Friday, September 11, 2009

Nabari No Ou

SPOILER ALERT for those who haven’t watched this anime yet.

I just finished watching Nabari No Ou. Different from the ones I usually watched, have a somewhat dark undertone to it. It’s about ninjas and their secret arts, and how ordinary people are unaware of their existence. The story revolves around Miharu Rokujo, a very apathetic kid, who suddenly finds himself in the middle of an on-going conflict between warring ninja clans. Miharu discovered that he possessed inside him Shinra Banshou, the most powerful secret art that contains the knowledge of the world. The story also focuses on his relationship with Yoite, who uses the technique Kira that costs him the loss of his life force, which causes him to gradually lose his five senses and his eventual death.

I started watching this anime, first because I have nothing new to watch, second because I was interested in watching Miharu and Yoite’s developing bond with each other. Friendship between two people who normally doesn’t feel any connection at all to other people. I like their story, both of them so apathetic to the things around them, yet they were moved to forsake their loyalty to their clans to help each other. Their story is nice, however, too short for my liking.

Now for my gripes. I didn’t like much the fact that two of my favorite characters in this anime died at the end, so I was a little sad at the end because of that. I was expecting Yoite to die, so I was kind of prepared for that, although I have still hope that some unexpected twist will happen that will let him live. I mean, come on! His friend possess such amazing powers, right? Anyway, I wasn’t expecting another favorite, Raikou Shimizu, to die as well. So, it was a bad surprise for me, I didn’t see that one coming…

I have a complaint about the sensei as well. I understand Raimei’s feelings of anger towards Tobari-sensei after Raikou died. It is such bad timing for Tobari to leave when things are getting out of control. I guess I was expecting too much from him, him being the adult in the group and all. Although I can understand his confusion about Miharu’s action, and the fact that he must hide the last secret art, still… such a kid… I mean, how can I respect a colleague who runs at the first sign of trouble? Hmph!

And, I was expecting a little more – oomph! – to the Shinra Banshou. My reaction was kind of like… is that all? I guess I was expecting something a bit more… powerful? I mean, that’s all they talk about, the whole darn series. I was hoping that they would give us fireworks, but it went…splat…

Anyway, it’s a good thing I had a warning about Yoite dying, otherwise, I would have been crying the whole night after watching the last episode… especially the last part… I was happy to see Yoite learning to live such a quiet life, free from conflicts. At most, I felt a – twinge? – of whatever – when I saw him smile before he vanished. Aww, so sad, really…

Well, I don’t know if I’m going to read the manga. Maybe Yoite or Raikou are alive there. Well, maybe…

[Via http://cassiel217.wordpress.com]

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