For a moment there I forgot I was *not* holding a game controller--

[aethracaelis]

-- and that I was not looking some gratuitously long cutscenes from a Pokémon-type game or some JRPG where the hero has constant flashbacks about his unrequited childhood cougar love mom (this reminds me, I have to beat Little Big Planet, but I digress).

Today, I hit two birds with one stone just so I don't fall behind too much. I did say I'd catch up last week, but... >.>;; yeah.

No Izzard today but I just thought that if anyone would like to play Souma, there should be an obligatory reference to COFFEE: punchforcoffee, coffee_by_fire, flaming_brews, cat_got_coffee, saintlyinfodumpovercoffee (dw only :P)

Episode 2: I symbolically shatter a Saint Crystal to summon my light-affinity Persona

Likes:

I'll be joining you gentlefolk in the Souma love. I do like me my hotheads, coffee lovers and energetic kitties. Traumatic Past ^TM (I actually pray that I won't be disappointed with this) is icing on the cake.

Transformation sequences still make me roll my eyes, though there are two things that made me smile: (1) that Lionet taking beast form in the sky to leap onto Souma as a Cloth. That was disgustingly cute. :3< Now I have an image of Souma rolling in the grass with the Lionet beast. It's a happy thought; (2) the sfx used when Pegasus is donned by Kouga has the same sfx as when Seiya wore his in the Classic series -- nice touch, TOEI but it'll take more to blind me with that.

I'm still liking the animation of some fight moves and Kouga being tossed around by his ankle takes home the award for Sweeping the Soil with Saint Scrublets.

Other likes: Tatsumi's ominous glare and Kouga being deathly afraid of the man (heh. He should take a few lessons from Ikki).


Stand-out Dislikes:

Saint Pokémon. Elemental Affinities/Attributes. I watched the first half of the episode during breaktime at work and I was only glad the connection ragequitted on me or else I would have ragequitted on the episode on the spot. I like my elemental references in fiction as much as the next person -- Hunter x Hunter, Naruto, Yoroiden Samurai Troopers, Captain Planet (!!) -- but it's one of the things that I feel that the Saint Seiya franchise does not need. Burning one's Cosmo is cool and flexible and works in such a way that you can have a myriad of attack forms without confining yourself to elements (eg. Libra is an air sign, yet Dohko and Shiryu clearly have water-based attacks; Sagitarius is a fire sign, yet Sisyphus, Aioros and Seiya only have fire as figurative character qualities and not as basis for their Sainthood and attacks). I see this as a cop-out and a cheap way to draw audiences in with elements taken from the more popular anime series of the recent decade.

I'm sorry Mantis guy. The "blind" fight scene was long nailed by the Twin Black Dragon Saints and just felt more significant. I know that the episode serves to show the audience Kouga's learning, and a glimpse of Souma's motivations, but it just feels flat and anticlimactic.

I love Hikaru Midorikawa, I really do. But if only looking forward to his performance as one half of my primary motivation to watch the show? It's not enough.


As for the next episode, I had a lot of ideas as to how I can convey my feelings in a one-liner header, but crass as it is, what you see below describes my feelings aptly.

Episode 3: I have to get used to Omega killing my figurative boner

I believe in all things good. I like giving people and things their chances and I like that feeling of hope I get whenever I think something good is happening. This episode however, just enjoys seeing my hopes fly high just so it can shoot them down.

Also Yuna? CLAMP called -- they said they needed their feathers back. 8|

And in no specific order:

My Hopes	-- and what shattered them.
Oh! Shiny Saint training grounds!	Hogwarts.
...	YUNA and everything she is: the tutu, the fighting style, the voice, the personality.
GEKIIII \8D/	(Seeing Geki was such a real treat, seeing him gives me so much hope :'3~ )
Oh! Lots of trainees! :o Sainthood must be something that's pursued--	by idiots, apparently (see: Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle Spear and co.)
Kouga doing something awesome and breaking rules! Go Kouga! Show 'em you've got the cojones to do it!	Scrublet runs away. 8|;;
Oh hey, Yuna's a studious Saint! There is hope--	no there isn't. Yeah, keep on walking you brat. B|
OH FUCK YES A FIGHT. And YUNA ACTUALLY SAYING SOMETHING COOL--	FUCKING. DIVINE. TORNADO.

-- and just. YUNA. Oh my GOD. I had the hope that perhaps seeing her in action would balance out my burning hatred for her design, but all it did was just make me hate her more. And her giggly posse at the end of the episode? *flips tables at them*

If you hated Yuna's failed attempt at capoeira, here's some brainbleach in the form of King of Fighters (or in my case, it's a shot that will allow me to watch the next episode without flipping too many tables) because Soirée clearly knows how to use his legs better than Yuna and he doesn't need a freaking tutu and ~feathers~ to look awesome: