REJOICE~ CARDIA FINALLY GETS HER NEW OUTFIT! But what she really loves is her new pillow! Heehee! So cute!!!!!
This week it was time for the great train chase, but one that doesn’t go all according to plan. Turned out Finis had deliberately leaked all that information on purpose, tricking Lupin and the team to come to him instead. Finis also reveals he and Cardia are siblings who must fulfill their father’s wishes, and he knows the truth she desires- but he won’t share any of it until she’s in his hands. He also made the point to mock Van, pointing out how he has changed since his former self would have shot him regardless of Cardia being held at gun-point, but wasn’t like they were going to kill her anyways, that would defeat the whole point.
Truth to be told, I am not entirely sure how I feel about the decision to change the hour of the mission to take place during daylight instead of sticking with it taking place at night. It may have helped give it a sense of more epic challenge, display the colorful fireworks and feel more like a secret mission altogether… I don’t know. But there’s something about the execution of this event that left more to be desired. Actually, I was quite shocked how they didn’t utilize Twilight’s Forces as much as they probably should have. In fact, now that I mention it, I think that what was missing. In the game, Finis as planned, came prepared. He had an obnoxious amount of Twilight agents on board undercover, and when they showed up, it was overwhelming. That’s exactly what was missing. Nothing felt overwhelming or gave me a sense of, “Oh my god, they are in trouble!” whatsoever. It’s a bummer because I felt the game did a great job executing that, and it’s truly baffling for them to have watered down this scene to this extent. Talk about a missed opportunity.
Another thing that surprised me was how they spared Lupin’s ego from being bruised by Herlock Holmes. This encounter was supposed to be the start of a tense relationship between a Detective and a Thief, one where Lupin was supposed to have finally met his match, and even be outplayed. Herlock being immune to the sleeping gas and landing a hit in the mouth was way too weak to justify Lupin being outplayed. I would have loved to see him use his actual tricks. This would have been another thing to add excitement and suspense to the scene -also another one where Cardia actually contributes to before running off to fulfill her mission. But perhaps they decided it’s not worth delving into the rivalry between Lupin and Herlock, especially if they intend of potentially cutting more of his future appearances altogether. At least the duel between Herlock and Lupin was pretty cool to watch!
Speaking of cutting appearance, I was absolutely stunned how Aleister’s presence was made to be non-existent. He had virtually no lines, no presence whatsoever – I guess this would be the indication that we won’t be seeing much of him either…
And lastly, finally the mission even begun, Lupin and Cardia had a moment… Or least almost, until Sisi cock-blocked Lupin, which is probably for the best since unless he intended to touch her hair or carefully embrace her, he would’ve burned his hand! It was pretty funny though afterwards to see Van ask them if they are in that kind of relationship! (But seriously though, they act like they are already a couple! Every scene screams #MARRIED! Swoon worth too!) I will mention though it was nice just to see Van and Cardia share scenes together. God I love those two so much. AKSYS GAMES, GIMME RELEASE DATE FOR THE FANDISC I BEG OF YOU~ I HAVE THE MIGHTY NEEEEEEDDDDD!!!
Now I don’t usually do this because either a) there is no canon pairing and b) they don’t spoil too much, or c) I never played the game… but I do want to give a quick heads up in advance for the next episode. Judging by the preview, it looks like it’s going to be mainly a Victor central episode (since the Queen has labeled Lupin and the rest of his gang as terrorists responsible for the train attack), but it also looks like they will also be dropping some hints about Saint-Germain’s character as well. If you plan to play the game, now is the time when you really should consider whether or not should play sooner than later. See what I am worried about for potential new players is the story being spoiled, and one of the things that makes Saint-Germain’s character so amazing and his route so engaging, is the secrecy/mysteriousness that surrounds his character. So if you don’t want to be spoiled any details or even hints about his character, and play blind – because you are required to complete all four routes in order to unlock Lupin’s the true route – which also happens to be the ONLY route they reveal anything about Saint-Germain besides his own. So if you really don’t want to be spoiled, I recommend you to put this show on hold, until you play his route.
Also, because I don’t have my reviews ready quite yet (it’s getting there!), I will take this chance to recommend you to play Saint-Germain’s route 4th (second to last). It is an excellent route to play before you follow up with Lupin’s route, and will give you a lot of feelings. And just to give some perspective, the order which I played was Impey > Van > Victor > Saint-Germain > Lupin.
Mentioning character routes/pairings, I’ve observed how most otome animes seem to actively avoid using a one true pairing , even if established by the game, so not to upset individual fans and their pairing preferences.
Interestingly, there’s an upcoming Dance with Devils anime movie this November (did you watch the series?) which attempts to satisfy everyone by giving different endings for all the lead love interests. (Ex. Buy Rem’s ticket to see the version with his ending, etc.)
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2017-08-23/dance-with-devils-fortuna-theatrical-film-to-have-6-different-endings/.120473
What’s your opinion on all this?
Yup, it’s very common for them to avoid the true route, but I always found if they decide to stick to the true route, the series usually ends stronger because they are able to focus on the true route’s plot, which usually ties all the routes together into one cohesive story-line, and have the opportunity to explore the romance. The most recent ones that come to mind are Hakuouki, Norn9, Amnesia Memories. However it comes with its own share of downfalls as well, the other bachelors don’t get a lot of screen-time, lack of development and getting to know their personalities, or/and the audience may not like the True Route’s Bachelor as much as the others so the reception might not be as great as they hoped for it to be.
For Code:Realize’s case, it helps that Lupin is super popular! 😉
Amnesia Memories was probably one of the most interesting cases where the Heroine was enabled to explore multiple routes because that was the nature of the plot, all while keeping an open ending where we don’t see which World she goes back to, but know for certain no matter which one she chooses, she has a lover waiting for her. I call that a win-win for everyone.
When they for open-endings or try to appeal to everyone, usually the adaption ends up falling short, feels incomplete and left with more to be desired, such as (again) La Corda d’Oro, and Uta no Prince-sama (which is getting milk for all its worth to the point I’m sick of it).
As for Dance with the Devils, I actually put this series on hold and forgot about it until I started seeing it re-emerge in the news. This wouldn’t be the first time they do something like this. La Corda d’Oro threw this in as a bonus for I can’t remember what, but they didn’t go all the way. I recall it was a 2 – 3 minutes clip, where you don’t see Kahoko interact. Instead she just wordlessly sits there, serving as the audience’s representative. I was pretty disappointed with that, so I hope Dance with the Devil goes all out and make it awesome.