“Eeeeeeey…”

Here’s some personal info about me:  my computer is a 7 -year-old piece of crap, and thus it kinda frustrates me that I wasn’t able to watch Episode 3 until last Thursday due to most of the groups fansubbing giving priority over .mkv formats, and thus decided to postpone writing since Episode 4 was just around the corner; thus I apologize if the post seems to focus more on 4 than 3.  With that said, I’m a bit disappointed that my squealing-fanboy anticipation of Asch coming to kick ass and the subsequent RAGE I felt when I had been acting like a 4-year-old not getting his new toy had all been for naught, but overall the episodes were pretty fun, if not a bit faster paced than I had expected.  Oh, and Luke starts crying, there’s a nice change.

A few new pieces of information arises near the beginning of the episode:  we’re given more info about the Order of Lorelei and that there are actually two factions within the group:  the reformist faction led by Ion, and the opposing Grand Maestro Faction led by Grand Maestro Mohs, and that the factions have a desire to respectively stop or encourage an all out war from occuring between the Kingdom of Kimlasca and the Malkuth Empire; Jade and co. are being sent to go to Kimlasca from Emperor Peony in order to sign a peace treaty before that, and Ion’s status of being gone was actually his escape of confinement from Mohs;  Tear, however, is from the Grand Maestro Faction, and doesn’t believe that Mohs is capable of such things.  We also find out from Jade that there’s more to Luke’s “kidnapping” than meets the eye, because there was never a report of it.

I also find myself overwhelmed once again by the new terms that are thrown at us and having an only slightly helpful explanation before bringing us back into the action;  while there’s nothing wrong with that, I do regret having to rewind back a few seconds to listen to them again because of how many new things they’re trying to throw at once;  everytime I hear someone mention Fonslots I’m reminded of Materia Slots, but I know someone’s going to strangle me for making a comparison like that.

“I must not run away, I must not run away…”

The first drastic slap into Luke’s face into reality is taken when Luke accidently kills one of the attacking soldiers on the Tartarus (because apparently canon fodder are so stupid you can hold out your weapon and they will gladly impale themselves on it -_-).  The thought of killing another human being affects him so much that he’s unable to defend himself against another attacker, and results in Tear’s injury.  While it’s good to see that Luke is really just a scared civilian drawn into a conflict he doesn’t want to take part of, it’s a bit disappointing that outside of it he still hasn’t really changed his personality that much, despite it not being very bad as opposed to very spoiled.

Seriously, this makes the pointless injury even more pointless.

Tear’s not-so-serious injury on her shoulder turns out to be even more miniscule once she wakes up and is able to heal herself once she casts Cure (or the Cure equivalent in this game…anime…), so much so that I actually laughed a bit looking back on how Episode 3 ended.  Aside from trying to kill Van, we learn her actual mission:  she was sent by Mohs to look for the Seventh Fonstone, the Score read by Yulia Jue 2000 years ago that holds the future of the world written on it.  I’m prone to suspect that the prophecy will probably be the one that was introduced at the very beginning of the series about the destruction of Hod and the red haired boy, who could be assumed to be Luke but somehow I think Asch will be involved as well.  Tear continues to show how much in the dark she is about Mohs, firmly believing him to want peace when Ion, Jade, and even Van know otherwise, which makes me question if her antagony against Van really is a family matter like she had told Ion or was another lie she was told.

Guy reunites with Luke, and brings along a few explanations along the way:  the first episode showed the man freaking out at a maid’s question for apparently no reason, which is revealed to be gynophobia.  While it’s there for a few laughs, there’s also some deeper meaning to it as he also is missing a part of his memory that is rooted to be when his family died.  Memories of a women falling are triggered when Anise jumps on him.  The woman looks too young to be his mother, and RPG plot experience leads me to believe this woman isn’t dead.

Van’s reappearance follows right after Guy’s as well, not showing any hostility towards Tear upon their encounter.  Van claims to have no connections to Mohs, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s in the clear either.  Although he hasn’t had much screen time, there is definitely something about him that doesn’t sit well with me; Jade and Guy apparently think same thing as they stare at him towards the end of the episode (Tear does too, but eh…)

We’re also introduced to the antagonist group of the series, the Six God-Generals, who are subordinates under Van’s command but are also part of the Grand Maestro Faction, hence their attack on the Tartarus to secure Ion.  The group isn’t exactly very close with each other, in particular Asch’s attitude towards the dual-pistol totting Legretta the Quick and scholar-like Dist the Reaper.  As they too are technically part of the Order of Lorelei, they also have a few links to Luke’s group, Legretta being one of Tear’s superiors, along with Arietta the Wild who was raised by the Liger Queen in the Cheagle Woods (making Mieu responsible for having her cry! >_<), and from her bickering with Anise was Ion’s original Fon Master Guardian.  Arietta also seems to be reluctant in carrying out the groups orders, apologizing to Van and reporting that Asch is the one who told her to kidnap the engineer.  Masked fighter Sync the Tempest also seems to have a connection with Guy after his mask is knocked off.  Also, he kinda looks like Soldat-J or Anime Tenchou with his little visor on.

Jade’s short fight with Largo the Black Lion also surprised me, I didn’t expect someone from the fabled God-Generals to be taken out in such a short time span plus a complete lack of any character development, which leads me to believe that he’s probably still alive, despite Luke’s spazzing.

And overall, the biggest question is Asch’s relation to Luke.  Asch specifically commanded Dist to capture and analyze Luke at Choral Castle, and he was also the one to answer Luke’s reactions to his killing of a soldier.   He’s also fairly quick to want Luke, Jade, and Tear disposed of until Legretta interrupts him, but that may be a quirk in his personality as “Asch the Bloody.”  Asch doesn’t seem to exactly be Final Boss material at the moment, but I can see him being a constant menace in the future.

PREVIEW

Looks like the group indeed does make it back to Baticul, with Natalia among the greeting party no less, so that means the party will be complete if she decides to bring her bow now.  Dist is attacking while the party is on a ship, Mohs is making his appearance, and Luke’s having another “headache,” but it doesn’t seem to be hurting him.

Oh GAWD, I love it…

Oh GAWD, don’t make me choose!