Dantalian No Shoka episode 8: Nothing yet again

Summary:

Huey’s friends get in all sorts of trouble with Phantom Books.

Impression:

I think I start to feel a bit tired of this show. While everything is beautiful, well-spoken and there is a rich background to each episode with a real purpose and a real meaning, in the end, nothing happens…ever. I have seen better development in a documentary. It feels a little bit like a slice of life in the end. The story is always repeating with no real progression or character development. The Universe is never really explored either, we have a small glimpse of what the world of the Phantom Books is about, but we never really dive into the subject, we are merely observers without any control to the information we receive.

I really wish this show had some deeper story or that it would put a greater emphasis on the universe the show takes place in, but since it is not the case, everything seems like a meaningless never-ending repetition of events. I always feel trolled after I finish an episode, you always expect something bad to happen but in the end either nothing happen, or something does happen but no one seems to find it odd or supernatural. In this episode Huey’s friend died and he never showed the slightest concern about it. The character seems quite disconnected to the world around them. The universe just seems inexistent sometimes. It is quite a shame that the universe of the story and the plot is so undeveloped, since every other element of the show is done with great success.

One thing that does get on my nerve is how Dalian is an exact replica of Victorique, she is not even a Victorique-esque character, she is Victorique 2.0. It is not that Victorique was not a fun and interesting character, but I don’t want to see a second incarnation of her. Also she was not a character serious enough for the kind of show Dantalian No Shoka is. The comedy relief is not something this show needs, if anything it kinds of ruins it. It is the seriousness and calm of the show that makes it feel so interesting.

On a side note, how easy is it to find a phantom book anyway? It seems that every two days someone fall on a phantom book by accident, in the single town where Huey lives there were easily a dozen book that people found by accident and used their power without knowing what they were doing.  Danlian really is a poor bibliokeeper, no one seems to ever return their books and now they are lying around everywhere.

Conclusion:

This show is not turning out as awesome as I hoped it would be, the art is there, the deeper meaning is there, the moral is there, the story is just missing. Maybe the show still has a chance to redeem itself in the next few episode…I sure hope so.

ZeroG signing off