Margos wrote:I'll tell you, though, the more I think back on it, I think I might have liked Blood+ slightly more, in some ways. Eureka 7 was more beautiful in some ways, but I think that Blood+ was easier to follow and still a very lovely plot (despite some very.... gruesome and disturbing bits). Did you follow that one, by any chance?
Sadly I haven't seen it yet although I've heard that it's quite alright. Thanks for reminding me; I'll keep it in mind.
pap64 wrote:Kossage: That's one of the main reasons I thought Wolf's Rain had severe pace issues. In the middle of the story we are treated to FOUR recap episodes. My friend believes that this was done because the story was so rich and deep that it needed to be retold. But the truth is that the creators had some issues during the production of the series so while they worked it out they aired four recap issues. Hence why later on we got the OVA episodes that finish the story.
Yeah, the recap eps are somewhat jarring but at least they did give us more insight into the characters' motivations. The series can easily be watched without ever seeing these four eps, though. And yeah, it was sad that they had to make such eps but under the circumstances it was understandable. At least we got the OVA which ended the series in a touching way.
I heard, however, that all of the characters die at the end of the OVA, making the journey they take on very pointless. Is this true?
Disney's Divinity pretty much answered this for me; I'll comment on it in another part of this post. However, I urge you to watch those OVA eps if possible because they do bring a satisfying closure to the whole story and make you see many things, including the opening titles and the beginning of the series, in a whole new light.
That's another thing I got kind of annoyed at about anime. The concept of death is so overused that it loses impact. It seems that every anime must have ONE major character die during the course of the series. Even the simplest children's anime have one character dying. It's a bad cliche. I understand that death is common in the storytelling medium and at times can be important, but in anime its overused.
Overused? Many anime series I've seen never kill any of its cast (well, at least main characters) and if some of them do die, they're usually resurrected later which cheapens the death (unless it makes sense in context). I think that if the narrative requires death, then death should be presented to add higher stakes. I've seen invincible heroes too often so it's very refreshing to see that even they can't always cheat death, and it adds an emotional core to a story. However, I agree that "only one character dies" thing is used too often; I wouldn't mind seeing more deaths assuming it works in the story. It's also true that not every story needs death but if it has a reason in context, then I'm not complaining.
Disney's Divinity wrote:I agree on the pacing in Wolf's Rain, Kossage. I never found anything wrong with that series. As for the death thing, that's kind of necessary for that series' storyline. Everyone didn't just die because it's an anime-ish thing to do; it suited the mood of the series for it to happen and it was far from pointless (And, from what I remember, the story itself is circular; it just happens over and over again).
Yeah, definitely.
Death is a very important part of the entire narrative of Wolf's Rain. The potential (or actual) death of loved ones is what acts as a catalyst for many characters including Quent, Darcia III, Tsume and Toboe, and this eventually leads to the climactic showdown with Darcia in the end. Besides, the story takes place in a dying world that is about to be revived if all goes well, although sadly Darcia's influence corrupted the "Paradise", which in turn made the cycle begin anew in a flawed world as can be seen in the final episode. Everything makes sense in the end as everything does come full circle, and that depth is one of the reasons why I like Wolf's Rain so much.
Some things you see with your eyes, others you see with your heart.
