Valvrave: The Liberator

Ryo essentially hit on my opinion of his mindset, except I think he probably has already assumed/worked out that it wasn't entirely straightforward. I would also possibly agree with the opinion that it's not Saki's first time, and possibly specifically not the first time someone has forced themselves on her.
 
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So I thought that was about an exciting a concluding episode as they could have made for this season. The pre-credit sequence gave me those raw chills, they wove a bunch of little storylines together perfectly, and season 2 can't come quickly enough. I need to think harder about spoiler-related thoughts, but this thread deserved some activity after such a great ep.
 
I completely agree, that was a magnificent finale to the first season. I was satisfied long before the episode was over thanks to more future flashbacks with Saki, the realistic (and heartbreaking) reaction to Haruto's proposal, toasting the VVVs to stop them, SUPERMARKET, hacking-by-bludgeoning and the cool teamwork on display in the fight out in space.

Then they pulled off a climax which topped all of that, and that next episode preview has me desperate for more. Cain has really proven himself now as a worthy adversary. I loved that H-Neun was watching, though I'm a little worried about him given the next episode preview ^^;

Confession: the first time I watched the opening scene I thought "Oh, that child must belong to Haruto and L-Elf" before catching myself.

R
 
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As I commented to Ath when he mentioned SUUUPAAA, Akira's mini-arc has been handled much to my agreement. The atmosphere around her in the build up to this episode has wavered nicely, first with the "obvious" theater that was the progression of her relationship with Shoko, to the far more realistic verdict last week that, in fact, "normals" like Shoko don't really understand hikikomori as well as they would like to think. I appreciate that this week, with it being the end of the season, they had to speed things back up to better support the dramatic pacing, but it has felt like a very full character arc even within the small screen time that she has received. They even saved the best until last with the illusion that she was going to be thwarted just when she had finally brought herself to action, and then... AND THEN. So epic.
 
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I wasn't that keen on Akira being the final pilot from what we had seen so far even though a lot of people were suggesting it; I didn't think she would be tough enough, and felt it would be annoying if she was coaxed out of her shell too easily. Her freakout in the previous episode was touching though, and she was so cute this week! I loved how quickly she got to grips with her machine since those were some exciting action scenes.

The show's characterisation has been surprisingly sensitive even with the huge spread of different personality types in the roster.

R
 
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I'm glad they redone this now that the show is finished (spoilers if you haven't seen the later episodes, I guess).

 
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If a future volume comes with a special CD (or DVD!) of the seiyuu saying his name in increasingly angry ways for an hour or so, I'll import the series twice. Especially if Fukuyama Jun gets star billing.

R
 
Right so, based on the fact that this is the first show in a while to have its own discussion thread, and the fact that I could use some light entertainment after finally finishing all my college work, I've decided to dip into this. I watched the first two eps, and despite usually not being a huge fan of mech shows, I'm enjoying this. It's all gloriously OTT.

Though, despite the show being rammed full of every anime cliche imaginable, there was one that particularly annoyed me,

The whole "I can't tell Shoko I love her, I'm a freak" thing. I mean, he's less a freak and more an indestructible mech hero. Realistically, his confidence and ego would be through the roof right now. I initially thought he was going to come from the "I've turned into a heartless killer" angle, which would have been a lot more plausible.

Oh and...

How the hell did that boy with the grey hair let himself get arrested at the end of episode 2?! He had a gun and a hostage in the form of that school girl in the cockpit...why did he use neither? :s

Aside from that, its great though.
 
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While I have a feeling that it might just make your head explode with rage instead, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on the first point after you get to the episode (10) which kicked off this thread, Vash :)

And L-Elf's wisdom should never be questioned. Er, maybe.

R
 
Rui said:
If a future volume comes with a special CD (or DVD!) of the seiyuu saying his name in increasingly angry ways for an hour or so, I'll import the series twice. Especially if Fukuyama Jun gets star billing.
Click to expand...
I will actually stop importing it if this isn't included somewhere down the line.
 
OK, so I've watched up to episode 5 I think. My two queries in my previous post where answered (sort of) straight away, though one has wonder how our hero can trust himself in isolated situations with people. I know he hasn't done it in awhile, but he might start trying to chop necks again!. The end of ep 5 was pretty good, I loved that song :lol: and the unexpected (though I expected it) romantic developments too.
 
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I thought episode 12 closed the first season on a high with a really good episode and the first season did exactly what I expected, can't wait for October to come round.
 
Late to the game, but the last two episodes where pretty darn good. I feel i'm going to echo Rui on my thoughts with episode 11, so i'll start there.

The whole segment with Saki and Haruto was pretty intense, haruto never once getting to ask anything on the matter, and saki never really giving a straight answer. What i found made it more interesting was the way it feels like a clash being pretty...socially inept? The awkward feeling between the two is quite evident throughout and it really felt like the best way to approach the "rape" from the episode 10. However saying that, i'm still under the impression that the AI is very much the one that caused it.

Shoko as well just gets hit with more and more bad things, even if she doesn't realise some of them. I think after seeing her losing her dad on camera, and by an oblivious haruto, all i can feel is sorry for her. Saying that, while this wasn't the only reason, i do feel this kind of helps me identify her as probably the best character of the series. I want to say Saki, but Shoko just feels more...interesting at the moment. Also easier to get emotionally attached to.

Now for episode 12. What an end to the first series. Sunrise just threw so much at us that i have more questions than they gave me answers.

Firstly, haruto getting rejected was a little expected, but i still feel sorry for him. He's trying to "make things right" and only gets stopped in doing so. The "forward flashback" was interesting too, and makes me wonder who that kid is. But what an episode to end on. Cain is linked to the "magius" AI-chan talks, and has a brother, unit 2 works, Akira gets unit 6(i honestly said "NO WAY" as this happened, i was so expecting this to be shokos unit). If there is anything sunrise are good at, it's cliffhanger endings. Code Geass did it well, now Valvrave has too.

I honestly think that, there maybe too much content to cover in just two series of 12 episodes. There is obviously a reason they split the seasons up, maybe to gauge interest, but i think there is a lot they could cover in this universe, and i'd be more than happy to learn more about it.
 
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Just watched ep 8 since I was reminded last night that I've been neglecting this for vastly inferior shows :p. It was good as usual, gotta love that genius grey haired kid, I also liked the line about adding sugar and coffee to go with the main characters sentimentality or whatever :lol:
 
Finished it. Agree with the others who said the last ep ended on a strong note. As for the whole "big twist" in ep 10 though, it was a bit meh really. I was expecting something truly mind blowing, but what I got was an unnecessary rape scene. Yet it somehow wasn't shocking either, maybe because (as I've already mentioned in this thread) I've been expecting "complicated developments" so to speak, in Haruto and Saki's relationship right from the get go, and add that to a bit of an odd rape scene where (despite the heavy handed contrasting between the rape and Shoko's innocent declaration of love and youth) Saki immediately acquiesced to the process, and Haruto is just as much of a victim, as he's not in control of his body. So all I can say it was a bit meh. A bit weird really and a bit out of tone to the rest of series, but not a great twist, and didn't provoke any great emotion in me. The characters in this show are just too weak to give such a act the weight it deserves. If this wasn't a world full of card board cut out clichés, it might have more interesting implications, but it won't, and that's clear to see in how the show dealt with it over the two subsequent episodes, which basically amounted to nothing more than Haruto embarrassingly and hopelessly proposing to Saki as a gesture while catching his breath between action scenes. Terrible stuff. Very cringe.
 
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Well, Valvrave's back so it's time to revive this thread!

Valvrave 13

Glad to see the craziness is as strong as ever.

The transition from wrapping up episode 12 to "We're on the Moon and now a cause celebre!" was a bit abrupt, but otherwise this picked up right where we left off. I'll never get sick of the kids playing politics angle as well. Saki offering herself to Haruto was interesting. I'm still troubled with the way the events at the end of episode 10 occured, but I think I'm starting to see what they are trying to do here. We'll see how that particular thread develops. I chuckled a lot when Haruto said "L'Elf. From now on, I'm going to feed on no-one but you" :lol: The relationship between the two will be key to this season. I also like that Haruto seems to have found his resolve to do something by the end of the episode.

All-in-all there's still plenty of intrigue and insanity there for Valvrave to continue to be one of the most unpredictable yet entertaining series out there. There's still plenty of trainwreck potential as well. :p I'm itching to see how the rest of the series will play out.
 
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