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Which Isekai Anime Is Superior At Handling Character Death?

Posted on April 1, 2021August 12, 2021 by Karandi

Between Season 1 and Season 2 of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime something changed with how the story handles death. But is either approach superior?

Spoilers Ahead for That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Season 2 and how it goes about handling character death.

You know, I started with a really clear impulse to write when I began this post. I’d watched a lot of season 2 of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime and I mostly felt just a little bit annoyed at the drastic shift in the way they chose to address death in season 2 compared to their efforts in season 1 and compared to an anime like Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash. Then I let time do its magical thing and started thinking through the situation a bit more. Ultimately, I realised that while death was handled differently, the purpose was also different.

slime s2 16 — *^{Good luck. He has the protection of being a protagonist in a long running comedy anime.}*

Here’s where spoilers will get fairly serious for those who haven’t yet watched season 2.

Rimuru is ambushed and almost killed by Shizue’s friend who is no mood to listen to a monster. However, at the same time as Rimuru is being waylaid, his nation of monsters has come under-attack by the combined forces of a nation that is ticked off because they are losing trade and the holy church because the church doesn’t like monsters.

The motives are pretty stock-standard and poorly explored and while the balance between nations being disrupted was a theme built up over more than one episode, ultimately the story just kind of throws any complexity this plot line may have had away and goes for setting up a table of near-moustache twirling villains who are evil because they aren’t on the same side as the protagonist.

What is a little different this time around is that because Rimuru isn’t around to more or less instantly over-power these enemies (and because of some interesting choices in terms of exploring Rimuru’s choices being influenced by his former human life which are actually really well handled), the monsters actually take a number of losses including a whole bunch of background characters, one peripheral character who we knew enough to be sad over their death, and one actual main character in what is a relatively well built up revelation when Rimuru arrives back in town.

slime s2 9 — *^{Comically over-the-top bad guy and soon to be forgotten villain.}*

The revelation to Rimuru that his orders for the monsters not to fight humans, set out in season one, and his emotional distress at seeing the cost to those who have followed him is a poignant and really well-handled moment.

For about two seconds.

Then a minor character runs up and tells Rimuru a fairy-tale from their homeland about someone becoming a demon-lord and undoing the death of a friend.

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I remember on first watching this sequence feeling like I’d just been kicked in the teeth.

Season one of Slime had shown that while for the most part this anime was laid-back Slime shenanigans with a lot of humour and bright colours and a few epic and over-the-top fight sequences thrown in to spice things up, it also could handle the meatier emotional moments.

Shizue’s death was a slow, quiet moment given the time it needed to sink in and having the right impact on Rimuru for the audience to really experience the full emotional spectrum that comes with death and remembering life. It was one of the best death sequences not for spectacle or blood splatter but just for facing the enormity and absoluteness that is death.

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Episode 6 — *^{I’m glad we met you too.}*

What season two did seemed to undermine that in almost an instant. If death could be conquered why did Shizue die? What does it matter if anyone dies if it can all just be turned back? Admittedly, there were a lot of catches to the potential resurrection and only a minor chance of success, but even that felt like it was trying to have its cake and eat it to. The story wanted us to think characters could die and wanted us to experience the emotions of parting, but also didn’t want to lose a fan-favourite character by actually consigning them to death.

How does another anime go at handling anime death?

One of my favourite isekai anime ever is Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash (I’ll wait, go watch it). While it isn’t a perfect story by any means, and reading on in the light novels it has actually done a similar thing that Slime is now doing in that the basic idea that death can’t be overturned ends up being overturned, kind of, in one instance, Grimgar set itself apart from other stories early on by giving a very real view of the danger and fear of living in a fantasy world as an adventurer where death could literally come at any moment and from the smallest of mistakes.

I really appreciated this narrative for not having super-strong and invincible characters who overcame anything. Every time they won anything it felt earned and they lost, a lot. And those losses always came with costs.

So if I were simply to look at the three, Grimgar, Slime 1 and Slime 2 at how the death itself was played out, I’d most definitely find season 2 of Slime wanting. Grimgar absolutely nailed it with the early death of a character that seemed like he should have protagonist plot armour but unfortunately it wasn’t his story. And even Slime season 1 gave us something that was quite special in a season that I was otherwise in two minds about because while there were aspects that felt like they were really amazing, a lot of season one felt like down-time.

3 Reasons Why Rukia Kuchiki Should Have Died At The End of Season 3

Posted on March 16, 2018July 29, 2021 by Karandi

No surprise that I’m back to Bleach given it was one of the anime that got me into anime as an adult. Previously I’ve looked at whether Orihime contributes anything to Bleach and it occurred to me at the time that I really needed to look at Rukia’s character (okay, I need to look at a lot of characters in Bleach and eventually I need to review it as well but that will be a long time before I get to it). Today I finally intend to get around to arguing the case that Rukia Kuchiki should have died at the end of season 3 of Bleach (clearly spoilers incoming for those who haven’t watched it).

Now unlike my post that took a swipe at Orihime, I really like Rukia’s character. She’s the literal life changer of Ichigo by being the catalyst for him getting caught up in pretty much everything that happens from the first episode forward. She’s got a strong presence and even when stripped of her powers strives to fight and fight hard. Anyone who has watched the first season of Bleach knows that Rukia Kuchiki is one tough cookie, who is also terrible at art.

And while I probably swooned a little bit when Ichigo first swept in to save Rukia after many, many, many, many episodes of him fighting his way through Soul Society to rescue her, part of me had to wonder how much better the series would be if he had faced a complete defeat and failed to save her in that instance. So much of the tension in the show vanishes after the end of season 3, so much of the drive, and ultimately Rukia’s character becomes one that increasingly serves little purpose other than the occasional pep-talk (or smack down).

However, I’ve narrowed it down to 3 main reasons why Rukia Kuchiki should have died at this point in the story (and none of them have anything to do with shipping wars and whether Ichigo would be better off with Rukia or Orihime).

01. Rukia’s character becomes reasonably redundant after the initial arc has run its course.

She’s an impressive character to be sure. When Ichigo’s family were in danger she showed up to fight the Hollow and then when she failed and was injured, she gave Ichigo the power he needed to protect his family. It was an incredibly self-less act (though she didn’t actually intend to hand over all her power so it’s a little less selfless than it might at first appear).

After serving first as the catalyst for change, Rukia adopts a mentor role in the story. She teaches Ichigo what he needs to know and provides him access to a range of tools that sometimes even help him out as he tries to defeat Hollows and protect those around him.

Then we get to the end of season 1 and the tone shifts dramatically as Rukia is finally tracked down by other Shinigami from Soul Society who believe she’s broken the law in staying in the human world as long as she has and in giving her power to a human. They beat Ichigo down and take Rukia back to Soul Society providing the clear goal for the next two seasons. Defeat everyone in Soul Society and rescue the girl.

It’s a pretty big down-grade for a mentor character in the first place going from adviser to damsel in distress in about ten minutes of air-time, but it again sets out a necessary goal for our hero. Still, I wonder how Yoda would have reacted to that kind of plot twist? She’s the prize, the trophy or the life sized Kinder Surprise awaiting rescue at the end of an arduous hero’s journey.

Eventually however she is rescued but Ichigo no long needs her as a mentor. Many other characters have swept in to fill that void (most of them older and significantly wiser than Rukia). She’s not one of his friends, they aren’t love interests (unless you happen to be on that side of the shipping wars), they no longer have a mentor-mentee relationship, so the question becomes what role does she serve?

I think the show itself flails as it attempts to answer that question. For awhile after the rescue, Rukia disappears to ‘regain’ her powers or whatever and she does appear off and on afterwards, notably showing up in the Hueco Mundo arc when Ichigo wants to save Orihime. And anyone who watched to that point knows Rukia is fantastic when we finally get to see her fight with her power actually in-tact.

But, was she needed? Honestly, this arc was stretched enough so seeing Rukia get a cool fight might have been fantastic for Rukia fans, but all it did was slow the story. It tried to bring some closure to the whole Rukia killing her friend who was possessed by a hollow way back when too, but that story was never much of a major tipping point and the conclusion is more or less pointless.

Rukia does get a friendship with Orihime, but this also isn’t much of a bonus for a series as hopelessly padded as Bleach becomes.

This story needed to take a tip from Game of Thrones. Kill your characters, occasionally. If they aren’t needed, or even if they are, occasionally take them out. In this instance, Rukia had served any purpose she was ever going to for the grander narrative and any thing attributed to her after season 3 could easily have gone to the thousands of other underused characters. So as a redundant and no longer purposeful character, killing her off seems like the smart move to me.

And I know the counter argument. Just because she doesn’t serve a purpose anymore doesn’t mean she needs to die. And ultimately she is used toward the end of the story, but I think most Bleach fans would agree that the overall plot is so ridiculously stretched that we probably could have done without a few of those twists and turns.

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02. Think how much more motivated Ichigo would have been to track down Aizen and make him pay.

Really, after the Soul Society arc Bleach loses focus. Aizen flees and Ichigo resumes his normal life with the slight perk (problem) of being a substitute shinigami. There’s no sense of urgency to do anything about the guy who literally had all of Soul Society dancing to his tune.

However, if Rukia dies, Ichigo loses it. He’s driven to be the best, to save those around him, he gave it everything he had and pushed himself beyond his limit and he still failed to watch Aizen float up into the sky and escape. Ichigo becomes obsessed with bringing Aizen down and guess how much faster we can now get to the invasion of Hueco Mundo and the ultimate face-off between these two.

Added bonus, Byakuya Kuchiki (Rukia’s brother after he adopted her), is also ticked and Soul Society get off their collective butts and do something far sooner than they actually did. Added, added bonus, Renji also gets a massive power up after witnessing the death of his childhood friend.

Giving Ichigo a solid motivation would give this story so much more purpose and direction. Because basically after rescuing Rukia, the show flounders. And it does this for a long time until Orihime is targeted and abducted and Ichigo decides he must save yet another damsel in distress, setting up an almost mockery of his first desperate race into Soul Society as he now charges into Hueco Mundo. I get that not everything in long running series is going to be amazing, but that was a rehash of a motive if ever we saw one and it effectively knee-capped any kind of character progress Ichigo may have made.

Kill Rukia, get a more affective motive for our protagonist and kick the story into high gear faster. Not seeing a down side to this plan. But let’s get to the third reason and it is probably the most crucial.

03. Nobody of note ever seems to die in Bleach.

The occasional villain gets a send off but most characters recover from even the most insane wounds. Ichigo himself is pretty much killed at least four times before he ever finds Rukia in Soul Society and yet plot armour is such a fierce thing. Don’t get me wrong, this adds to the fun of the show. Zany and over the top fight sequences and attacks, blood splatter and drama at every corner, but you don’t actually have to get too worried.

But, Rukia is a different story. This was a chance to give this story a truly dramatic turning point and give the show some actual narrative credibility in amongst all the shouting, sword flailing antics. It was an opportunity utterly squandered by the need to keep her alive so that she could engage in some half-hearted verbal sparring with Ichigo and linger on fairly pointlessly in a story that had outgrown its beginnings.

And let’s relate this back to her main role early on. She was Ichigo’s mentor. Mentor’s die. Sorry Yoda, Konobi, Gandalf (okay, he came back to life), Ur (Fairy Tail), Mami (Madoka), and Kamina (Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann) but mentor characters die. They pass what is needed onto the next one and then they bow out of the story.

Rukia was the character who could be killed off because of the role she’d played. It would hurt the audience greatly but it would be one of the most memorable moments of the series and her character would be remembered as the amazing young warrior who gave Ichigo the start he needed on the road to whatever it was he became by the end (seriously, is there anything Ichigo isn’t by the end?).

You could argue almost every problem people have with Bleach after the third season stems from Rukia still being alive (or at least we could have avoided most of them if the writer had just been willing to kill off a key player). Ichigo isn’t motivated to chase down Aizen until far later in the series. There’s no sense of tension or drama and no matter how bleak the situation you know these characters will survive. Absolutely. Without fail, survive.

So let’s imagine a reboot. Let’s take the incredible concept of Bleach, trim all the fat, and really think about the role the characters were set to play and have the series play out as it really should. See that fantastic moment when Ichigo realises his failure and Rukia’s final moments play out? See Ichigo actually have an immediate clear goal to progress with after this arc?

Certainly, this is all a matter of my opinion but these are the three reasons why I think Rukia Kuchiki should have died at the end of season 3. If you’d like to share your thoughts on the matter, be sure to leave me a comment below. Obviously there’s some great reasons not to knock off one of the arguably better realised characters in the story, but from a strictly narrative point of view it kind of makes sense for her to bite it.

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Karandi James

Juni Taisen: Zodiac War Series Review – No Twists, No Turns, Little Excitement, But Not Fatally Flawed

Posted on February 3, 2018January 21, 2018 by Karandi

Overview:

12 Zodiac themed warriors have been chosen to take place in the Juni Taisen (big death match) where the winner will have a wish granted. That’s pretty much it.

Review – There will be spoilers:

If you are looking for an anime with a clear grasp of the big picture (the how and the why and all those things) than Juni Taisen is not for you. Then again, if you are looking for an anime that treats its characters as more than just fodder for increasingly less shocking deaths, is consistent in pace and action, and occasionally manages to seem like you should perhaps care about the characters, you probably aren’t making it very far into Juni Taisen anyway.

Maybe that seems ‘overly pessimistic’ as one person told me I was being after my review of episode 1 where I raised concerns that killing off the only character the audience had any connection to was probably not a stroke of narrative genius and I wasn’t really sure how this show would manage to be interesting given it seemed locked into a 12 episode/12 hour fight sequence with fairly telegraphed deaths (okay, I wasn’t that specific in my episode 1 review though in hind-sight I should have been). So it might seem like I was being pessimistic then and now, but I actually have no reason to change that view. While there are some good things to be found in Juni Taisen, my main impression as I finished the series was one of relief because to be honest this was a chore to finish by the end. Crunchyroll advertising insisting there were twists and turns to be found just kind of bugged me given there wasn’t one twist from start to finish in a story that ended up being ridiculously linear and vague.

Despite everything, I still would recommend this for a watch if it had explained why the war was taking place. And I mean, really explained. Not just some vague rich guys/countries are gambling on it and somehow we’ll redraw the map after it is done. The audience never sees the weight of the contest or the outcome in terms of the effect it has on the world so basically we just watch 12 characters try to kill each other and hope it amuses us. And again, that could work. I like horror. I don’t mind the occasional brutal death. However if you want to know who is next just know the order of the Chinese Zodiac (which unfortunately I knew all too well because it is the basis of a board game I played as a kid) so after week 2 it was more of less locked in who was next to die and who would win the game.

Does that mean it couldn’t be fun? We could still get some great action, couldn’t we? Episode 1 had an amazing display of animation where we saw the Boar training and becoming the awesome warrior she apparently was. It was spectacular. Yet everything after just seemed to have less energy and drive. None of the fights last any particular length of time so if you want to know what you will mostly be watching it is characters sitting around running an internal monologue. Usually this is closely followed by their death.

One or two of the characters were interesting enough. I didn’t mind the Chicken or the Tiger and Rat (when he appeared) was always making me curious even as he slept through the tournament, but mostly the characters were characterised by arrogance or pride. None of them seemed concerned enough about their potential deaths and almost all of them died after severely underestimating an opponent. Once or twice this might be seen as an okay move but the repetitive nature of this became truly dull viewing.

The character designs are quite well done (if a little insane and I’m sure many people will have issue with the fan service like nature of the female warriors’ outfits (they certainly aren’t designed for defence), but they nicely exemplify the zodiac and at least there is no issue with distinguishing the characters. Besides, if you start throwing rocks at the girls you would have to wonder just what the Rabbit was wearing and that is a question that I think many people will have after just one episode. Again, that isn’t designed for defence.

Visually, Juni Taisen is kind of interesting as the actual tournament is taking place at night with all the scenes being quite dark. By contrast, almost all of the flash back sequences are brighter as is the final episode when the victor is trying to decide what to do with their prize. This kind of attention to detail is appreciated.

Basically, I loved the concept this show had and was looking forward to it, but found that the actual story and the execution was lacking even though it looks great and it is clear a lot of effort has been put into it. I don’t think I have any real need to ever revisit this series and it isn’t one I can overly recommend given what it is lacking, but it isn’t a complete train-wreck either. Basically it ends up being just kind of average.

Episode Reviews:

Thanks for reading.

Karandi James

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King’s Game Episode 7: Were These Deaths Supposed To Be Touching?

Posted on November 19, 2017November 17, 2017 by Karandi

Review:

I wonder exactly when it was that the audience was supposed to connect with Mizuki and Kenta. I mean, they were in the sports carnival sequence, and Kenta did kind of stand up for Nobuaki when he was being beaten to death by his classmates. However, none of that really makes up for the fact that essentially these two characters existed so Nobuaki could narrate events from the previous game at the audience. That is literally their purpose in the story. So the whole doomed love story was destined to fall completely flat given these characters never actually served any purpose other than sound board.

King7e — What exactly did Nobuaki learn? Could he enlighten the audience because I’m certain we don’t know.

Otherwise, this episode takes us into the village of plot convenience and character assumptions and of course it reveals just enough to make it feel like the story is progressing while actually revealing nothing at all.

King7b — Really? Did the clue fairy tell you this?

Though one thing I will give this show credit for is its determination to press on as though it is an actual horror. Despite characters lacking faces in distant shots and a whole range of other issues with the animation, the show continues to deliver skewed images and weird zooms to really hit us with the horror atmosphere. In case that wasn’t enough, the creepy village, the birds, the scene that took place in a morgue all add weight to the attempt at horror even while the story essentially derails any actual sense of dread.

And so I leave another week of King’s Game wondering why I am still watching this and why do I get a sense of satisfaction from watching this train wreck. Ultimately I kind of hope everyone dies but in the meantime, just wondering how the writers will manage to make this story worse is more or less sufficient entertainment.

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Thanks,

Karandi James.

Vatican Miracle Examiner Episode 12: Why Wasn’t the Rest of the Series This Good?

Posted on September 28, 2017September 24, 2017 by Karandi

Review:

I know some people will find this episode of Vatican Miracle Examiner overly emotional trite and it would be hard to argue that point. The focus is entirely on Hiraga’s brother who is dying in a hospital full of other dying kids and we get a flash back of another boy who died to young (and happened to know Roberto because this show loves an excess of coincidence).

And in case that wasn’t enough forced drama the show throws in dead parents and visions of other dead and dying people. My consistent complaint about this show is that it always over-reaches in its mysteries and as a result the whole thing is left feeling half-baked.

Yet episode 12, with a single episode and not three or four, manages to deliver an emotionally moving and dramatic story that makes you care for the characters and question the nature of miracles. Something that not one of the other mysteries managed in all their over the top antics. If only the rest of the series had managed the tone of this episode I probably would have liked it a lot more.

I’ll get around to a series review of this soon.

Thanks for reading.

If you enjoyed this post and like the blog, consider becoming a patron to support further growth and future content.

Thanks,

Karandi James.

Iron Blooded Orphans Episode 41

Posted on February 8, 2017February 8, 2017 by Karandi

Amnesia Series Review

Posted on January 27, 2017March 31, 2019 by Karandi

Overview:

A girl wakes up but doesn’t remember anything and for some reason seems to intrinsically trust whichever guy shows up in her life first.

Review:

Originally I reviewed this over on Crunchyroll immediately after watching it. Probably a bad idea (it was pre-blog) and I really didn’t like it very much. That said, I probably didn’t hate it as much as some people did. This review isn’t a rehash of the previous one on Crunchyroll but rather a reconsideration after time and a rewatch which has more or less brought me to the same conclusion. Amnesia isn’t terrible, but it just isn’t very good.

Any kind of accurate plot synopsis that tells you more than my overview is going to spoil what few plot points there are in relation to why she keeps waking up without her memory so I’m just going to point out that the plot makes sense in that the ridiculously shallow character archetypes wander through the events and usually respond in a way that makes sense (even if the characters themselves don’t). The problem with the plot is only that it relies very much on the central gimmick of a main character with amnesia and the suspension of disbelief when they reveal why.

If you haven’t already backed out of this review and are still reading I’m now going to turn my attention to the characters.

My original description of the main character was ‘blank slate heroine’ and I’m sticking by that. She genuinely has nothing, not even memories. So forget the usual blandness of self-insert and just think of a Doll from Darker Than Black without the potential for evolving. And that leads me to wonder who this anime is for. The stereotypical hot guys (personifying various tastes) dancing around in every other shot would indicate they are trying to appeal to women and yet the main character isn’t someone you can self-insert onto even if you wanted to (and given the personalities of a lot of the guys you would have to wonder why you would want to enter that world – this one is much safer at a distance). She is so hopelessly blank you almost pity her. So while a stronger heroine who could negotiate with the various men in the harem might have provided for an entertaining bit of escapism and a flirt with danger, the heroine here just makes you cringe and want someone to rescue her from her very existence.

Or maybe that was just me but my impression from first viewing to second actually got worse because the first time through I just found her bland and the second time I was genuinely wanting her out of most of those situations.

The shock deaths that are thrown at you throughout the series are also kind of off-putting (and this is from someone who actually appreciates slasher horror). In amongst this warped romance these deaths feel incredibly out of place and because the heroine is so hopelessly defenceless against them it kind of hurts to watch. This isn’t the amusement of watching a bad horror in action, or even the thrill fo watching a good horror play out while you wait with anticipation for the next shoe to drop. This is just uncomfortable viewing at the best of times. I think it’s because it really feels like the writers at times felt that having the girl fall in love with or be played around with by the possessive guy or the jerk or the whatever wasn’t edgy enough so let’s add a dose of inconsequential death and that will give it some edge.

My final major criticism with this show is that all of the main characters really are dressed like extras from a circus. It helps distinguish them from one another (because little else does) but you have to wonder how long it would take to put on some of those outfits and given the truly bizarre effect of them, why they would even bother (not a criticism of individuals who have clothes with flair but rather a criticism on ordinary character designs poorly disguised up by overdressing characters).

So if it seems like this is truly dreadful from that then I’m probably not being fair. Amnesia is perfectly watchable with a plot that works during the viewing and fails on the reconsideration. The characters are not good but with the exception of the central protagonist they aren’t so dreadful as to make this an unwatchable ordeal and even my main criticism of the protagonist is that she is an empty shell rather than a terrible character (though some would argue that this is worse).

On a personal level I really disliked the show. I hate the way the heroine is portrayed and romance in general and the ending (while conclusive enough) is not satisfying nor does it seem to justify the journey (though it is logical enough within the context of the show). But I can’t bring myself to actually say I hate Amnesia because mostly I am walking away realising that much like after my first viewing I’m going to forget this very quickly and move on to other anime that leave a more lingering impression. More importantly, I can kind of see that some viewers would enjoy elements of this show even if they aren’t for me.

If you’ve watched Amnesia, I’d love to know your thoughts.

Thank-you for reading 100 Word Anime.
Join the discussion in the comments.
Karandi James

Iron Blooded Orphans Episode 32

Posted on November 24, 2016November 20, 2016 by Karandi

Review:

Just letting you know, I am about to name characters and major events from this episode. If you count that as spoiler than please know this was a tragic episode to watch (in the best sense of the word) and I hope you enjoy it.

For everyone still with me…

It was Aston. It had to be Aston or Takaki and it was clear early in this episode it was going to be Aston and even the manner of his death was pretty heavily foreshadowed with him cautioning Takaki and reminding him that they needed to work the way they always did. So the war is finally done because the guys from Mars finally showed up, but it was all a little bit too late to stop the tragedy we’ve been edging towards for literally weeks. Only, Aston’s death, while tragic, isn’t the real take-home tragedy of the episode. It’s just your normal plot pulling heart strings and taking out a character that they worked hard to make you like after a rough entrance. The real tragedy is what happens after when they are ‘cleaning’ up from this farce of a war. I think even the writers know that there’s no emotion attached anymore when Mikazuki shoots someone in cold blood. We’re kind of used to it. So him passing the gun to Takaki… That was cold, calculated, and utterly devastating.

Now, in the context of the show it is difficult to argue that Takaki didn’t have ‘the right’ given his friend had just been killed and the guy with his arms restrained behind him kneeling on the floor played a fair role in getting his friend killed. But Takaki, a character that we couldn’t have identified as anything other than the cheerful guy with the smart sister a few weeks ago, just calmly and coldly executed this guy. And then went home to his sister. Admittedly, given her reaction to his return, he’s probably a little bit broken but then the episode ended so we don’t even get to deal with the fall out.

Okay, there’s a much longer post that I could write about this episode but my 100 words are done and for anything else I’ll need to rewatch the episode and think about what I’d really like to focus on.

For now, Orphans continues to hit the right notes and while it isn’t a thrill a minute it is at least thought and emotion provoking.

Iron Blooded Orphans is available on AnimeLab.

Iron Blooded Orphans Episode 31

Posted on November 17, 2016November 13, 2016 by Karandi

Reivew:

I know I’ve been predicting death for the cast of Iron Blooded Orphans for awhile now, but it is just as true this week. This is the slow motion fall toward an inevitable end (and not just because it’s part of the Gundam series). It doesn’t seem possible we could get through the next episode without someone biting it but maybe they’ll stretch this tension further. I think that’s what is really working for this series. It knows someone is going to die. The audience knows someone is going to die. But they are raising enough death flags over enough different characters that either we’re in for a massacre or they really just want to keep us guessing when and where.

That said, I’m being kind of callous given there were casualties already from Tekkadan but the show didn’t really seem to care about any of them and only one was even given a name. Plus, they’ve been mowing down the enemy left and right and nobody seems to care about any of them. This treatment of people as nothing is consistent with the show in general though with their fascination with the phrase human debris. Not to mention, we’re all just kind of waiting for Takaki to realise that their ‘leader’ is just playing with them.

It’s hard to say this episode was enjoyable because mostly you are just waiting for the other shoe to drop, but it definitely continues the story along and keeps you watching.

Iron Blooded Orphans is available on AnimeLab.

Top 5: Saddest Death Scenes in Anime

Posted on October 4, 2016November 27, 2021 by Karandi

We all know the scene. It’s usually about two thirds of the way through the story and the nice character, the one we all love, suddenly gets cut down. What makes it even sadder is that usually the only purpose their death serves is to give our protagonist a renewed focus. yep, the guys that killed your friend are evil. Now you need to go get them back.

Okay, not every sad death scene goes like that. But you must admit it’s fairly common in anime. My list below are the deaths that came in isolation (no group deaths), in non-horror/slasher anime, that serve as a critical plot point and really crushed me. As such, it’s an entirely subjective list. Feel free to add your own in the comments below.

Please Note – There are spoilers below. You have been warned.

Honourable mentions this week go to:Shirou Fujimoto (Ao No Exorcist), Nagisa Furukawa (Clannad After Story), Art (Hamatora), Kuro Sensei (Assassination Classroom), and Mikoto Suoh (K).

Number 5: Maes Hughes from Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood

Kind of a given going into this list that Maes Hughes would appear. Arguably one of the most well remembered anime deaths of all time. What makes Maes stand out (I feel) is that he is a genuinely sweet character, a family man, and very few of the main cast in Full Metal Alchemist die. They get injured a lot and there are some deaths, but Maes is really the only one that get’s treated as a true death with the funeral and the mourning family.

While Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood plays this for the emotional punch and uses it to drive first the Elric brothers and then Mustang into action, Maes’ death is more than just a cheap plot device. It is a devastating reminder that life and death are at the core of the story. If you look at the timing, it has been a long time since the hit from the death of the Elric Brothers mother, and quite a length of time has passed since Nina’s tragic end. There are many lighter moments in the show but they always come back to the darkness at the centre of the story and Maes’ death is definitely one of those moments.

Number 4: Mikage from 07 Ghost

I was really torn about this one given 07 Ghost really doesn’t end and has no rewatch value. Certainly, I was really crushed when he died (or rather was horrifically murdered after being forced to try to kill his best friend) but then the show pulls the whole his soul is still with you in the form a really cute animal that follows Teito around for the rest of the run time. It kind of takes some of the impact out of the death.

Clearly though, I decided Mikage’s demise was one of the saddest deaths in an anime. I think it is more that Mikage never did anything to deserve anything that happened to him. Sure he helped his friend escape the military and that certainly deserved some punishment, but having his family threatened, being possessed, and forced to try to kill his friend before choosing to die so that neither his family or his friend would be hurt, just kind of sucked all round. This was definitely a sad death scene. (It doesn’t help that the rest of the anime kind of suffers from Mikage’s lack either).

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Number 3: Joker from Black Butler Book of Circus

I started noticing a theme in my choices. Characters who aren’t inherently bad but end up on the wrong side of the protagonist for whatever reason or try to turn over a new leaf and get killed in the process. Book of Circus gives us Joker.

Joker is a pitiful character. He originally comes off as quite strong and together but it becomes quickly apparent that he is desperately trying to hold up his little sand castle of dreams even as the tide is washing it all away. By the time Joker is killed he literally has nothing left to live for. It is sad and tragic and just leaves you feeling empty inside.

Number 2: R from Jormungand

Hard to believe that any death in an anime about an arms dealer travelling with body guards would get to you but R manages it in Jormungand. In the first season he is almost a non-entity, but he is definitely there. After seeing the second season I went back and watched and began to see how they had managed to make a character who seemed so in the background such a major emotional turning point.

R is working against Koko with the American government, but when one of their agents targets Jonah, R throws caution to the wind to save the child soldier, in the process revealing his duplicitous lifestyle to Koko before getting himself very dead. The impact this death has on Koko is enormous and unlike most of the deaths before it, this one causes the show to pause for some quiet reflection which hits the audience hard.

Number 1: Nephrite from Sailor Moon

This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that this has made my list of saddest death scenes.

Firstly, what makes a death sad is emotional connection to the characters, and given that Sailor Moon is one of my all time favourite anime, it should be no surprise that I feel an emotional connection to the characters. Secondly, I saw this when I was pretty young and unlike most other cartoons, they just knocked off a fairly major character, on screen, and one who had redeemed himself (kind of), and they didn’t even wait for a season final or something.

This was really different from anything else I was watching at the time and I honestly couldn’t believe what I’d just watched. I remember sitting and staring at the screen completely stunned. I wanted to scream, “But he just saved Molly!”

No matter what anime deaths come after this one, I will always remember Nephrite. Even though he was a villain, and not a particularly good one, and even though he was barely in a quarter of the series, his death had real impact.

Okay, who do you have on your list?

Thank-you for reading 100 Word Anime.
Join the discussion in the comments.
Karandi James

death

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Between Season 1 and Season 2 of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime something changed with how the story handles death. But is either approach superior?

How does another anime go at handling anime death?

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01. Rukia’s character becomes reasonably redundant after the initial arc has run its course.

02. Think how much more motivated Ichigo would have been to track down Aizen and make him pay.

03. Nobody of note ever seems to die in Bleach.

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Number 5: Maes Hughes from Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood

Number 4: Mikage from 07 Ghost

Number 3: Joker from Black Butler Book of Circus

Number 2: R from Jormungand

Number 1: Nephrite from Sailor Moon

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