The ending of Traumend........
Contains some spoilers of the ending, but more of my rants. XD;;; Why I didn't get voted as Ibu Shinji in the rating beats me.
I'm so disappointed with ep 11 and 12 of Traumend that I'm out of words. Traumend started out with so much potential but the ending really butchered my expectations of it.
Apparently the producers of RM had some really talented people behind it as they produced some quality episodes (ex: Traumend 6). But for some reason, the last 2 episodes were so...different that they didn't seem like they were from the same series. I think a large part of it had to do with how the producers rushed everything at the end while, to maintain the quality they had been presenting, they needed a couple more episodes to work with. T_T Were the ratings that bad that they couldn't afford to make more than 12 episodes per season?
The reason why I watched this anime in the first place is because I liked how they they did such an excellent job conveying the theme of striving for perfection while dealing with inadequacy and self-doubt (Jun, Suigintou, Megu, the whole deal behind the Alice Game, etc.) So I guess what disappointed me most was that they didn't have an elegant closure for it.
Some points they should have spent more time fleshing out:
* Alice: We've watched 23 episodes just to know who this girl is and at the end we never get a satisfying answer.
* Laplace: First I thought that he was a fantasy creature that only existed in the dream world, but when he turned into Shirosaki, it didn't make sense anymore. Who is he? If he is a demon, how is he related to Father? Being the only 'magical' creature after all, could he have even helped Father create the Roza Mysticae?
* Father & Enju: What exactly were they to each other, and why is Enju so jealous? Where is Father now? Is he still alive? What happened to Enju after he disappeared?
* Jun's hikikomori: Should I just assume that Jun will never go back to school? His character could have matured so much more if they bothered to make him reflect on how far he came.
* Jun's power: How and why does he come to possess the ability of a Maestro to be able to fix Shinku's arm at the end of season 1?
* The Suigintou/Megu relationship: Megu really touched Suigintou in a positive way and that should be explained some more. Has Megu learned to accept herself the way she is? Also, what became of her physical condition without the help of the Roza Mystica?
* The dolls' death scenes: I couldn't sympathize with the dying dolls much b/c of the lack of attention spent on the scenes. Suisei, Shinku, and Suigin definitely deserved a grander death. With the exception of Sou, Hina, whose death scenes are quite well done (I might include Bara's as well.) <-- It turned out that she became the most 'bara bara' (= little pieces) out of all of them. Ha. ha. ha. ^^;; ..... (sorry)
* 2 unrevived dolls: Why only Sou and Hina?
Random things that really really turned me off:
* Bara dancing terrified me enough, but did they really have to make that tentacle-rose thing sprout out of her eyepatch? If that was meant to be a metaphor showing something like peace and renewal and closure, I sure didn't get it. Now that I know that she's supposed to turn into Bara-Otome, a character that only existed in the RM manga back then, I guess it's OK. ^^; Though having only watched the anime, it's still confusing!
* Tantei Kun-kun--need I say more?
I'm so disappointed with ep 11 and 12 of Traumend that I'm out of words. Traumend started out with so much potential but the ending really butchered my expectations of it.
Apparently the producers of RM had some really talented people behind it as they produced some quality episodes (ex: Traumend 6). But for some reason, the last 2 episodes were so...different that they didn't seem like they were from the same series. I think a large part of it had to do with how the producers rushed everything at the end while, to maintain the quality they had been presenting, they needed a couple more episodes to work with. T_T Were the ratings that bad that they couldn't afford to make more than 12 episodes per season?
The reason why I watched this anime in the first place is because I liked how they they did such an excellent job conveying the theme of striving for perfection while dealing with inadequacy and self-doubt (Jun, Suigintou, Megu, the whole deal behind the Alice Game, etc.) So I guess what disappointed me most was that they didn't have an elegant closure for it.
Some points they should have spent more time fleshing out:
* Alice: We've watched 23 episodes just to know who this girl is and at the end we never get a satisfying answer.
* Laplace: First I thought that he was a fantasy creature that only existed in the dream world, but when he turned into Shirosaki, it didn't make sense anymore. Who is he? If he is a demon, how is he related to Father? Being the only 'magical' creature after all, could he have even helped Father create the Roza Mysticae?
* Father & Enju: What exactly were they to each other, and why is Enju so jealous? Where is Father now? Is he still alive? What happened to Enju after he disappeared?
* Jun's hikikomori: Should I just assume that Jun will never go back to school? His character could have matured so much more if they bothered to make him reflect on how far he came.
* Jun's power: How and why does he come to possess the ability of a Maestro to be able to fix Shinku's arm at the end of season 1?
* The Suigintou/Megu relationship: Megu really touched Suigintou in a positive way and that should be explained some more. Has Megu learned to accept herself the way she is? Also, what became of her physical condition without the help of the Roza Mystica?
* The dolls' death scenes: I couldn't sympathize with the dying dolls much b/c of the lack of attention spent on the scenes. Suisei, Shinku, and Suigin definitely deserved a grander death. With the exception of Sou, Hina, whose death scenes are quite well done (I might include Bara's as well.) <-- It turned out that she became the most 'bara bara' (= little pieces) out of all of them. Ha. ha. ha. ^^;; ..... (sorry)
* 2 unrevived dolls: Why only Sou and Hina?
Random things that really really turned me off:
* Bara dancing terrified me enough, but did they really have to make that tentacle-rose thing sprout out of her eyepatch? If that was meant to be a metaphor showing something like peace and renewal and closure, I sure didn't get it. Now that I know that she's supposed to turn into Bara-Otome, a character that only existed in the RM manga back then, I guess it's OK. ^^; Though having only watched the anime, it's still confusing!
* Tantei Kun-kun--need I say more?