Anime: Pumpkin Scissors

Before I start saying anything else… What kind of a name is that for a series? Did titles like Special Investigation Elite Force of Freedom or Direwolf Brigade got all kitsch all of a sudden? Who the hell would name his military unit like that? Oh well, it is a joke about how their unit is not really supposed to be serious. Just like the production studio. It’s GONZO so may the Gods save us all if you go in expecting something good.

Anyways, the story is about a country trying to recover from a war and the military creating a unit to investigate any possible rebellious military cells out there that may cause instability and the result is Pumpkin Scissors. The unit is underpaid and unfunded because nobody thinks these guys can actually accomplish anything. Which stands true if you think they are all a bunch of loafers whose leader is a stuck-up little girl who thinks she is the messenger of justice or something. No wonder they gave them a name that fits their capabilities.

… Sounds like Gonzo material to me.

And indeed, as usual the whole show is nothing much in terms of story, or plot, or memorable characters. It definitely could have if it wasn’t Gonzoed since there definitely was potential in it. You have a setting where common people want peace yet there are many megalomaniacs who just want to hoard as much as possible and don’t care about how many human lives that will cost. You have inhumane experimentations in order to create super killing machines. You have a sinister organization controlling everybody from behind the scenes like puppets. And you have Randel.

Seriously, the whole show ends up being you watching Randel kicking ass. In fact, the series could just be named after him instead of the useless military unit of idiots. The guy has been surgically and chemically altered to be an unstoppable tank trasher. They shoot him, stab him, stick an exploding grenade in his mouth, and he just keeps going like a Duracel bunny, wasting all opposition. As you probably imagine, he is the only reason Pumpkin Scissors does anything right or even survives all the time. Eeeeverything revolves around him in this series, from him searching for the leaders who turned him into a freak, to providing a practical and cruel side of the world next to the idiotic idealistic paladin girl, saving the day every time, as well as providing some excitement in the otherwise dull story.

So let me give you a simple summary of what goes on with the plot. Some asshole will be abusing his position for power or money, people suffer, the loafers arrive to try to reason with him, he of course doesn’t give a damn and tries to kill them or trick them, and then Randel appears and kicks his ass. Rinse and repeat until the show is over. Practically the scriptwriter tries to make you feel sorry for the poor people who suffer because of warmongers, then to make you boo them before the heroes arrive for you to cheer for them. Alice the paladin chick is made to be totally stuck-up and generally with no touch to reality, so she is meant to pass as foolish. She is also quite weak in battle so she can’t even show them who is the boss. That is why we have Randel. He will appear to scold her for not being practical and then will lit his lantern and go to kick some ass all alone with an expression like he is a pedophile looking at little girls in swimsuits. He wins, everybody is happy, the end.

And that is pretty much what happens in the whole show. Well, ok, towards the end you see how things start to get more serious, as the assholes who messed with him start to appear and plot something big. You are also given immersion to most important characters, which explains their motives, past, goals, and behavior. All that could lead to an amazing finale where everything comes together for one big showdown that would leave you jumping from your seat from excitement. YEAH RANDEL, GO TRASH THE ASSHOLES RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL THE MESS IN THE SHOW!

… The Gonzo staff.

Unfortunately you don’t get all that, since the show ends in the middle of nowhere and in a point where everything finally starts to get really serious. Yes, it is totally incomplete and anti-climactic. The idiots in Gonzo once more wasted all the episodes with minor stand-alone missions and lame humor instead of cutting out a few worthless episodes for a nice showdown. Hell, they didn’t even bother to make a second season or a movie to wrap everything properly. THEY JUST GAVE UP AND PISSED ON US! That’s Gonzo for you.

So what is there for you to look forward to in this anime?
- The production values are very good. I liked the visuals (minus the horrible CGI of course) as well as the soundtrack. The opening theme kicks ass.
- The characters can talk seriously when they feel like it. They also have an interesting backdrop to excuse them being as such.
- The setting is very interesting and the themes of pacifism and inhumane exploitation are captivating.
- The chemistry between the two main characters is great (because they are polar opposites).

What is there not to look forward to? Pretty much everything else.
- The action ends up being dull and predictable since you know right away who is going to win. As usual, foot soldiers can’t aim straight or stay frozen as the badass soldiers attack them. There isn’t much choreography to enjoy either; they just stand still and shoot or walk calmly with bullets and grenade explosions missing them all the time. Plus, I am supposed to believe that the idiots who created these super soldiers couldn’t find a better way to use the lantern. They are literally carring it in the middle of the battle, which can result to any number of things, such as breaking and setting the soldier on fire and at the same time breaking the berserk effect it has on them? Not that it ever happens or the enemy soldiers ever think of just hitting the lantern to end the battle immediately.
- Too much unneeded humor in an otherwise dramatic story. They will be always trying to light the mood with silly remarks and an almost master-slave comic relief duo. It waters down the feeling of seriousness.
- No ending. Infuriating!
- It’s made by GONZO.

I don’t give much value or enjoyment in this show. The bad planning and the incomplete finale render useless most of its positives. In other words, Gonzo strikes again.

And now for some excused scorings.

Story

As not unusual for Japanese animation, the latest series from Gonzo named "Pumpkin Scissors" involves no scissors and no pumpkins - at least literally. Instead, try to imagine the engineering effort involved in constructing scissors to cut apart pumpkins and the human effort involved in using them, one of which should certainly be great. What can you think of to be comparable to such an effort?
Well, cutting through the crust of people's despair, indifference and corruption, caused by a recently ended devastating war, surely isn't the first thing to come to mind. Nonetheless, such an unusual association is exactly what this series is about.

But war relief is an important and useful task, one can say. It's in no way similar, to the, let's face it, quite pointless idea of cutting pumpkins with scissors. And, in fact, it would probably be right, if all the force the government put to that task didn't consist of just a small platoon, underfunded and undermanned – created just as facade, not meant to accomplish more than just pumpkin scissors. And, as not unusual for reviews either, we'll have to zoom in and take a closer look at this platoon, since that's exactly how it is named.


The story goes on in a supposedly fictional country, bearing close resemblance to Germany in the period after the First World War, which is trying hard to recover from the pointless and devastating war. The setting doesn't go as far as to actually use German voices, but the references are out in the open. As a sort of deviation, the country uses two written languages, German and English, the latter appearing to be used in all official document and by the army, while everyone has German names and is clearly supposed to speak German; outside of army and nobility, the German text is common – which underlines the separation between the higher and the lower classes.

There are many anime about wars; heroes; just adventures, and other things. The theme and idea Pumpkin Scissors takes on is quite original, since I don't recall a movie or anime trying to explore the story of people working on post-war restoration of the country. It certainly isn't the most simple theme to work on, as there's little to borrow from, although, more broadly, it could be put among the sociopolitical themes. But only broadly, as PS avoids a distinct stance, and, rather than force an idea, presents different points of view, leaving the watcher to decide.

At first, it begins without great promises, with seemingly simple characters and scenario. However, starting from the second episode, the main story starts unveiling gradually, since most of the episodes are connected. They still differ in tone very considerably, ranging from lighter ones to psychological stories or almost thrilling ones. Some of them are standalone, others build up the foundation for the story. The first half can be called semi-episodic, with slowly told story, but completeness of each episode.

However, halfway through the series, the main story takes over to the point that each next episode starts at the scene where the previous one ended. It's more integrated than usual even for story-driven series, and looks more like a long movie split into chapters for broadcasting purposes. Here, the series become much more serious and consistent. Earlier episodes still aren't filler, of course, but rather prepare the viewer to the forthcoming plot. Still, I'd recommend to find some time and watch the second part at no more than two takes.

The series' pace is very varied, in general active, but high-detail. It gets slower than average in melancholic episodes, and faster in certain scenes.
Action flow isn't always realtime, and what could be described as slow motion is used at times. For people who haven't read the manga, this can create a false impression of certain scenes going for half a minute, while they should be fast action.
What changes towards the end, however, is level of detail in each story arc. While some episodes are self-sufficient, arcs starting later increasingly span over multiple episodes, being more and more detailed, as well as more extensive. The final scene, though done not without interludes, actually is longer than in Das Boot, which is quite unusual for something involving no submarines and may seem slow.


One weak point is the completely unnecessary "comic relief" included. The generally mature story of PS could do well without the, but here we've got these attempts in half of the episodes, regardless of their relevance. These jokes don't, fortunately, play any role in the story, and being out of place actually is their exact purpose, so that the average viewer doesn't get too immersed in otherwise dense atmosphere and doesn't consider it too serious for him. The jokes are so foreign to the rest that they even use a simplified animation style, standing out among mostly realistic flow of the main part. Most likely, they were an attempt to appeal to younger audience than the rest is made for. While it's hard for me to gauge the commercial effect, the scenario more suitable for seinen movie than shonen series has certainly suffered from this attempt. Fortunately, most of them are restricted to post-final scenes, and they don't interfere with the serious ones.
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On the other hand, the very fact that the series have forced at least me to watch them twice in a month, says something; but it wasn't just repetition - the second time I got a different feel.
In the serious part, the anime is quite original. The creators have actually used some stereotypes, but only to divert from them. Many times, the ending seemed predictable, but just when I felt like I've cracked it, it took some unexpected turn. The better you think you already know the characters and the tone of the series, the more they prove you wrong. The series keep some originality from the early one-episode arcs to the long chapters in the end, though not always.


Visuals

To start with, the animation is instantly recognized as a movie grade, not TV series. There are few TV series with higher graphics level, for instance Last Exile, done by the same studio on higher budget. Certainly, there is some stylistic resemblance, but in Pumpkin Scissors the visuals are considerably more diverse, particularly in palette, ranging from darker-brownish tones to neutral daylight, slightly less lit interior, or sunset lighting the scene. Brown tones are more common than others, but only when the scenes suggest it; this aspect is done realistically, without either going over-contrast or dimming, and without specific visual tone.

Character animation style in Pumpkin Scissors is best described as semi-realistic. It doesn't try to be real, but restricts stylistic changes from realism, and generally the only stylized part is the classic enlarged eyes for young characters, though they are smaller than on the average, and never look out of place. Generally, characters have them nearly the real human size, with the quite traditional approach of larger eyes belonging to younger or more vivid characters.
The characters are drawn for stylistic and visual appeal - each frame lines are curved the way to look good. This goes pretty unnoticed until trying to compare it to some other series, where characters designs sometimes look repulsive in comparison.

While the animation technique isn't particularly unusual, it makes good use of gradient filling, applying gradually changing color shade, with slightly lighter and darker, less and more saturated edges, in place of what is usually plain one-color fill in most anime. This pretty modern technique makes characters look more realistic and adds detail to their look. While keeping the traditional shadows and highlights technique for major work, gradients are used to show more subtle lighting detail. This technique is applied in the majority of close-up or just significant scenes, while distant characters or less significant scenes, unfortunately. have more conventional style.

In significant scenes, the character faces design and animation resemble and about approach The Place Promised in Our Early Days. Similar look, similar animation and expression; of course, there are differences, like more intense style, more appropriate for scenes here. However, this quality is also mostly limited to scenes where it's important, with only a decent level of detail in less significant ones. Of course, it's far less focused on emotions, so there's just less to express, but when there is something to express, it's done better than I expected from this style. This certainly requires attention to appreciate, but if one just watches closely, this aspect is bound to impress, as it does this, but at the same time will never draw excessive attention or slow down the story.

The characters, however, are the only thing done at this level; the rest of the visuals are certainly very good and do an excellent job of depicting what they should, but they are not eye-candy you could use as wallpaper without anybody guessing it's from anime. Here, graphics are used as a tool for the story and the characters, rather than a thing of their own. Of course, as expectable from movie-grade graphics, the frame rate is high, and most scenes look perfectly smooth.


Audio

When starting this section, at first I found out I couldn't recall the music at ease, apart from the opening theme - there were no tunes to surface in my mind, yet I remembered the music was good. When watching it for the second time, I found the reason. Music here isn't used like, for instance, in .hack//sign or Noir, where it drags the viewer through motionless scenes, making them just an illustration to the music. Neither it is like Cowboy Bebop, which created a real band having nothing to do with the anime itself, and seemed to even adapt video to the sound.
Here, instead, audio and visual parts work very closely together. The music works for the story in coordination with visuals, adding detail, reinforcing or mildly altering the atmosphere, expressing what the visuals can't. The entire soundtrack is in many scenes clearly custom-written for the screenplay; when the pieces do repeat, it's done specifically to link the scenes together, not for "recycling", so no track is prevalent. Silence is used sparingly, for moments where voice or sounds are more important.

The music ranges from piano pieces to full orchestral works, sometimes with addition of electronics, sometimes lighter or heavier, but mostly intense, fast symphonic music. Quality is well above usual; while the studio's previous work, Last Exile, enjoyed orchestral music as well, it was quite typical, resembling some copied pieces of classical works. PS track isn't like that - it's actual music, with expression and originality, and is actually written and performed as music on its own, to the point that I didn't think it was just a soundtrack when listening to the OST.
While Bebop's music is even more standalone, it should be taken into account that most of Bebop's soundtrack wasn't even in the anime, and it was really standalone. In PS, it actually plays the story, not just something loosely related, and when combined with the visuals, it can be almost breathtaking. There are no vocals apart from the opening and the ending, and the music never detracts, only reinforces the visuals.

Voice cast quality is, of course, not the easiest part for me to evaluate, since I don't really know Japanese on a level required. However, even without that, voice acting of Alice is very impressive, with emotions and detail felt all through. Acting for other characters didn't impress me as much, but, generally, since voices matched the characters and situations well, it was consistently very good, even if not remarkable. Sometimes there is contrast between minimal acting of most characters and expression of two or three key characters, making them feel more alive than the others, but that is clearly done on purpose. The series successfully accentuate the attention through audio, rather than visual close-ups or blurring, and this move adds well to the immersiveness.

While more belonging to visuals, this acting is supported by detailed facial animation corresponding to the speech (not just a "talking" sequence), whenever the characters are shown prominently enough to notice it. In my opinion, this feature, as well as performance of several other, are clearly worth watching this series in Japanese, even if dub is available.

Of particular interest is the intro, which, in just two minutes, packs a story in itself, but in a manner dissimilar to other anime. It's not a glimpse of the series and not just prelude, but rather sort of a parallel story, told through both visuals and audio. My interpretation of the intro changed as I followed the story; it reminds of Planescape: Torment intro, but is more controversial. I'm still not sure about the meaning, and, when progressing to the latter parts of the story, I've suddenly realized that it isn't Oland whom the last words belonged to. I couldn't even think that it wouldn't be this way in the beginning, because everything looked clear-cut, but in time you discover the characters are very far away from what they seem. The meaning of the intro progressed not with the plot, but with understanding the characters, which are the hardest, but the most pleasing part to tell about.


Characters

From the beginning, the characters don't appear particularly special, and it looks just like another good anime with decently done, but static and not too deep characters. However, as the episodes pass, the impression changes, and the detail of characters improve greatly. Even ones starting out pretty simple gain a bit of depth, and there appear new significant, interesting characters. And, speaking of the two main characters, the series not only open new aspects of their personality, but display a gradual shift in their thoughts and emotions.

When we talk about good character development, one usually expects to see the next display of how rapidly the human nature reacts and changes. But let's face it: humans are actually pretty rough creatures. They don't flip sides because of a well-said phrase, they don't rebuild their mind over every new detail, they aren't powered by the inherent good deep inside; and that's just why they can be interesting. Humans can be changed by situations, but the change is gradual, and it takes good reasons for a human to change.

If we prioritize quality over quantity, this part can arguably be considered the strongest aspect of Pumpkin Scissors. The major characters are developing throughout the series, but it isn't the kind of development you'll find in most anime. It's not like when villains are regularly changed into saints, or when the characters are barely recognizable after 10 episodes. Pumpkin Scissors doesn't boast some unbelievable amount of character development. Instead, it focuses on believable development: every change in personality is caused by multiple events, and each step is detailed, at least for an attentive viewer. Advanced character visuals are what enables this, as, of course, using traditional "inner thoughts" would make it too boring. Visual expression and high-grade voice acting just take the place of text pieces - after all, the verbal phrasing isn't relevant.

Of course, with such level of detail and slow pace of development, most characters only change subtly throughout the entire series. The development is mostly limited to the two main characters, high-esteemed noble Alice Malvin serving in low for her status position of lieutenant, and arguably one the most interesting characters, corporal Oland. They seem to be quite simple at first, particularly Alice, but the series dives further into their personality.

To begin with, I'll have to expose the story a little. Oland is not a perfectly realistic character, described as a product of a desperate SS experiment to create troops able to reach the imperfect tanks of the air and damage them, disregarding own lives. As the war has ended unsatisfactorily, and the experiments are erased, he is thrown away, becoming useless, and, three years later, by occasion gets to the war relief unit, the dump for people displeasing the higher command. Trying to find a use for his life and stand the insanity his memories keep, he is initially almost bound on self-sacrifice, but survives through his injuries which would kill a weaker body. Physically he somewhat he reminds of The Nameless One - scarred, having lost himself, and seeking for own identity. While he largely remains a mystery, the insights given in the intro and several moments give enough impression of what he has faced and what remains of human in him to attempt an interpretation.

Alice looks out of place at first with her lack of self-restrain and pride, but shouldn't a noble just graduated from the academy, where she was conditioned for just that, be overactive? Surely, less overactive, but it can be taken as an exaggerated effect to accentuate the change that will happen later. With time, we have glances into the past of Alice, how she was brought up, and how with her beliefs and principles were formed. We see her present, how the real world she faces in its worst takes her ideals, steps over them, and breaks her personality pillar by pillar. Finally, we start to see how her earlier ideals, the experience, and the world's pressure remake her into a rougher, but deeper person.

I could explain further, but it's better to just see. What's important is not to disregard the characters for their initial simplicity. The main characters in the beginning and in the end proved different enough to force me to watch it again, to get a better impression of the process. The character development isn't thrown in your face, but rather shown gradually and non-intrusively, leaving certain uncertainty to it.

A possible criticism would be that there could be more, and most certainly should be more: the manga goes on further, while the anime is only based on the first five episodes (loosely based, with much depth added, but nonetheless). With this level of detail and general pace, Pumpkin Scissors would have to be similar in length to Monster to show the quantity anticipated as you watch it progress. There remains a chance that there will be the next season, though, and this would solve most of the issues PS had. Nonetheless, this quality makes it worth watching as it is, and the quantity was largely extended by focusing on the really main characters.


Overall

In general, while not perfect in any single category, Pumpkin Scissors demonstrates an example of anime very good in every aspect. High ratings for each section aren't accidental or a sign of just liking it; PS really demonstrates good, thorough work on each element, possibly setting a good benchmark for how anime should be done, and exemplifying a work which is very good but not outstanding. It isn't of the "flawless but bland" sort as well, as the visual style, the characters, and especially the story are quite original, and the series become very addictive after just a few episodes.

The fusion of elements and detailed but active-paced execution make hard to determine the genre for these series. Drama? Perhaps, but the genre is too broad to actually mean anything. Action? Yes, there is some action, but the whole story is quite anti-war, and even the action scenes display and accentuate the inherent insanity of war. Well, it's not unusual for anime to be out of one genre, so let's just say that it's about how war corrupts the nation and surfaces the worst in the people, and about how hard and unrewarding is trying to oppose it, and, finally, that it has an interesting, mysterious story, where people are not always what they seem. That it's intense enough to keep the viewer interested, but the action is never put of the story, and is not perfectly realistic, but well in accordance to the setting, much like Last Exile; however, PS leans more towards the dramatic part and social criticism. As for the target audience, it could be rated as mature and has cross-appeal between late teen and adult audience; I've quite enjoyed it, being 27, and not exactly as some teen series, but as serious ones. Younger people will surely at least enjoy the well-done action and story elements, while mature audience is likely to appreciate insights into the social structure, detailed character development, the atmospheric setting and mostly hinted deep storyline. It's still a cross, and, sometimes, a mix.

Due to intentional cross-appeal and implementation, it's hard to tell who would like it; pointing who wouldn't is easier, though. Starting with the single flaw, if you absolutely can't stand irrelevant jokes and want something maintaining fully serious stand and perfect realism, then Monster has a better look into the society, plus in really serious style. If you're looking for a visual work of philosophy, then Texhnolyze is the way to go. If you just don't think anime should be serious, then look the other way, because PS, as anime, is in essence seinen, despite the attempts to lighten up the clearly serious theme. Well, and if you're in the middle of something important, don't start watching it now, since it's quite addictive, and the latter part actually requires taking some time to watch without splitting.

Otherwise, there might be few reasons not to like these series, because they combine intriguing story, good action, believable characters, and complex approach to real-life problems. Among anime with mainstream appeal, it's quite good the plank, and, while not competing with the certain experimental works, offer more substance than it seems at first. Gradual build-up of detail, combination of social problems and character personality issues, all with strong and active enough story to be immersive at all times, place it among the better part of animation, even if it isn't exactly arty and is designed to appeal to various audience.

Great potential, yet fail to deliver. Pumpkin Scissors is another typical Gonzo production, where great promises in the beginning, yet failed miserably in the end. (Caution! Contain Spoilers)

Animation:

Animation quality is what Gonzo’s production excel at, and in Pumpkin Scissors, this is no exception. From the character designs to background settings, all has been beautifully detailed and carefully rendered. The blending of computer generated images such as the tanks with the 2D characters are simply stunning. Also, the dynamic battle scenes are smooth and well planned. The use of various artistic styling to highlight our main character when he gone berserk are well executed and helped to create some powerful imagery. Finally, the graphical presentation in the OP is quite good and has fooled me to have high expectation for this series. So overall I will give a 9 here.

Music:

The overall soundtrack is quite good with a strong military / marching band like overtone, so it has managed to accompany the series quite nicely. Although most of the scores are rather predictable, there are several background music that stands out, such as the interval music and the militaristic European drum music. Moving to OP & EDs. The OP is quite refreshing. It has a strong mechanic sound to match the main character’s history and his missions, thus it has served to highlight the characters in the beginning. The EDs are…unexpectedly original, but they are still very well done. Its childish sound and less tense graphics help to highlight other characters.

Despite the attentions paid to the OST, the voice performances are however, disappointing. All of the voice performances are average only, none has tried to break the stereotypical portrayal of these rather typical characters, thus makes the characters seems rather flat.

Story and Character:

Gonzo’s has a long tradition of poor storytelling and character development, and in Pumpkin Scissors, this is no exception. The story started off highly captivating. I seriously believe that they have managed to mix the right formula and included interesting stories and character development. However, I was proven wrong very early on. By episode 7, your Gonzo-like horrors of creating “side missions” type of “filler” episodes had comes back. These episodes suppose to help strengthen the characters’ history, personality and their relationships. But they are often boring and unoriginal. The dialogues are blend and unenthusiastically performed, and the methods of storytelling are repeatedly long and badly planned. This lead to very weak character relationships and stories with no substance. The series also over focused on unit names and code words that lead nowhere. In the end, the show ended abruptly and many factors are unexplained. Lastly, the show has stray further and further away from its original plotline that it has ended up been a show about social justice instead of war relieve. This is such a shame as the main idea of war relieve is so original, it has hardly been explored by both animations and western movies.


Enjoyment and Value:

Pumpkin Scissors is yet another fine example of Gonzo’s production, beautiful graphics with no substance stories. Despite its poor story telling and character development, I must give credits to the originality of the plotline, its excellent graphical presentation and creative use of OP and EDs. In the end, Pumpkin Scissors did bring me some enjoyment, especially the first few episodes. If the series is executed a bit better, I have no doubt that this will become and excellent series. However, as it stands, I can only give it a 6.

I didn't like this anime at first, and I found myself wanting to toss it after the first couple episodes, but it gradually grew on me during the second half of the series. If I had to describe the first impression of this series, it would be "surprisingly cliche".

Animation

The animation is decent. Nothing special (though I've been watching high budget series like Ergo Proxy and Black Lagoon recently, so I may be biased.) I kinda like the art style. Although I prefer a slightly more realistic one to match its "gritty" setting, the art is still appropriate for its other genres (drama, light comedy, very light romance).

Sound

I didn't like the OP and ED songs, and soundtrack isn't anything special either. Sound effects are good.

The voice acting is good for the most part. Nothing spectacular really struck out at me, even with all the drama scenes. I found Stekkin's voice somewhat annoying.

Story

The setting has a lot of promise, but the execution could be better. The main issues are that it's too predictable and the setting is at times inconsistent with the plot.

I will say though that at the half-way point, the series starts becoming more interesting, in which multiple factions start settling into the story to produce a more interesting setting. As usual, there are more and more dramatized events toward the end of the series, some of which I found kinda lame - but at least the plot was getting less predictable. The first half is, in contrast, episodic and "filler-like", with only vague hints of a sinister hidden evil. The main theme of those episodes is a cheery "good prevails!" with Alice as its mascot.

At the end of this series, it's obvious that the story isn't finished yet. There are many loose ends, so I expect a sequel. The finale itself hints that there are more and more powerful enemies left to deal with.

I mentioned that there's often plot-setting inconsistencies. Here's an example (warning: minor spoiler ahead). There's a story arc concerning some manuscripts detailing some conspiracy, and the group that holds these manuscripts want them to be published to reveal this conspiracy. They go through all this trouble trying to protect this manuscript from being destroyed. What's wrong with this picture? The setting's a world with WW2-era technology. They have a printing press. The people holding the manuscripts know how to read, and so they also probably know how to write. So why didn't they just make copies of the manuscript?! The stupidity boggles the mind.

There are a scattering of other issues, most due to timing and overlong drama moments. Not that that is always a bad thing - it's inevitable in action anime. But it gets pretty extreme here. For example, there's one instance where the enemy is within meters of the protagonists in a chase, when the protagonists "crash". Then they spend maybe 45 seconds deciding who will make the last stand so that the others can run. Then it shows the the enemies approaching again...around 45 seconds after they were already within meters of the protagonists who have stopped 45 seconds ago. This obviously does not count as one of those things "inevitable in action anime". Take enough of these moments together and it gets tedious.

I'm fine with unrealistic things (after all, I like fantasy fiction), but at the very least, I'd like the plot to be realistic with respect to the setting.

There are also some comedic moments in the anime. Some were actually funny, like the urine sample tubes.

Character

There's a lot of character development for Alice and Randel, the two protagonists. Alice is a young, good-hearted, and naive noble who enlists in the military to fight injustice. Throughout the series, she encounters hypocrisy and corruption, making her come to terms with the state of the world. Yet instead of despairing, she instead becomes ever more determined to rid her nation of evil and uphold justice, sometimes even losing sight of those around her in her quest. She is the very epitome of a heroine.

Randel is more of a mystery. He has a dark past and freakish combat abilities. Randel reminds me of a dog. He is the army's dog, trained/brainwashed to kill, yet in his heart, he hates killing. Alice is the shining light in his darkness, and so he follows her faithfully and depends ever me on her in the hope of escaping from his past. (His expression and posture also just remind of dog.)

There are also "filler" episodes that explore the history of the other main characters, which would be nice, if not for the fact that they don't tie in with the rest of the story that well.

Overall though, the characters just don't connect with me. I don't feel much empathy for them. Most of them are too predictable for my tastes. Alice's naive idealism, for instance, strikes me as mostly cliche rather than cute. But she did redeem herself halfway through the series when she said something that was actually intelligent and idealistic (as opposed to naive and idealistic).

Value and enjoyment

Although this series has its good points, and I don't consider watching it a waste of time, this is definitely one anime I won't be rewatching.