something his father couldn’t do.

Alexia is the royal princess and the true heir to the throne of the kingdom. She was falsely announced as dead by the council years ago because of her mysterious disappearance on an incident. It was a surprise for Chevalet Blanc that the actual princess is still alive so they rescued her from the hands of the council. She feels that she bears the responsibility of restoring the country, which is why she is the most resolved one in defeating the council. She dreams of a peaceful kingdom and believes in the notion of active participation of the citizens.

Ragnar is one of the casualties of the prevalent war in Filgaia. He was resolved to end the conflict of the country and stumbled upon Chevalet Blanc. He tried to stopped Chevalet Blanc at first but realized the main goal they pursue so he decided to join in order to finally stop the wars in country.

I actually see a weak connection here of some characters towards the story. The latter four are really involved, which is why they do have the reason to fight against the council who tries to monopolize the power and wreak havoc in the country, but I just can’t see anything that would strongly glue both Clarissa and Felius’ purpose in being involved.

Technicalities

03_So_Warm_and_Soft.mp3

The music of the game is definitely the most commendable one even though the game’s platform is PSP. Anyway, I was just able to appreciate it through the help of some tracks listed in the Music Library of the game. I wasn’t really able to appreciate it in-game because I often play with mute sounds. I especially liked the track above, which is the background music in towns. It’s so pleasing in the ear.

Oh, the voice acting is not that commendable, it is so-so but nothing’s so great about it as well XD.

In terms of graphics, I think they also did a great job. The animators were resourceful enough and creative on how to show the animation without producing an animated cutscene, and I liked how it turned out.

Review

The game is very enjoyable in terms of the battles but not really in terms of the story. Sadly, I really didn’t enjoy the story and plot of the game because I really didn’t know what the game wanted to focus. It’s as if Wild Arms XF tried to explore a vast realm of Filgiaia this time, that they wasn’t able to contain it appropriately. The first part of the game has a very slow paced manner while the latter part has a very fast one, which makes me wonder if the producers just wanted to cut it short. They did connect the relevance of the events, but they did all at a skimmed manner — so the focus of the story just disappeared near the end. Instead of fixing the country, in relation to the corrupt council members, the ending became saving the world from an alien, while defeating a boss not really related to aliens but to some magical entity. The plot is just confusing, since there are many subplots branching from one another. The plot is simply not coherent.

Each of the character has a “nemesis” (simply someone with conflict with) in the story, and has their own “argument” against each other. This should have been the broadest one in order to make the development of the characters more solid but it was just given focus in the second to the last chapter of the game. Events during the middle chapters of the story is the most whimsical because all sort of things happened in such inappropriate manner. Some were even uncalled for, and some were really vague especially the part where the party was able to time travel at one point in the past.

Well, I think Media Vision did a great job in creating a new job system but I just can’t appreciate the story used to tell it. That’s it — then what the hell does it serves for? Well, for me, I enjoyed the game solely because of the battles. The story was just a supplementary because I really didn’t caught anything from it aside from few melodrama amongst Katrina, Alexia and Clarissa at the end. Well the ending was not clear as well because some of the antagonists were just killed off at that brink moment without some clear reason what they really are fighting for or any reason. There would have been any contradicting cliche beliefs or principles by the characters, but there were really none which made the antagonists of the game, really lame.

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Side Note: Okay a very generous tip for leveling up. “The Flatwoods” is the place where this monster called “Unwanted Visitor” spawns. All you really need to do is don’t move before you have set up Labyrinthia’s Replica. Once, it has become the target of the monster (Note: The monster ability is to half the HP of your party. It will continuously repeat doing the skill that halves the life of Replica, but it is useless since the Replica’s HP is 1. But, once the MP of the monster is depleted, it will onslaught the party so kill it while it is still dumb!) While the monster is still busy doing his useless skill of dividing the 1 HP of the Replica, begin surrounding it and spam it with Combination Arts, yep NOT Formation Arts. The higher the points you will receive if you defeated it with all the party taking part on the last Combination Arts and having the character with the highest MAG to do the thing, which is undoubtedly Laby herself as well.

The first thing that would enter your mind once you hear it might probably be Dennou Coil — it has some similarities in some way since they are both sci-fi animes but they’re not really that much alike in concept they want to introduce. Cencoroll is somewhat very appetizing during the very first few minutes but rather very upsetting since it somehow looked half-baked during the last few in my perception. You may want to call it open-ended if you want though.

Cencoroll is imaginative, whimsical and provocative. The plot is not that very spectacular since it seemed to me a plain old “boy meets girl” plot. Well, even though this part of the story is weak, its concept appealed to me, with all those tubby bouncing and transforming monsters. Well, the fact that the existence of these monsters wasn’t given any explanation or what-so-ever is rather presumptuous though because imagination has its own limits. Yep, I was watching the show with no clues at all at the back of my mind. I’ve been just dragged inside a story of some weird monsters fighting with the reason — they must eat each other up or else, they’ll cease to exist. Okay, that was rather convenient to be a plot device.

Yuki, is the protagonist, no doubt about that, but she became somewhat conceited because she was able to control Cenco during the last few minutes. This part is also ambiguous…. Cenco is odd, assuming you don’t find its existence already odd in the very first place. It must be a sign of affection towards Yuki that Cenco allowed her to take over. I think this should have been given more significance since I don’t think a monster, or whatever it is would submit itself just because it was fed. After all, [spoiler] Cenco had the guts to eat up Tetsu’s arms out of emergency purposes. The existence of the ahoge thing used to control Cenco, and how Yuki came to possess one wasn’t also explained.

Well, it’s not a real big deal if they treat these things as something trivial and should not be explained already but I don’t appreciate such implication, since the reason is not implied at all. That’s very infuriating because even though it’s not conventional for creators to assume that the audience know too well already, it’s like acting as if they don’t care whether others came to like it or not as well. They are very conceited then.

I don’t know whether the Yuki and Tetsu pairing should really be treated as a pairing since their relationship was just flimsy. Maybe, if they were given a little more time in order to develop the character of this short film, then maybe their paring would have been more convincing for the viewers.

Yes, the production is nice and all, especially the music since it was done by supercell, and I think their music is very commendable, it’s just that, this is just the superficial aspect of the film, what I’m looking for is a story with all the twist and and turning points — and not just senseless fights.

In conclusion, I’m not very glad on how it came to an end, assuming there won’t be any succeeding films for this, it was very inadequate. Well, considering that it came from a one-shot manga, it was somehow expected but it gave me high hopes since it garnered a production award. Well, it’s nice if you’re asking for a smooth animation, graphics and such but it would have been nicer if it wasn’t rushed that much and given some lengthy time, like 1 hour and 30 minutes, similar to a typical anime movie, so to build up some beefy story and not just a dreary one.

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image credits: pixiv user 優

P.S. Happy Halloween :3

Actually, I decided to read the manga prior to watching the last 3rd season of the anime because the translation of the manga isn’t done yet, but I might reconsider re-watching all three seasons once more. The anime really has an astounding track to listen to and it makes me imagine as if I’m on an Italian café. Meanwhile, the manga is a little bit more concise when it comes to details. The plot is the same for both although the anime has few nice fillers.

Also, Akari’s e-mail penpal wasn’t really specified who but the anime did referred it though as Ai-chan. It was somewhat fishy though since Ai-chan was introduced right off the bat in the anime and wasn’t in the manga but both had a similar ending.

I was easily captivated by this anime, and it’s probably because of its somehow trivial yet heart-warming anecdotes. This series never failed to show me a new side for new things and encounters. And probably, because of its utopian setting as well, which I would like to experience myself. Yeah, I’m definitely guilty of thinking maybe the world is better off to be similar to Aqua. Oh well, too bad, it might take not just a millennium before Mars is terraformed.

I’ve never been so attached to an anime, as if I never like it to end, and I think I’ve experienced it for the first time on Aria. ara ara~ XD.

Alicia-san is probably seen as an onee-sama figure of everyone. I do like her a lot not because of her funny antics but because of her mature character in the show. Alicia-san always seemed to everyone as if she is always composed but we’ve seen an unknown side of her when she admittedly told that her selfishness was partly the reason why Akari’s prima qualification exam was the latest to took place.

a clear representation of my expression during the retirement ceremony of Alicia-san...

We all know at the back of our minds that everything has to end, including all those happy moments we’ve spent with our dearest ones. This was probably the theme of the story that touched me the most, besides the “appreciation of even simple things”. I’m probably one of those people that would rather stop being attached to a person or a thing so I won’t be hurt once the time we spend finally cease to an end. Yep, I know that it’s so coward of me not to face it head on but, I’m the type of person that isn’t really convinced that every goodbye entails a start of a new beginning.

And so, I was really sad during the episode 13 of the Origination because I get this feeling that once this retirement ceremony is done, those moments from the previous chapters and episodes won’t happen again. They’ll all be a memory of the past. My sadness was further reinforced when Akari began seeing all those events that happened in the Aria Company during Alicia-san’s stay there. It is just so sad, the fact that all of their paths finally diverged from each other after all those fun get together. But then again, I’m happy as well since even though Akari is somewhat melancholic, she was still able to cope up with the situation she is in. A thing many of us should learn from her.

Aria really teaches that important concept of appreciating all the things happening around us, might it be simple or not, because the time will come, it will be a memory of the past, and it will be too late already to regret at what happened during the past. Even though things has to end at that specific time, we must at least believe that it will open up possibilities for us. Possibilities we might have not explored yet, that will define our future.

Even though we don’t know what the future holds for us, we should still continue on looking forward. Let’s just go with what Alicia-san said on how she views it — “Getting stuck on the happy things of the past and losing sight of the happy things now is such a waste. It’s not ‘it was so fun that time’ but ‘that time was fun, too’.” — which quite holds for everything.

It doesn’t really matter how many Thoreni, Lumione or whatever coins you possess. Everyone has their set of choices to choose from whether to succumb to what they feel right or wrong, whichever might be the source of their happiness or joy, even if it’s also just momentarily.

I chuckled a bit and partly agreed to what Harold-san(the innkeeper) mentioned with regards to wealth and merchants. Indeed, merchants keep on thinking how to earn and gain large sum of profits and yet, would they be able to keep it when that day comes? Of course not, and yet they are putting all the effort just to obtain those high-quality materials and such. Certainly, why exert that much effort in obtaining something you’ll eventually throw away? I guess this rather falls in the category of that dispensable part of happiness.

We all have different kinds of perspective on how we choose to be happy with our lives, even if we’re just pretending to have the role of a fairy tale’s protagonist. Happiness is a scary thing. Perhaps that’s right but, probably not as well. Well, since it’s how Horo perceives it, let’s not argue with that.

Horo’s justification of why she is scared of the happiness she feels is because it might suddenly perish, and that’s just a painful thing to bear, once you’ve already gotten used to it. Just like the elders’ favorite proverb says, “Anything that is too much is bad”. For Horo, this sentiment is too much because of Lawrence’s kindness towards her. It’s not like it’s Lawrence’s fault to behave so kind towards Horo, but just like what Lawrence mentioned on the episodes where he faced that obstacle regarding Horo’s sellout, he doesn’t want to abandon his “crate”. Can you blame either one of the sides?

Yes, Lawrence is a merchant, and that just sums it up all to describe him. Merchants are inclined to stick to whatever they think is profitable to their business. Undeniably, one of the reasons why Lawrence accepted Horo to be his companion in the very first place, is because she is gifted with those skills essential for item-appraisal. Nevertheless, after all those travels and deep water, I doubt if some sort of bond didn’t formed between the two of them. Well, that was a rhetorical question, since we all probably knew already what’s the answer…

A merchant should be a risk-taker and just as much as they want to risk and to gain profit, certainly, they also want to make their dreams come true and as for Lawrence, it’s to own a shop. It was at that brink of moment that Lawrence’s dreams might have come true if only he decided to finally part ways with Horo, but that’s not what he did, he traded that dream of his for a different aspect of happiness. He might not have achieved his dream yet but he was able to upheld a priceless bond with someone.

He might be a merchant, who seeks happiness and fulfillment by mere profit and fortune, but certainly at one point in his life, he’ll eventually realize that he’ll need someone to be with. Well, In conclusion, this series doesn’t only teach us about supply, demand and all that economics stuff but it also emphasizes that a man can’t live through physiological needs alone, he also needs several things and one of these is a companion/lover.

This is one of those what I’m referring to as the indispesable part of happiness. There are so many choices, options and other things that would make us happy but there is always this one thing we are holding to, something we cherish, and we are ready to sacrifice anything just so it will remain in our lives. Sometimes, these are the things we take for granted, and I hope that moment won’t come to anyone.

Good for Lawrence though since he finally had the courage to say the words. Meanwhile, I hope Horo would reciprocate those feelings from Lawrence, to be someone part of her indispensable happiness as well. From here on, it’s just a matter of preservation so that the fear of Horo’s having left with dull memories won’t happen.

Thoughts from the ending of the series:

Season two is totally great, I really liked the character development for this season. The characters became more solid with regards to their personality and of course, that underlying relationship between the two became more intense in this season. Also, I really find it relieved that they somehow limited the concept of fantasy for this season. I don’t know but I just don’t like it when Horo transforms because I think that concept should always and only belong to the high fantasy types of anime, and Spice and Wolf is certainly not one.

The season is just superb, I think I almost liked all aspects of the show. The teasing part between the two characters was very entertaining even though the topic was a bit cheesy. Well, I’m praising here the two great seiyuus behind them. There was a great balance of character interaction, plot development, and conflict which I really think helped me a lot on staying focused with the show and not be bored. It wasn’t dragging to watch at all.

The show is not insipid and it was notable since it was only scheduled for twelve episodes.  I don’t know but there is this feeling of fulfillment from me after I’ve watched the ending, probably because I finally heard the words Lawrence should say to Horo. It was a long journey of love but I hope it doesn’t end there.