July 13, 2004
Saikano Episode 05
"Liar"
I think this is the episode where Saikano begins to show its true colors with the first of many gut wrenching, extremely unhappy scenes. In retrospect, they're not that bad, but they help set up the tone of this show, which is unrepentantly depressing and sad.
As Chise becomes more and more the ultimate weapon the military has made her into, it now manifests itself in her personality, at times seeming like she's taken over by the weapon. Apparently, when she gets sad or angry, it can trigger her ultimate weapon powers (as she doesn't have full control over them), which leads to incredible amounts of destruction. After seeing a small taste of this, Shuji becomes scared of her, stricken between his fear and his need to protect his girlfriend. Meanwhile, he continues his affair with Fuyumi, which only further strains his relationship with Chise.
Generally, the scenes involving Chise and Shuji are depressing enough, but when we see soldiers fighting and dying, it's another level, as soldiers die because Chise's relationship is not going well, and she wants to spend more time with Shuji, not being the ultimate weapon.
This show has a different-sounding voice cast. Shuji has a fairly unique voice, while Chise has a standarish, squealy female voice. The rest of the characters fill in with voices that don't sound like quite what you expect from an anime series, but it all works (though Akemi sounds a little weird to my ear). I don't think there's any show that sounds quite like Saikano.
Speaking of sound, Saikano also features a really good soundtrack that mixes catchy, moody classical music with guitar riffs of the main themes, and meshes extremely well with the slow, melancholy pace of the show.
Rating: B+
Posted by Kei at July 13, 2004 02:59 AM