Impression
This would probably be a good time to mention that, despite all my not-so-subtle jokes about boobs and the lack of plot, there actually IS a plot. No, I’m being serious. It’s somewhat erratic and perhaps shaky, but it exists. Boobs just happen to be a by-product, and any other ecchi stuff should just be chalked off as a happy coincidence. Notice that the fight scenes today didn’t actually have any boob shots or ripped clothes – just girls getting beaten up.
That being said, I actually like the fanservice. Freezing just isn’t right without it. I’m sure you lot agree with me as well, and so I’d like to caution you off the HorribleSubs rip of this show, which turns up on Fridays. Not only is it hardsubbed, it’s also censored with massive white bars. Maybe I might have been able to take the hardsubs, but no way am I sitting through this censored. It’s a terrible price to pay just to watch it a day early. Wait for Hiryuu’s release on Saturday, guys. It’ll pay off, since I think we’re going to be getting quite a few pool scenes from now on, all featuring a very naked Elizabeth. Roxanne also had a pretty daring swimsuit on, but I found Cassie the cutest (: It’s a shame Charles never turned up.
In the end, it wasn’t really a proper Carnival, was it? Those usually feature an all-out brawl where the last Pandora standing wins – these were just one-on-one exhibition matches. I must say, the first few E-Pandora were rather unremarkable. It wasn’t even a problem with their stamina – you can work on stamina over time. It’s that they can’t even activate their Volt Weapons properly. It would be suicidal to send girls like that out to fight Nova, regardless of whether they can use high-end skills or not. Accel or no Accel, both Gina and Rattle would die very quickly against a standard Nova. It’s not like their opponents were people like Chiffon or Cassie either – it’d be perfectly natural to lose against them. Instead, it was a couple of random Pandora they faced (albeit they were strong enough to attend this summit).
Amelia’s fight against Elizabeth was interesting. I’m torn between thinking Elizabeth was patronizing and thinking she was absolutely right – she’s not being cocky or anything, it’s perfectly true that the originals are in a completely different league to the E-Pandoras. That was clear right from the very beginning. I did laugh when she asked how much she had to hold back, though xD Amelia was slightly different in the sense that she can materialize her Volt Weapon, and go up to Double Accel – but then again, Elizabeth didn’t even have to use her SSS to easily destroy her. As the de facto leader of the E-Pandoras, Amelia probably has a strong desire to prove her own worth in the face of adversary, to the point that her Stigmata started going out of control as her pride took a sound beating. To want to keep fighting in a simple mock battle while unconscious… there’s a lot of desperation and bitterness in these people. I’m feeling a mix of both pity and admiration for them. Notice that they all have dodgy backgrounds – Gina was sold as a commodity, and Rattle was starving to death. It almost sounds like they became E-Pandora (thus deciding to face the ridiculously high death rate) because it was the lesser of two evils.
I don’t think Satella’s being too negative about the project at all. Even though it looks like everyone’s bonding a little better, there are storm clouds fast approaching. Surprisingly, Scarlett Oohara doesn’t seem to be as antagonistic as before – it sounds like she really does care for the E-Pandora, and doesn’t want to keep sacrificing people to make a few of them slightly stronger. This Mark IV doesn’t sound like good news at all, especially since it’s being administered while incomplete. Also, if this is a fourth version of the drug, does that mean that Marks I, II and III were failures? Exactly how many died when those were used?
Great post. An ecchi anime with a decent story is fine with me.