Where I watch Episode 16 of Simoun

[cypsiman2]

Three main thoughts that crowd out all others regarding this episode. First, it seemed like during the middle part of the episode, there was little to nothing in the way of an animation budget. Lots of pastel freeze frames, and generally looking away from where there would be any movement to animate. The art is still lush and beautiful, so it's not that big of a deal, just...it was really noticeable.

Second, Paraietta just seems to be really falling apart; more and more her obsessive need to protect Neviril drives her into making bad decisions, and now she's begun to face that fact, that she really has no idea how to handle herself in war.

And finally, we get a few tantalizing hints about what Dominura saw, we see her smash the altar of Tempus Spatium, her faith and everything she ever believed in broken, and during the big attack on the Messis, when the enemy demonstrates that they've improved by leaps and bounds, making even the more powerful Ri Maarjon's ineffective against them, Dominura and Limone decide to go through with it and perform the Emerald Ri Maarjon. They seem to communicate telepathically during this time, and this obviously made some sort of difference, since instead of out of control destruction like in the first episode, this time the Emerald Ri Maarjon causes Dominura and Limone's Simoun to vanish without a trace, leaving the enemy untouched. Fortunately, not only do Neviril and the other Sibylla finally return, but so does the Arcus Prima.

Well, it looks like we're not going to see Dominura for a while, which is a shame, seeing as I'd just gotten this awesome icon of her. Oh well, at least we've got a good mystery on our hands!

Comments

[junglefowl26.livejournal.com]

Vanish...leaving the enemy untouched.....must have looked bad there.

Also, nice to see a show where the bad guys actually adapt, instead of trying the same failing strategy over and over again.

[cypsiman2.livejournal.com]

Well, it seemed like this was the first time anyone had done the Emerald Ri Maarjon properly, so everyone's more worried about Dominura and Limone, rather than going "Hey! You didn't kill everyone! You suck!".

It is indeed a nice thing.

[junglefowl26.livejournal.com]

Well, I more meant it must have been a "ah sh**, we are screwed" moment.

[cypsiman2.livejournal.com]

Yeah, there was a moment of that, but only a moment; than the others showed up, and the Arcus Prima showed up, so they were able to recover.

[oneplusme.livejournal.com]

Yeah. The Argentines do at least attempt to concoct new tactics as they go. They also appear to have radio, which the Simulacrans (and hence their Simoun) do not; this should be a significant tactical advantage.

Of course, based on the first episode, pretty much everyone expected the Emerald Ri Maajon to kill everything in the vicinity. The question now, of course, is what it actually does...