天下制覇

We be here to pillage yer booty!

Impressions:

What the hell was with that fade-out to end the series? That was so cheesey and strange. Now that’ll be the lasting memory I have of this series… the Nanyo troops all dolled up in armor stolen from Dynasty Warriors and just sort of pasted on top of them. Not all the major characters though, Gakushuu got a fade out, but not Kann-u or Shoukyou. What’s up with that? Even Saji (either Saji) wasn’t included, unless that’s his elbow on the right side of the screen.

Anyway, finale was pretty much exactly as expected. Saji was saved by the power of… not really much of anything… and Ryofu beat up Ryomou for a little bit before turning into magical sparklies. Then everybody had cake and went home happy. I think I’d have been happier if instead of a sisterly hug, Shoukyou had just grabbed Koukin and played a quick one period game of tonsil hockey before things ended. Apparently they decided that Hakufu’s sisterly love was more important. Well, at least it’s less incestuous than the normal Koukin x Hakufu vibes I suppose.

Final thoughts at the bottom.

Kann-u looks up at the full moon. Ryuubi chastises her for being up and about. She then notices that Kann-u’s got a book… it’s the one that Ryuubi had at the amusement park. Ryuubi’s happy that Kann-u’s taking an interest. It’d be happy if everybody shared the same feelings all around.

Rakkyou is trashed… and green apparently. Ouin is unconscious under a tree.

Hakufu and Shoukyou run away from the energy, but it reaches out and grabs Shoukyou. Hakufu punches it and it dissipates, letting her grab Shoukyou. The energy fades into a very possessed Saji who tells them that they’re not getting away. Hakufu tells her that she’s being weird and it’s the power. Saji just laughs.

Hakufu provides the oh so ever badly needed exposition that this is Ryomou’s dragon. Thanks Hakufu. Wouldn’t have known that without you. Hakufu wants to know what happened to Ryomou. Saji points behind them, and then fades away. Ryomou, in battle maid dress, steps out of the shadows and rushes them.

The floor collapses with the blow and Ryomou stands over Hakufu’s unconscious body. Ryomou steps forward to finish off Hakufu, but leaps away just in time to avoid Ryofu’s kick. Certainly Ryomou’s powerful now, but Ryofu’s still stronger. Hakufu wakes up to see the two about to fight.

Ryofu tells Hakufu that her lunch was delicious, letting Hakufu know that the ‘real’ Ryofu is back. Ryofu says that Ryomou’s the same as Ryofu was, wrapped in Saji’s magic.

The shadows grab Shoukyou. Ryofu tells Hakufu to go after her important sister. Ryomou attacks, and Ryofu puts her in a headlock and chases off Hakufu. Then she turns to Ryomou and says that they’re going to have some fun.

Koukin runs somewhere.

Quick flashback to Kakouton saying that they’ve got to take Sousou home. The dark energy is completely swarming out of Rakkyou now.

Saji has the power to fight now, to punish all those that hurt her. She tells all this to Shoukyou. The power of the dragon has released the true power of the dragon, and nobody can save her now.

Hakufu throws open a door and a giant dragon stares at her from above Saji and Shoukoyu. Hakufu demands that Saji return her sister. Saji laughs and sends little serpants to attack Hakufu. She beats them back, but the intertwine to form a dragon that attacks.

It knocks Hakufu back, but Koukin catches her ("Nice catchdesuwa!"). That’s the power of Saji Genpou with Ryomou’s dragon. Hakufu asks him what they’re supposed to do.

Shoukyou tries to talk Saji into opening her heart, into realizing that these people are all fighting for what’s in their hearts. That’s the true power of their soul. Saji yells at her to shut up and then grins evilly. The giant serpant turns to Shoukyou. She flinches, but then stops and glares at it.

Saji yells at her. Why isn’t she scared? Shoukyou has faith that Saji wouldn’t kill her. Hakufu and Koukin are running to attack, so they’re far less morally ambiguous to eat with a giant bone dragon. As they get close to it, the dragon splits back into serpents. They wonder what this means.

Saji’s headache gets worse. Koukin provides the helpful exposition that the power of the dragon is too much. Saji’s clothing explodes and she falls to her knees. The power of the dragon… she didn’t want this. Shoukyou comforts her and tells her that she doesn’t need the power of the dragon. She’s amazing already.

Hakufu says that’s right, because they’re friends.

They all properly introduce themselves (well, Shoukyou calls herself Sonken). As Saji tries to say her own name, the snakes coil again and try to attack, but Hakufu punches them away with glowy blue power. In the face of magical blueness, the shadows disperse, and Saji introduces herself to them. Smiles all around.

Ryofu and Ryomou’s fight continues. They’re in Toutaku’s garden. Ryofu narrates; her life, her power, her ideals, everything about her, she wouldn’t forgive Ryomou for forgetting them.

She punches Ryomou down. Ryofu looks at her hand as it starts to fade. Ryomou takes the opportunity to attack, but Ryofu easily kicks her in the gut. Ryomou grabs her shoulders, but Ryofu counters it and tackles Ryomou onto the flowerbed. Ryofu yells at Ryomou to listen. Live every day to 100%. Live as Ryomou Shimei, not as a toushi. The dragon returns to Ryomou’s eye and she comes back to her senses as Ryofu starts to turn into sparklies.

Hakufu arrives, and Ryofu thanks her for the fun they had. Ryofu says goodbye to Ryomou as she disappears.

The sparklies blow outside and into the air. Ryomou starts crying and angrily says that she had more to say to Ryofu.

Some time later. Business as usual at Koukin’s. Unvoiced montage of various things. Hakufu in the bath, Saji in school uniform. Everybody going off to school with Ouin (back in Saji haircolor) waiting for them. He even flirts with Ryomou a bit.

Afterward (still unvoiced), they all go visit Seito, where Saji apparently apologizes to them and Kann-u/the others forgive her. Then they have a picnic where Ryuubi handfeeds Kann-u.

After that, they visit Ryofu’s grave. As Saji prays, she hears Ryofu’s voice thanking her.

Shoukyou says that she promised that she’d go home now. Apparently Saji’s going with her. Hakufu tells her to let her know if anybody picks on her and Hakufu’ll beat them up. Shoukyou thanks them and says good bye. Hakufu corrects her with a hug and says that it’s just for now. They’re important sisters, which is why she has to come back. Both are fighting back tears as they part.

Koukin narrates the final ending. Blah blah, destiny, toushi, happy days, and the weirdest damn final picture to end a series on ever.

Final Thoughts:

Well, everything was a lot more consistent this season than Dragon Destiny’s roller coaster ride of art and animation quality. The problem here though, is that it was consistently quite a bit worse. What’s the point of averaging out all the bumps if you’re never going to do anything to amaze me? Off the top of my head, I can think of about four really awesome fight scenes from Dragon Destiny, and I haven’t watched that in over a year. I can’t even think of a single particularly well done GG action scene outisde of the one that opened the series and it just ended. Instead, when I think about GG’s ‘action,’ the shark kicking scene comes to mind. The best fight was Kakouton and Myosai, and that was completely meaningless in the scheme of things.

Add to this the pretty uncompelling new characters of Saji and Shoukyou, as well as the rewrite of Ryofu as some kind of tragic feminine waterlily, and it really feels like they missed the point here. Shoukyou served absolutely no purpose whatsoever, and Saji was about as unmenacing as they come. Nobody is scared of a little girl who is mad at the world because people picked on her on the playground. While I’m thinking of that, why the hell did they bring up Shoukyou being at the playground during the bully scene if they weren’t going to actually use it for anything? I didn’t like the rewrite of Kann-u as some kind of desperate lesbian stalker either. Let her be a stoic and quiet lesbian, not a punchline.

So yeah… all in all, it was a pretty weak season to me. Not enough action, the character writing was all over the place, and too much shark fighting. It kills me to think of all the ways that this could have been a really awesome series, starting with cutting away basically everything with the Seito gang and their filler adventures (magical beads!) and actually animating all the fight scenes instead of throwing up a couple stills and buggering off for an early beer. So overall, I’m not terribly pleased with this season. It had potential. It’s hard not to when you’ve got (the original) Ryofu Hosen running around, but then she was rewritten, the budget was slashed, and… well… the last thing we see are the mighty Nanyo pirates, out sailing for booty in the seas of Japan.

Why? Just… why?