Forum - View topicIshura (TV).
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Blood-
 Bargain Hunter Posts: 24614 |
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Episode 2
Given the number of characters in both the OP & ED that I don't recognize, I'm guessing we are in for another full cours of introductions. Like I say, I don't mind. The characters and their powers are fun. I've mentally accepted that the concept of a tournament to determine a hero is never going to come. So Linaris the Vamp, eh? Cool. I wonder if she and Psianop the Inexhaustible Stagnation will ever throw down? (Yes, the latter is an actual character name that I plucked from the cast list... you can't make this stuff up.) |
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Harleyquin
Posts: 3053 |
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S2 #2
From one extreme to the other, this week's contender really shines the higher the number of mundane opponents sent against her. It does mean her biggest weakness is anyone or anything which is immune to her thrall-inducing pheromones, which is why she keeps the cadre of elite bodyguards on the off chance she is in close proximity to an opponent she cannot control. That would mean defeating her would take someone like Mele, whose long-range artillery bombardment might be enough to wipe her out in one stroke if she and everyone else under her control is in one area and caught unawares. Linares aside, the episode does feature Kuuro again as he does some grunt detective work on behalf of his employer. The whole episode is geared around the mysterious organization Obsidian, which Linares is now de facto head of and which Kuuro used to be a part of. Not much more known about Linares's organization other than its far-reaching influence and its ability to recruit non-human agents unhappy with the empire's oppression of minorities. Linares might have punched her ticket to the games through manipulation of one of the empire's ruling 28, but I'm not sure if she's allowed to "cheat" and bring in her entire entourage to the arena if she makes it to the competition proper. If this season is anything like the first one, the ensemble cast of contenders will be culled with some left over to continue the journey to the competition. Linares has a good chance of making it, but it depends on what kind of opposition the franchise throws at her before she can formally be registered. We sometimes get episodes with two titles, and next week is another example. Expecting the pace to pick up as the new OP and ED animations show A LOT of contenders this season. |
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Animegomaniac
Posts: 4182 |
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Knowing what I know of the series, I think "Can Linaris even fight?" and knowing what I know of vampires, there's also "can Linaris ever lose?'
Calling the people Linaris creates "corpses" is either a brilliant bit of misdirection or an idea of how far her infection goes... I think calling her a "necromancer" would be closer but regardless, her ability is science based and not magic based and it's certainly not limitation based. "Thrall inducing pheromones?" I thought it was being spread via air born bacteriological infection... probably emanating from her father... and it makes the affected into zombies lik what parasitic wasps do to insects. As to what she can do on her own remains unknown... though the fact she's seeking this fight would suggest that it's not just one thing, There's also the question of "how did the state learn this much about this infection in the first place?" |
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Harleyquin
Posts: 3053 |
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S2 #3
Two contenders introduced in this episode, but I fancy the latter has better chances of progressing far unless its gimmick is identified and dealt with to permanently finish it off. The master of demon swords is an inherited title, which is why the arms dealer never imagined the stash of weapons would still be guarded by its master. The bandit and his lackeys found out to their cost "grave robbing" isn't profitable if the owner isn't actually dead. Toroa's speciality is that huge stash of magic weapons, so versality is the selling point. Unfortunately he's just human (albeit a very strong and skilled one) and catching him unawares before he can deploy the correct defensive weapon should be enough to finish him off. Alus from season one pulled it off after all as he's also got his own box of tricks, so it's likely the "rematch" between the two is for this season or subsequent adaptations if this quarter doesn't make it to the tournament proper. We've seen mechanical foes in this franchise already (the spider robot defeated by Soujirou), but this week's new contestant takes it to a different level. Easily the most durable of the contestants introduced to date, it grinds its opponents down through sheer attrition since death and annihilation seemingly do not apply. For all of its gifts, I suspect the creator is a weakness and getting her killed with the golem present might present an opening. The golem itself has the mental age of a child, so that's probably another opening for any potential opponent to exploit. Regardless, unless a way is found to somehow destroy both components AND stop the spell-casting long enough for the regeneration and resurrection to be permanently disrupted this is the clear favourite for the tournament (vampire hypnosis likely won't work and the giant can't do much with his current set of tools). The storm the inventor talks about features next week, and it's part 1 to boot. I wonder what's to come? |
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Harleyquin
Posts: 3053 |
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S2 #4
The countdown which has been going on since the start of the season finally has a meaning: the sentient all-destroying storm makes a path towards areas or individuals with power and then annihilates everything. I very much doubt this storm is going to be part of the competition, but it will serve as a gatekeeper as it will surely whittle down at least one of the contestants introduced to date. The Empire has been expecting the sentient storm for some time now, hence the deployment of soldiers for ostensibly humanitarian evacuation efforts. If they do not stop or divert the storm, it will eventually head towards the capital and all of their efforts to date will be for nothing with their foes victorious without having to risk open battle. Although they've pinned their hopes on Kuuro, it seems the storm will meet its match against the indestructible regenerating golem or the master of enchanted blades. I'm not entirely sure how the storm serves the main plot beyond cutting down at least one or both of the contenders. Perhaps its permanent abatement will impact the geopolitical landscape since the Empire is investing considerable resources into mitigating its impact. Perhaps viewers will learn more after next week's episode. |
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smurky turkey
Posts: 3065 |
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What both this season and the previous one have taught me is that it must suck to live in the world of Ishura as a common citizen. There are so many monstrously powerful beings in that world and if one just happens to come around your neck of the woods then it gets wiped off the map.
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Animegomaniac
Posts: 4182 |
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I don't doubt. The combatants seem focused not on objects or even being alive but just sentience and a passing storm passing that bare minimum of a bar is too much of a coincidence. Next episode: the backstory of a storm. How mundane will it turn out to be? |
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Harleyquin
Posts: 3053 |
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S2 #5
Well this was unexpected. It turns out the Storm is the one who is annihilated, and through the efforts of all of the other contestants introduced to date. As the saying goes, if something can bleed it can be killed. Since it's a heavily armoured magic-wielding Wyrm generating the storm rather than a force of nature, then there are definite means of killing it. Just about everyone bar the casual viewer is aware of the beast's true nature as well, which is why so many different approaches could be used. The empire opted for a combined arms approach, with Kuuro as spotter and Mele as artillery. This eventually did the job at first glance, but the pressure on Kuuro was too much because he knew he was going to be killed once he had outlived his usefulness. Also, the disruptiveness from the generated storm obscured the wyrm's body enough for Mele's shots to avoid critical hits. The golem's approach was to borrow from modern technology. Since the wyrm is supposedly covered head to toe in thick armour akin to metal, heatwave weapons to cook it alive from the inside-out would work eventually but would be too slow. Turns out the wyrm didn't appreciate the discomfort either and chose to dig underground to escape the beams. Toroa had the weapon to divert the effects of the storm, and he would have used the Blasting Blade he was fighting to reclaim to kill the wyrm itself. However we don't actually see this happen, but I don't doubt he would have done it if he was allowed to do so. Linares dealing the finishing blow is the most left-field development of the episode. Somehow the wyrm managed to find its way into a deserted swamp with only her as company, but she managed to completely annihilate him by ironically using his powers against him. She too has a personal grudge against the wyrm, and it dates way back to episode one with the girl at the sacrificial altar. Linares didn't really have the combat ability to face Atrazek head-on, so this was probably the only way she could have been worked into this episode. Plot-wise too many hoops to jump through to get to the conclusion, but there's a lot of spectacle for visual entertainment as Toroa and Mestexil can only draw their battle and the remaining airtime is devoted to finishing off the wyrm instead. Probably the best battle royale episode the franchise has done to date including the first season, and if they can keep it up to the end of the quarter that might be good enough for most viewers. |
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Animegomaniac
Posts: 4182 |
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I guess we're going to keep disagreeing about Linares, until she has herself set up, ready to start confronting enemies out in the open.
What I got from the end of the episode: Oh wow, she's going to add a magical particle dragon to her undead army... no, instead she uses her control of it to have it self-terminate as an act of revenge. I would think using its dead corpse against its will would be enough of a revenge but I guess she just didn't need it. Also.... she was walking on water. I don't what her powers are but they don't seem to be vampiric. The rest of the episode is more status quo I would have liked... except for Toroa going out of his way to save Kuuro because Kuuro is good. I kind of feel noble actions are more likely to get these guys killed but we'll find out. |
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Harleyquin
Posts: 3053 |
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S2 #6
He's been name-dropped several times over the series, but this is the first time the empire's designated champion has been formally introduced. As it turns out, the empire really is desperate for more candidates to represent them in their tournament because the "people's champion" isn't anywhere as strong as they make him out to be. Not only that, he is well aware of his weaknesses but doesn't let them hinder him on the path of self-improvement. A peculiar mixture of underhanded cowardice and lovestruck innocence, he's definitely the weakest in terms of combat ability introduced to date and the durable contestants like Mestexil shouldn't have a problem grinding him down in a quagmire, where his meticulous preparations count for nothing if they don't work. That said, his swordsmanship really is first-rate. Pitting him against the series' best swordsman Soujirou would be an interesting matchup since the latter can cut through anything with his decrepit equipment whereas Rosclay has an effectively infinite number of weapons to do the same. The adaptation is still finding time to throw more contestants into the upcoming grinder, but will there be another kind of decisive showdown like the first season or even the last two episodes to keep the numbers manageable? Keeping track of everyone has always proved to be difficult in ensemble cast adaptations, and this one especially has this problem despite their best attempts to make the contestants as unique as possible to help them stand out. |
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Harleyquin
Posts: 3053 |
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S2 #7
Back to the familiar template of introducing new contenders to the battle royale. The template is familiar, but the contenders never fail to impress with the variety on offer. We've already seen monsters capable of emulating natural disasters, so it's no stretch to find out there are dragons that literally embody climate change as their primary threat. Lucnoca is actually conventional as far as contestants go; Dungeons and Dragons have ice dragons with ice breath and claws as powerful foes. Unlike those archetypes, this dragon looks more like a chimera with pegasus wings and a deer's frame. Like proper dragons, it is also highly intelligent but without the conventional dragon greed for treasure or bloodlust. Alus's plaything Harghent has thrown down the gauntlet and challenged it to participate in the great tournament as it will die of boredom otherwise. She'll get her wish for proper opponents, some of the contenders already boast infinite regeneration as a selling point. The other contender can't be more different. A slime that used to be companion with the hero party which failed to defeat the true demon king. It hasn't spent its time idly, as it has devoured the knowledge of an entire library of martial arts lore and has improved enough to defeat its old comrade in a fair duel. Reminds me of the mandrake in season one which could wield weapons far beyond its appearance could dictate. Unfortunately the mandrake didn't last long, and I don't rate the slime highly since this season's contenders don't have trouble against close combat. Even the dragon would win simply by freezing the arena before the slime can get close. Another contender for next week, which brings the count of active contenders not including last season's survivors to close to two digits. Might be getting too unwieldy to hold this many contenders together before they can be killed off facing each other. |
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Harleyquin
Posts: 3053 |
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S2 #8
It's rare for the franchise to use a flashback episode as a means of introducing another of the contenders. Not only that, the story told in this episode is completely different in tone to all of the episodes to date. An unusual contestant as well, and one with a potential to kill some of the flashier contestants introduced to date because of his special ability. The backpack carrying traveller who survived the ambush by Neft's protege appears to be an Outsider with his own supernatural companion. Calls himself a pro, and his job seems to be tied to the True Demon King in some way. He does feature in the OP, but there's almost nothing known about him apart from his ability to stay hidden and survive where others would be killed. His monologue then leads into this week's contestant, with its complete change of scenery. The old oracle who plays such a huge part in integrating Uhak into her village is ironically the same person who raised some of the more powerful and influential personages in this universe, so it's surprising to see how her viewpoint changes as a result of accepting Uhak into the village and learning what he really is. Nothing hits harder than finding out your life and faith are inherently less pure and hypocritical than an mute ogre's perception of life and the universe. As for Uhak, it's subtle but one can tell he has facial expressions which react to his surroundings. He definitely can read since the oracle taught him how to, but he won't communicate except through his actions. Unsurprisingly he would be a dangerous opponent in the arena being an ogre, but his wild card probably makes him one of the hard counters to several contestants shown to date. The most notable which springs to mind is the homunculus, since it relies heavily on Word Arts to regenerate itself after heavy damage. If its ability to regenerate is completely sealed by Uhak's presence, it comes down to a contest of brute force and endurance. If Uhak can somehow use his nullification ability in an offensive manner then the golem and the first season's universal Word User are effectively sitting ducks against him since their powers cannot be utilised. |
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Harleyquin
Posts: 3053 |
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S2 #9
I didn't expect the franchise to throw curveballs like this episode, especially so late into the quarter. What should be a showcase for a visitor with superlative shooting skills and an achievement list worthy of any champion turns out to be a season's late introduction of a familiar face from season one. In between, the adaptation still continues with its exposition of the main plotline when it's not introducing new faces or engaging in action set pieces. The reporter with his talking box is trying to infiltrate the Demon Lord's territory but is finding passage difficult due to blockades thanks to Uhak's recent rampage. Before we can see whether he goes any further, his encounter with the Okafu mercenaries is used to segue into the territory itself and the real reason why the episode is supposedly named. Kazuki the black tone reputedly has her sobriquet from her penchant for singing during her shooting sprees. So much so she has two VAs for one episode, with Mizuki Nana doing the singing and Takahashi Rie having the regular speaking parts. Quite the cameos from both, especially as Takahashi can sing perfectly well in her own right. Being an adaptation, I can understand why she's not hanging around for longer, but would the cost from hiring those two heavyweights from one episode be better allocated to the production itself? Shalk's name replacing Kazuki's just as he deals the finishing blow is a nice touch from the animators. The one Shura who wasn't given a proper introduction in season one; I didn't expect him to lose once he'd proven he could defend himself from Kazuki's trick shots at medium range. After all, he's the only one to date who fought Soujirou to a draw and claimed a "win" because the latter played dead or made good an escape. He's still after information just like Lithia, but without serving an active patron and getting by through local commissions alone. We're nowhere near the tournament proper, and unless this adaptation is longer than a quarter I'm not expecting much from the episode which will mark the (temporary?) end of the adaptation. There's so much more story to tell, but will the animators be given the opportunity to finish what they started? |
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