Symphonic☆Panty

Friday, December 07, 2007

Venus Versus Virus vol. 6

Venus... versus what..?
No... no, sorry doesn't ring a bell, really.

I'M KIDDING! As soon as I saw this volume finally come out, I ordered it faster than I could wipe the drool off my chin. I mean, it's been over half a year since the last one ffs. Not to mention the last volume left us with a bit of a cliff hanger at that.

So, was this volume worth the wait? Hmmm.... ( ´ε ` )

Read the rest!

Let's see, shall we?
Well, this probably goes without saying by now, but this volume starts right where the last left off. ...I mean really. Like, mid-conversation.

Lola continues on about just how she was able to know where Sumire was last volume by explaining her connection to Lyla (..if this stuff all seems so long ago to some people, I don't blame you. Feel free to skim over what happened here.)
Meanwhile however, Lucia isn't listening to a word of Lola's account, as she's still far too preoccupied with what she just said earlier: a man named Lucif -- Lucia's father -- took Lyla away. But how?

*poof*!!

And as if the question Lucia asked was some sort of incantation, Nahashi appears! Back already, eh? Lucia promptly demands an explanation from him as to why the fact that her father is still alive was kept away from her, and before he can even unpack his things, Nahashi's bounding back into flashback mode.

Nahashi recalls when he first returns to Lucia's home country (the name.. still not given) and to his old Professor's estate, and thus back to when he met Lola, who knew all about him. But why? Oh, I'll tell ya why.
You see, although their adopted father (or grandfather, rather) has technically passed on already, his mind is still kicking, which is why he's currently being preserved in that ice.... thing. Lola goes on to explain that as she and her sister are both telepaths they are still able to communicate with him, frozen or not. It was through this that Lola was told who to expect, after getting Nahashi's letter that he was coming over.

But once Nahashi stands before his Professor, he all of a sudden decides to stay tight lipped (I can't stop thinking of puns.. (;´Д`) ), and refuses to answer the questions Nahashi has traveled so far in order to ask him. Instead, Nahashi tells Lola all of what has been happening in Japan; news which compels Lola to travel to the country in order to see why her sister has a hand in the mayhem. It isn't until later that Nahashi once again implores the Professor to answer his questions, which he finally does! ...in a way.
Actually, a part of the ice that he was encased in sort of chipped off.. Nahashi took this as a sign that his Professor wanted to communicate with him through Lola, thus the reason why he has returned.

Thankfully, his assumption was correct (wouldn't it be something if it wasn't?). Once Lola grasps the ice, the Professor immediately begins to speak through the girl, about the chain of events that occurred when Lucia was an infant.

Well, much to her obvious dismay, Lilith, Lucia's mother, was beginning to have nightmares where she would actually kill Lucia. At the same time, the elemental markings and eye color were beginning to fade from Lucif and appear in Lucia. On the night of a meteor shower, Lilith wakes up from just such a dream. Lucif believes he sees the Magician we met last volume outside the window, and chases after him in beliefs that he's the source of these nightmares. Afraid for her husband's safety (and senses) Lilith eventually chases after him. Upon their reuniting, Lucif slays her. As the Professor and Nahashi only arrive at that scene, we're left to wonder why. As she dies, Lilith asks Nahashi to take care of her daughter, and keep her on the path of light.

A little later, Sumire dreams she's still at the Planetarium, but is being attacked by a Yoshiki-turned-virus. Lucia promptly appears to kill him, but Sumire thereupon goes berserk and returns the favor.
As she wakes up, Lucia is asleep at her bedside. Sumire notices that, but perhaps only accidentally, as she soon remembers that she left Yoshiki at the Planetarium and feels she must find out if he's all right. Thus, leaving (the apparent deep sleeper) Lucia, Sumire gets out of bed and dashes downtown, only to find that the once destroyed Planetarium is still in tact. What's going on..?

Impressions:

....And so ends an incredibly confusing and busy 1st chapter. It rather felt to me as if things were perhaps moving at light speed, but that might have just been because I was a little anxious, and was reading quickly. ..Or maybe a little of both. ...Wait, that's right, there's a whole book left..
(I swear, not as busy as that was).

Upon leaving the immaculate Planetarium, the main thing on Sumire's mind is where could Yoshiki-san be? Is he all right? Well we don't know. What we do know is that Sumire is acting pretty crazy and once found by Nahashi and Lola is coaxed to return home and get some rest. But not before being chewed out by Lucia for not letting her know she was awake (some thanks!).
..But Lucia can't stay mad for long. Once the two girls return to their room, she asks if she could come over to Sumire's bed (eh? (;ﾟдﾟ)) and explain to her what was found out earlier in the evening. Lucia discloses her new mission for the future -- of how to deal with her father, and to help Sumire protect those she cares about.

..What's that Lucia? You know all about Sumire's boyfriend?
And you're gonna help her find him, too? Wow, Lucia, you're such a good friend!! ミ☆
(....wait, what?!)

But thankfully...

Ticklish.. （　*・ω・）

..that's more like it.

So the next day, Lucia and Sumire search for clues for where Yoshiki could be; stopping by the usual park, visiting his school, asking his friends, etc. Along the way we also get a cute scene where after Sumire becomes quite depressed upon finding out that Yoshiki's been hiding a cellphone from her, Lucia dismisses love as a far too complicated and perhaps bothersome emotion.
However, Lucia reassures Sumire, saying that they'll definitely find this Yoshiki guy eventually, and that as long as they're together, it will be all right.

Little do they know, Yoshiki is actually in the custody of Ruka and Lyla. Aaaaand it's time for another flashback.

So that's what happened...

Remember when we last left Sonoka and Yoshiki, Sonoka unsheathing her sword, and then the spattering of blood? ..Well, there y'go.
The rest of the scene is narrated by Ruka, who tells us that the last things she remember before blacking out was watching that scene, hearing Yoshiki mumble a few words, and finally catching his gaze for a moment. We then find out Ruka is now against her will trapped inside her own body, currently inhabited by Sonoka's spirit. ..Oh, okay.

Oh yes, I almost forgot -- in order to counteract the stronger baddies, Lucia and Sumire themselves get upgraded a bit as well. Sumire getting a new bracelet that can now handle more than one vaccine application at once. But it's Lucia however who gets the lion's share of the improvements (much needed, at that). In addition to gaining a new, more portable gun, we learn of her mysterious (even to her) ability to control fire as inherited from her father. The details of it are a little muddy at first, and she hasn't been able to try out using it until now, as Nahashi gives her a lighter which can hold a flame for long periods of time. Which is something she'll need for this next part..

Later on, Lola meets up with Lyla after getting a telepathic signal on where they should meet. Consequently, Lyla wanted to hand over a letter to Lola. That's all. See ya later, sis.
Naturally unsatisfied with such a meaningless reunion, Lola decides to get serious.

Another 2-page spread. Just for the hell of it.

Lola demands that Lyla come back with her. Of course Lyla refuses, which only makes Lola that much more angrier. When she yells at her older sister not to leave her alone again, Lyla then invites Lola to join her with Ion. Lucia and Sumire step in in time to snap Lola out of her senses, and a short battle ensues. And Lucia's finally the one who sees most of the action again! Good for her~

But enough of that, while Lyla's still preoccupied, Lola performs a quick version of a mind meld with her sister, entering her psyche in an attempt to figure out why she's behaving so coldly to her own sister... but she only encounters Ion. Lyla gets up and blabbers on for a bit about that Key and Gate stuff we've heard before. It becomes clear that this was never Lyla to begin with, but rather Ion using the girl as a vessel to do his bidding.

Back at Venus Vangard, the gang eventually reads the letter (that had to be deciphered by Lucia's eye). It basically restates the same thing Ion told them through Lyla, but this time, as Lola is cognitive, she is able to channel her grandfather through the ice chunk once more to shine a light onto the whole cryptic Gate/Key message.

In a rather lengthy speech, he reveals everything we learned about Ion's plan to rewrite the world last volume, and also lets Lucia and Sumire know that the Gate and Key actually refer to them. On top of that we learn that Lilith's essence as a former Key is within Sumire. We learn more about Lucia's abilities. We learn why Sumire's abilities only began to appear after pricking her finger on Lucia's brooch. We learn all these things and more during the Professor's speech, which is unfortunately cut short when Yoshiki-turned-Ion apparently destroys the Professor's ice chunk with mind bullets. Upon doing so, Lola is no longer able to hear her grandfather's voice, nor is she able to sense Lyla's presence.
This sends her into quite a panic and she dashes upstairs, Lucia chasing after her. Sumire thus has her own peculiar scene where she begins to yell at the letter. But before we get a chance to laugh at her, the scene turns serious once more as she recognizes the familiar, sweet aroma about the paper -- it's the same one from the park -- the same one from whenever she was with Yoshiki-san.

dun dun DUUuuahh, whatever.

Aah AAH! Before I forget!

At the end of the volume, we get a pretty funny short of a not so average day in Venus Vangard, where Lucia and Sumire decide (or rather for Lucia, it's decided) to play dress up. Hilarity ensues.

END!

Impressions (for real, this time):
I think the first thing I noticed about this volume was how bloody thick it was -- it's really probably the longest one since the first. I usually read through a volume in one go, but this time I actually had to take a break or two to fall asleep (not out of boredom. I was genuinely quite tired. ...Okay, maybe a little out of boredom).

I'm certainly glad that Lucia's becoming useful again, especially since Sumire's starting to get on my nerves a little! ( ´∀`)ノ
Besides that, it was certainly a very eventful volume on the information side. ..For the characters anyway. Most of this stuff we've already guessed... or we watched the anime, whichever. Ah, but really this volume is starting to really show how much the manga is diverging from the anime, isn't it? "Thank Heavens" only begins to describe my relief.

On the yuri side of things, well.. I guess it's getting pretty obvious by now that Lucia's feelings for Sumire are reaching something much closer to love. Sumire however is still quite occupied with a male love interest (where have I seen this scenario before..?). But will their relationship change now that they know how they're connected? C'mooon, incest ain't so bad.
Just look at Candy Boy.

Ah, speaking of which (no, not Candy Boy..), with so much divulged in this volume, it really makes you wonder how many more are left. As long as no new villians with a new agenda and such are introduced, I don't really see VVV going on longer than maybe 4 or so more volumes. Which I guess may be a good thing. I really hate it when series overstay their welcome.
Though on the other hand, I've been getting a very strange feeling that at this rate, the story may in fact end rather bleakly. Or rather, bittersweet at best. Especially on Lucia's side. I hope I'm wrong though..

Thankfully, unlike the last vol, we're let in when the next volume will be out -- spring next year~

Labels: Venus Versus Virus

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Sunday, May 13, 2007

Venus Versus Virus vol. 5

Figures it could only be VVV to make me bother to start writing again.

Well, the good thing about volume 5 is that it certainly proves to be more informative and exciting than its predecessor. Unfortunately, the bad part is that in general, this volume might not be considered as "fun" as volume 4 by most. What with how little time we spend seeing Lucia and Sumire anywhere near each other. ...But who knows, maybe I can have a little fun making fun of how unfun it was.
Or something.

Read the rest!

Once again, we start right where the last volume left off. Ruka has a most pressing question for Sonoka-sama: Exactly what's up with these fragments we're collecting? And why are we doing this in the first place? And why the heck aren't we allowed to just kill that eye-patch chick and her squeaky friend??
All very good questions. However, before Ruka can admit that she's beginning to lose faith in her mistress, Sonoka reminds her just why she's still around in the first place:

You're being glib, Ruka! I've done the research. You don't know psychiatry like I...wait.

So here's the deal -- one night little Ruka (whose name isn't actually Ruka, but we never learn it, so who cares..) was being chased by a mean ol' Virus. Just as the Virus tackles her and steals her fragment, a much younger Sonoka comes by and destroys the Virus with ease (all in a scene that slightly mirrors how Sumire and Lucia met. ...Except of course Sonoka's an ass and comes too late).
Before Ruka slips entirely into Virus-dom herself, she begs for Sonoka to save her life. Sonoka complies.. but only as long and Ruka will give herself over to her as her faithful pet. Upon her agreement, Sonoka inserts the fragment back inside of Ruka and gives her new name.

Zipping back to the present (I really wanted to see them in school uniforms more..) Sonoka and Ruka are holding hands as BFF's and Ruka restates her vow to remain faithful to Sonoka for as long as she lives. Which is all the more reason why she thinks she should know what Sonoka's motives are... so.. she could be even MORE faithful. ..Yeah.
Luckily, Sonoka agrees to tell Ruka, and we get a big long talk about their mission.
Here's the rundown:

(.. .... ...ooOOOOoooh.)

"Isn't it wonderful??" Sonoka asks Ruka, hugging herself so tightly that her fingernails pierce her arms.
Ruka's quick to agree, but on the inside, she speaks for all of us in that Sonoka just sounds like some crazy, religious fanatic. Poor Ruka.. Sonoka goes on to tell Ruka that going after Lucia and Sumire was never a part of their mission. However, now (that is, in the last volume) Ion has realized that those two also play a very important role. And he will need to use them once his current body is strong enough. Besides, it's not like a mere container like Ruka could actually take them down anyway.

Ruka takes some offense to this, claiming that she's the one using the power of the fragments, not the other way around. In fact if she just had more, she could easily take down both of them if she wanted to (granted, she seems unaware of how much she's beginning to madly crave them after she sees them all neatly sitting in a bowl next to her).
Sonoka decides to test her words by upgrading Ruka with one more wind fragment. Later, Gai walks in as well, and of course Sonoka doesn't want to play favorites, so..

But! Almost when we're beginning to forget exactly who this manga is about, we get to Venus Vangard finally to see what Lucia Sumire and Lola are up to. The answer being snack time.

O SHI- (;ﾟдﾟ)

Lucia waits no time at all in getting down to business with that little thing that's been bothering me since the last volume. And with one mention of Lyla's name, Lola makes the scariest face I've ever seen (which would be on the next page..). Always the mood breaker, before Lola could explain herself, she begins to choke on her food. But unlike Sumire, Lucia isn't at all fooled by the display. Lola admits that she knows Lyla and will explain more about them.... later. Now, however, she needs to get back to work.

Sumire also remembers that she needs to get going as well (to meet up with Yoshiki-san). When the two do meet up, however, they're stealthily tailed by Ruka, who's out to prove her theory correct (and maybe a little revenge). After the movie, the two are off to the Planetarium. ..Which little do they know, is unfortunately closed today.

Meanwhile Ruka, who's still been following them, laments over that fact that even though like Sumire, she too was once a normal girl that simply got caught up in this whole Virus mess. And yet why is it that Sumire's still able to live normally and have friends and smile so widely? ...Oh well. Time to kick the crap out of her.

Ruka Sanjou!

Ruka promptly begins to go after Sumire like all hell. Sumire uses her new bracelet (that Lola upgraded), but even after going Berserk still has some trouble taking this stronger Ruka on. Though in this state she is able to realize that something about Ruka's scent seems off today..
Either way, she retreats for some time to think up some sort of plan, and considers trying to press more than one of the vaccine buttons on her bracelet, but fears that the repurcussions might involve her losing control of herself again. But there's no time to dawdle, as Ruka's already caught up with her (that was fast) and prepares to attack.
Sumire quickly presses two of the buttons at the same time... but her bracelet falls apart. Ruka's attack hits Sumire in the leg, robbing her of her ability to walk, much less run away again. From the looks of it, Sumire's pretty fucked..
...That is, until Yoshiki steps in front of Ruka's attack, taking the full brunt and sending him to the floor. And because she's such a nice girl, Ruka decides to put Sumire's would-be-boyfriend out of his misery right in front of her.

Meanwhile at Venus Vangard, Lucia seems to sense something is amiss.. right when Lola bursts through the door screaming Sumire's in trouble. At the same time, Sonoka and Lyla watch the goings on themselves, with Sonoka exclaiming, "You've finally done it Ruka".

...Yoshiki has gotten up and deflected Ruka's attack... which takes her quite a bit by surprise (to put it lightly). He grabs Sumire, and..

(Ah. That's right. I think I should mention now that if you're not exactly the biggest fan of Yoshiki, the next page isn't going to be pretty.)

Sword in one hand, bitch in the other. Savin' the day.

..says that.
Then on, no matter what onslaught Ruka brings, Yoshiki deflects it with relative ease. All the while, Sumire can't believe what she's seeing.
At that moment, Gai makes his own flashy entrance and berates Ruka for trying to have all the fun by herself (note that Gai's showing up was not what Sonoka had planned). Meanwhile, Lucia is being driven to the scene by Lola (why... is Lola driving..?) and tells Sumire to stay safe until she gets there.

Yoshiki manages to keep the two at bay somewhat, but is beginning to have trouble guarding both his flanks. Thankfully, in dodging one of Ruka's attacks, Sumire realizes that she's regained the ability to walk. Not only that, but her leg no longer feels any pain.
In blocking an attack by Gai, Yoshiki impales him with a steel rod. He says a few magic words ("kaijou" = "open"), and every fragment is evacuated from Gai's body. Ruka tries to retreat, lest Yoshiki do the same to her, but instead, he just puts her to sleep for a while.

In the end, Yoshiki refuses to leave with Sumire, saying he has more to do. However, Sumire doesn't want to leave without him. He kisses her, and gives her a few final reassuring words, and it's either one or the other of those things that sends Sumire herself into a deep trance.

Outside the building, Lucia and Lola have finally arrived (just in time!) and is greeted by a very sedated Sumire who collapses into Lucia's arms. Lucia leaves Sumire with Lola (who's now rather pissed for being stuck with all the work) and heads deeper inside the facility. She doesn't get too far, though, thanks to an especially powerful forcefield, and is left with only a vision of a strange form and another one of those pesky searing pains in her left eye.

Back in the planetarium, Ruka wakes up to find a very hungry Virus-Gai on top of her. Her attacks have no affect on him, but thankfully Sonoka shows up just in time to kill him. Yoshiki is on the other side of the room with his own problems, however, grabbing his head, mumbling "what am I?", "what is it I have to do?" et cetera, et cetera.
Sonoka seems to be most pleased with his presence however, and while laughing madly, we're lead to believe that she gives him the same service she did for Gai.

Meanwhile, 15 years ago..

The last third of the volume is dedicated almost entirely to Nahashi's memory of his time as a student at the research facility where he's currently staying, up to the time of Lucia's birth. As you can see, "Nahashi" is not really his last name, but is instead a nickname Lilith decided to give him since his real one was too complicated. (Nahashi = Nahash = Hebrew for snake)
Also, Nahashi has no real ability to see Viruses himself, and the reason why he's decided to be a student of this facility is due to the fact that his older brother was able to see them (before he mysteriously disappeared..). So in order to be able to see Viruses, along with the markings that are on both Lucia and her parents, he uses those lenses he always wears.

Lucif, Lucia's father, makes a bit of a late appearance in this flashback. Apparently, he too worked on exterminating Viruses (Lucia would be just thrilled to hear that, I'm sure) and returns to the campus after he had a very damaging run in with a man who called himself a "Magician". It's important to note that his entire upper body were covered with elemental markings.

Back in the present, Lola finally decides to explain her connection to Lyla after Lucia asks to know just how she knew where Sumire was.
Apparently, when the two of them were about 5 Lola and Lyla (FYI, Lyla's the oneechan between the two..) were adopted by the professor at the research facility where Nahashi previously studied. The two share the power of telepathy and trusted no one but each other, and their adopted father. However, one day, Lyla was kidnapped by a mysterious cloaked person. Lucia at first assumes it's Sonoka's doings, but she's wrong. It was Lucif.

dun dun DUUUUUUUN.

Impressions:
Wow! So many questions!
Like what the heck's up with Yoshiki-san? Is he all right?

Will the manga be a yuri cop-out like how people feel about the anime? (let's hope not..)

And if Lola and Lyla aren't dolls like in the anime, just what are they?
..and why was Lola driving a car..??

But perhaps he most important question of all is:
Lucia: How do I became useless?

I don't know, Lucia. I just don't know.
But what I think we do know is the answer to the first question -- I think it may be obvious that Lucif is probably acting through Yoshiki somehow. Meaning what with Sumire's connection to Lilith, their relationship would be rather fated.
..Or maybe I'm completely wrong. Who knows.

Anyway, all in all, volume 5 reminds us that VVV is after all an action comic (Ruka even uses the classic shounen line "You're 100 years to early to yadda yadda yadda"). This time around, there isn't much of a clear picture of where things will go from here. However, in this volume Lucia appears to have a seemingly growing concern for Sumire's wellbeing, and what with her now currently in a comatose state, that combination could go to some pretty good places.

The first scene of End of Evangelion comes to mind...

...well okay, it's obvious that will never happen, but let's just hope that Lucia does SOMETHING next volume.
Christ.

Labels: Venus Versus Virus

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Thursday, March 29, 2007

Venus Versus Virus ep. 12

(Warning: This entry contains SPOILERS
...and maybe a little confusion.)

And to think, none of this would have ever happened if someone would have just bought Lucia a pair of colored contacts..

..Or maybe not.

Read the rest!

The episode starts off exactly where the last left off, or at least as a flashback.
Nahashi is still gravely woudned from Sumire's assualt, Sumire is still immobilized in big, glowing ball that Lucef put her in, and Lucef is still a bastard.

He greets both Sumire (as Lillith) and Lucia, hoping that they too will be able to appreciate his becoming closer to the ultimate goal of creating a new world. Lucia, unfortunately for Lucef, isn't and (tearfully) lunges at him for the kill right away.

Presently, however, it's Lucia and Sumire's birthday. Lucia (who doesn't know how to put her clothes away, apparently..) is currently waking up from a dream where things were the same as always, and Sumire and co. were busy preparing for the day's party. But, of course, it's all a dream..

Back to flashback, Lucia fails in her attack on Lucef, and Lucef begins to explain to her the type of person her mother truly was -- that she would have wanted this new world, and in fact, Lucia could see her mother again there, if she wanted to...
Apparently, Lilith, who was once tormented by her peers like Lucia was as a child, also wished the world to be destroyed (just like Lucia), and offered her fragment to Lucef. When Lucia hears this, she is of course left speechless.

However, before she gives herself in to Lucef's wishes, Nahashi (what? he isn't dead yet..?) uses a spear to break off Lucia's eyepatch, and implores her to open her eyes (literally) to the truth.
..Being that although Lilith once wished that Lucef would take her fragment and destroy the world, she now knows that she must protect the world that her daughter will now grow up in. Though knowing that Lucef would still come after her regardless, she takes her own life so that he could never have her fragment.

(Is that the reason why it disintegrated, and was placed into Sumire, I wonder..? Ah, who knows..)

Now realizing this, Lucia tells Lucef she'll never believe Lucef's words about his "new world", and is at his neck again. But this is all a minor setback for Lucef. He decides to drop all charades and get down to business (disintegrating his remaining servants, Sonoka and Yoshiki, who were apparently also fragment carriers, and dolls like Ruka and Gai). Even though he couldn't win Lucia to his side, Lucef's plan is already in action -- he tells Lucia to kill Sumire. In doing so, she will obtain her fragment and be able to become the god of the new world. If she refuses to do so, Sumire will kill her, and be the one to create the new world. Either way, the two will have no choice but to fight.

Upon hearing this, however, Lucia realizes that Sumire has begun to cry (little does she know, it's probably because she just saw her boyfreind turn into a pile of soot ( ´∀`)ノ). Seeing this, it becomes apparent that Lucia could never harm Sumire...but let's see what Lucef has to say about that. He takes Sumire away, in order to condition her so she might truly finish her "awakening".

And now, we're back in the present. Lucia greets Lola, who is still with Nahashi's body and Lola hands Nahashi's birthday present to her that was mentioned in episode nine. It's an hourglass (...nice.), and seems to move Lucia enough -- we hear her call Nahashi "father" for the first time ever. She also looks at the flowers left on her dresser, which of course reminds her of Sumire. ..And the grief all becomes too much for Lucia (man, she's such a crybaby now.... ( ´･ω･) ).

Months pass, and winter has come to Japan. Due to Lucef's powers, the world has forgotten about Sumire -- not only her friends, but her very own cousins as well (Riku now longs for a date with Kyouko...and gets one! Good for him~).

All this time, however, Lucia has been training for the day she and Sumire will meet again. Lola also has been doing.. something. And while searching the cupboards for tea, Lucia finds yet another birthday present to her, from Sumire. ..Along with a letter, that reads:

But! It's no time for sentiment, Lucia! Lola senses that Lucef is on the move, and in a perfect display of recycled animation, we're finally sent back to where that scene from the first episode left us.
(Might I add that Lola's pulled out of the action early by Lyla, who reminds her that their role is to watch.. ..wait, what? Who are these people..?)

The fight between Lucia and Sumire had some surprisingly good animation in some points, which was nice to see again, but was unfortunately a little short lived. Lucia vows to this time be the one to save Sumire the same way she did for her, and takes of her eyepatch, unleashing her glowing field of destruction (only this time, in Pretty Cure Rainbow Therapy mode).

Lucef attemps to guard himself from Lucia's onsluaght, that has begun to reach where he, Lola and Lyla stand.
..but he's prevented to do so by Lilith (??) and Nahashi (??!!) as ghosts (I'm grabbing my head now). It all seems to be the work of crafty ol' Lola, who thinks sitting back and watching is for squares. Her sister agrees.

And so, as Lucia's field stretches off into the distance, and Sumire charges madly at her, ready for the kill, Lucia admits something to herself, and to the audience:

"Sumire. I'm glad I met you too."

FIN

Impressions:
(on this episode)

the end.

As for the series as a whole, well, I suppose it wasn't all that bad.... ... ..was it?
On a slightly different topic, I see a lot of people complain about the show being false yuri -- I don't think that's true at all! The yuri is lukewarm at best, but it's certainly there. Granted, I'm an old fan of the subtlty of it all. All this in your face yuri is a bit of a turn-off, I think. (´ー｀)ノ

Otherwise, I guess there were a few loose ends here and there (a few...??). For one thing, I'm still a little clueless about Lola and Lyla. ...I wonder if I should go and watch those episodes of this show that I skipped...? ...Nahhh, I think I'll just wait for the manga.

Speaking of which, we'll soon be getting close to 3 months without a release date, much less the actual next volume of the manga, but on the bright side, next week there'll be another VVV drama CD. Who knows, maybe it might give us some clue as to what really happened at the end of this episode!

...Though I kinda doubt it.

Labels: Venus Versus Virus

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Thursday, March 01, 2007

Venus Versus Virus ep. 8

so she's been trapped in a magical girl transformation sequence..

I wonder where those subbers went..?

Either way, disregarding the episodes I skipped (which I guess was just 7...and parts of 6), I decided to take a peek at this show once more. I hope there weren't any particularly huge developments in 7.. (haha...hmm.)

This has nothing to do with this episode, but I think I'm having an easier time thinking of the anime and the manga separately. There's a part in episode 6 where it's pointed out that Lucia is bad at flower arranging. ..I sort of thought that would have been something she was probably good at (the femenine side of her seems to be markedly strong). But maybe I'm wrong. Or maybe the anime's wrong. Either way, that was something that bothered me.
One thing ep 8 and 6 have in common is some good animation in places. Granted, 6 probably edges in the lead a little thanks to some good direction, but it's good to see that the budget is at least going to the places that count.

Good episode this time nonetheless. Though.. ...smiling Lucia is kinda scary.
As the end of this ep and the preview to the next one allude, however, Sumire's heart is still most likely fixated on Yoshiki-san. Though maybe now this might be something that bothers Lucia (more than it already did..?).

...when is Lyla going to do something besides be creepy?

Labels: Venus Versus Virus

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