Asura Cryin': Where ghost girls don't wear pajama bottoms.
However I am still on the fence if it is a good thing or a bad thing. My brain nearly exploding with all the information being thrown my way…but sometimes a little brain explosion can be good. It can be interesting. It can add that sense of WOW to your day.
Or it can be a very bad thing. This series might jump around so much and leave out important details it can leave the audience feeling empty. That this series will cram more characters at us than Chrome Shelled Regios and it will have us screaming for half the cast being killed. It could just fail due to too much too fast and not enough explanation.
It is too early to tell any of that so let’s just talk about the first episode for now. I am not sure how spoiler this post is going to be since I am not really sure who most of the characters are, what that suitcase had in it, or what these different organizations stand for. But it might be a spoiler for someone. XD So beware of spoilers.
First episode and you are already getting attacked. Poor Tomoharu.
Our story begins with a young man in the hospital. A ghost watches over him as he sleeps and a mysterious figure heads down the hallway. The young man thinks of the plane crash he just survived as he recovers from serious looking wounds. Three years later the young man has recovered and is living on his own. Tomoharu’s mother (the young man) has just gotten married and has kicked her son out because that is what good housewives do. His friend Takuma seems to think that having this huge place is awesome and explores looking for ghosts. However Takuma is missing the ghost right in front of his face. Tomoharu is being followed by the same ghost that was watching him in the hospital. Her name is Misao and Tomoharu is perfectly fine with her following him around and talks to her regularly. The boys take a break from unpacking and end up talking about how his brother is the one paying for this place and how he is overseas studying in Africa or something. As Misao and Tomoharu talk…a woman just appears in the house with a suitcase. Shuri claims to be a friend of Tomoharu’s brother and that the suitcase belongs to the TWO of them (as she can see Misao). She leaves the rather heavy suitcase in the house and leaves. Attempts to open said suitcase are fail and it is stored in another room.
And hello to you too!
Later that night a girl dressed up as a shrine maiden shows up and blasts a hole in the window. She tries strangling Tomoharu and demands to know where the Asura Machina is. Tomoharu doesn’t answer her questions and she flies out of the window after noticing Misao. The next day is the first day of high school for Tomoharu so he doesn’t have much time to think about random people who destroy his house. At least not when Misao is busy showing off her new school uniform. Tomoharu is greeted warmly by his friend Anne and she talks about track, his mom, and how they are in the same class. Takuma comes running up and talks about these other girls in their class. Whoever they are he seems excited. Tomoharu and Misao see a picture of one of the girls and thinks it is the girl who handed them the suitcase yesterday. While walking the halls Tomoharu spots a girl who he thinks attacked him at his house. He tries to talk to her but she claims not to know her and her violent friend drags her away.
Explanations are for sissies!
After that special event Tomoharu, Misao, and Takuma go to the science club to find Shuri. It looks more like an occult club but whatever. Shuri shows up and promises to give Tomoharu answers as long as he joins the club. Tomoharu decides to think about it as he goes to work with Anne. Misao and Tomoharu arrive home to a house full of people wearing white robes. They also demand the Asura Machina and Tomoharu thinks this is all gang related. The main white robe guy is not amused at Tomoharu’s lack of answers. Suddenly Shuri sends a ROCKET through the house and unties Tomoharu. Then another group arrives and starts firing on the house. X_X Everything gets slightly confusing as Tomoharu and Misao try to escape. Tomoharu decides that he is going to give the suitcase to ANYONE just as long as they leave his house. Shuri, the main white robe guy, and the red glowing gang leader (third group) arrive as Tomoharu is draggin the suitcase around. They all pull guns on each other and it is a special moment. Shuri tells Tomoharu to open the case and it will end all this mess. Misao thinks that opening the case would be a good idea so he does. A black goo thing….oozes out and surrounds Tomoharu. It forms into a robot like machine and suddenly the viewers see Tomoharu agreeing (in the past presumably) to take on this ooze robot machine as long as Misao could be saved. Cut to Misao’s body floating in her own tube and …end scene.
Goo=giant robot. Makes total sense.
Yes….slightly confusing. Maybe not enough to completely destroy all my brain cells but I was getting Tales of the Abyss flashbacks (well…I would call them flashbacks if someone would sub the last episode :().
But this series has plenty of it's own flashbacks YAY!
The art seems…..okay. It was different than what I was expecting which is the story of my life chapter 3. Tomoharu’s hair style is really going to bother me the rest of the series but that is pretty minor. The opening song seems interesting enough. Most of the time I skip ending theme songs as I prefer a faster beat so I won’t comment on that aspect of the show.
Yes, be appalled at his fashion sense. XD
I am interested in learning if Tomoharu will remember this deal he made and why he forgot it. And hopefully by the next episode. That part seems to be important even if it is slightly over done. Person makes a promise, forgets it, and then later in life it comes back full force and they have a totally different destiny. Again I just want to know why he forgot…and why he made the promise in the first place.
He has had a tough life so I will forgive him for not remembering right away.
I am just assuming that Misao died in this plane crash that Tomoharu was talking about at the beginning of the episode. Usually when I assume I am dreadfully wrong which might be the case here. Because Misao was already a ghost and I am sure that Tomoharu made this DEAL after the plane crash. But….Misao is a ghost now and it looks like she is alive so anything is possible. I will wonder if more details about the plane crash will be coming but that doesn’t seem AS big of a deal verses the memory issue.
Yay for cute girls who are ghosts!
Misao and Tomoharu come off as an interesting pair. I like how this ghost feels the need to not be boring and changes clothes for Tomoharu’s amusement. Again I will be waiting for some back-story about how Tomoharu become okay with having a ghostie friend. That crash looked pretty serious so I am sure there were other people to stalk. But so far they make a cute little couple.
Being a stylist ghost is very important!
I would comment on the other characters separately but none of them stood out enough to warrant their own section. The best friend seemed….special to say the least. Anne is going to be boring and might make me want to stab my eyes out. The girl who they thinking is the miko who attacked Tomoharu is the typical “hot” girl in the school…with the huge boobs. She may or may not get on my nerves. Her best friend has an attitude problem and more than likely be amusing.
Now cue 5 girls coming to live with Tomoharu.
The special organizations in this series are very special. I like how Shuri, who is probably 16 at most, is somehow head or at least working with such a weird organization. Kids in Japan are such achievers. Then of course there was the house full of white robed men. Don’t know what they are after but Shuri and the main dude seem to know each other well enough to exchange happy thoughts. The gang member who glows red is less amazing and if he dies I won’t be crying for him.
And who let you in?
I think introducing all three of these organizations right off the bat was a bit much. It turned into a free for all and the destruction of most of the house. This episode gets major points on action but some point deduction on cramming waaaaaaaay too much information in one tiny episode. Perhaps if that gang leader was left out of the mess it would have made more sense.
Dramatic faceoff is dramatic.
All and all this episode was alright. I like the possibility of Misao being able to come back. I like how Tomoharu seems like the reluctant hero but he really actually chose this life. I am not sure I am going to enjoy the fast pace nature of this show but I am willing to give it a chance. Welcome to Spring 2009 anime season!
Thanks for letting us kick off the Spring Season XD
No comments:
Post a Comment