The series hits more visual high notes as events build ever higher. What They Say:
Finally, the birth of the true Tamayori princess.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With the death of her grandmother, Tamaki has finally come to realize that while she was being manipulated by her for her own ends, she’s been just as controlled as she has. Fate has worked hard against this family and what they’ve had to do for generations and though it was a must-do situation for her, she still has feelings about it and in her own way regretted what she put Tamaki through. But as events come to a head, Tamaki is certainly likely to be unlike women of the past in the family line simply because of changes in society and the way women tend to be at least a little less subservient than they were in generations past. But it may just be the death of her grandmother overall that spurs her to confronting fate on her own terms.
Because of all of this, she accepts her role as the Tamayori princess in a big way, going so far as to truly accept the invitation of the Guardians to fight with her. She’s not one that’s been against fighting in the past and has been more proactive at times than a lot of characters in this position tend to be. So seeing her shift into this mode isn’t a surprise, but it is welcome to see the Guardians form around her while also making sure that she is allowed to fight as well in her own way rather than their goal being solely to protect her. And it’s certainly necessary as the opponent that they first must face, Eins, has been completely corrupted by the power at hand and is ready to become a god himself at this point.
With Eins having gained so much power, it pushes the Guardians to act against him rather easily and provides for some good sequences overall, especially considering the color and animation style that really connects well with it here. Unfortunately, Tamaki is mostly kept to the sidelines during it, but this lets the more physical side of the cast go at it for a bit while she’s protected, since Eins really isn’t the end goal. Everything builds well here across the board, especially as Aria and those around her come into play and Vier manipulates her more and more for his own end goals. With the fight as the backdrop, it works well to give us something that is growing in scale while still firmly rooted within the characters that we superficially know.
In Summary:
Hiiro no Kakera has certainly had a slow first half to this season, but once it got rolling things have definitely been appealing, at least from a visual and action point of view. The characters still don’t do all that much for me as there’s just a shallow feeling about them, but the story does move forward well here through the use of action. The animation is good throughout and the designs and magic/supernatural aspects are very, very well handled. The show as a whole may be weak in some ways, but it’s delivering what I expected at this point with some good set pieces and choreography that makes for some exciting fight scenes. If this was one of just a handful of shows I was watching, or perhaps in marathon form, I can see a stronger bond forming with it. The weekly aspect weakens it a bit in the end, but the series has built up to an engaging ending with next weeks episode.
Grade: B
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
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