I was just rewatching ep. 2, and noticed something during the end credits, but it’s a spoiler. Behind the tag it goes.
One of the girls featured prominently in the line drawings appears to be Rubi, the witch. Given that the series is only 13 episodes, that strongly suggests that the main plotline for this series is going to be the Witch Hill / landfill story. It’s long enough to cover several episodes, possibly six. If there’s an episode to introduce Gin and set up the newspaper club, one to three to put out the newspaper and engage the guardians over it, then another to introduce Mizore early, that that would leave the Witch Hill storyline covering 5-7 episodes. It’s epic enough to be “the” storyline of the first season, and doesn’t run them into the the bloodier, dramatic aspects of later events, a storyline that isn’t resolved, or one that’s too long. It also gives the writers of the animé (adapters, I should say) a chance to signal the darker side of the story without going off the deep end. Additionally, it has the benefits of matching alt-Moka up against a fearsome foe even she needs help with, and including one of victories that isn’t hers.
I think this is far more likely to be the animé’s direction than my earlier explanation, which just wouldn’t fit in 13 episodes, as Steven points out. It also neatly puts the more epic (speculated) storyline in a possible second season, in addition to delaying it to let Ikeda catch up.
This seems likely to be the case, from how you explained it. Episode 4 has a new OP/ED, and xcomp’s post pointed out how there’s a new set of potential baddies in the ED that could very well confirm this theory of yours. Keep me informed once you’ve seen it!
I checked the post out. The episode’s plot is a mishmash of various elements to explain why he doesn’t leave, and also explains something I’d wondered about: the manga had a phone and regular bus service, but the anime had no cell phone pickup and monthly service. Evidently, the anime writers didn’t buy that he’d stay at that school just because of Moka, and wanted to trap him until he had time to build more of a realationship with the girls.
As for that last picture, from the ED. . . . SPOT ON! That’s the guardians, the school Proctors or some such. They’re particularly vile bunch of pseudo-religious facists (in the worst sense) “We are authority, therefore anything that opposes us is pure evil and must be destroyed.”
And apparently they are going to use chapter 3 for the next episode. Fishing, anyone?
Ok, seen the episode now. The fifth girl is definitely Rubi, no doubt about it; aside from the character design, the staff is distinctive. The zombies could easily be a part of the Witch Hill storyline. But the rest of the scenes, especially those with naked Moka and Tskune. hint that she might do the up-powering of Tskune deliberately, not as a desperation measure to save his life. Depends on how much of that is from future episodes and how much is just random scenery. Hard to say, but they’re bringing in both Mizore and Rubi early, and making Rubi a larger part of the series, it would appear.
I’m getting a vibe here that they’re going to flip the two storylines compared to my earlier spec; Witch Hill will be first and intro Rubi, but the Proctors are going to be the major villains of the series. I think that works better; it gives more time to intro Gin and the newspaper club. We could see it as early as the end of Ep.5. If they follow Chapter 3, they’ll all be press-ganged into the club at the end of the episode, and then ep. 6 might be dealing with Gin, 7-8 the field trip and Rubi’s intro (maybe only 7 but it would be rushed); 9 the newspaper and Mizore’s intro. Then 10-13 is the buildup and open warfare with the Proctors. It also requires transferring Rubi into the school, which does make a bit of sense, given her age and that she’s a witch.
So far, I’m fairly encouraged. The changes that that the anime writers have made thus far, seem to be for the better. If they can keep it up, this series just might rise above its source material, despite being from Gonzo. Now wouldn’t that be a kick?
Of course, the one thing most of my speculation always has in common is that it’s wrong….
Ah, thanks. Let’s face it, what you’re saying at this point isn’t so much speculation as it is an educated guess, and it’s something I’d bet on. It makes sense that there’s going to be a storyline of some sort if it’s going to outlive its “generic fanservice harem” label, and since you’ve confirmed that those were the Proctors, well, I can only see good things in R+V’s future.
Things are looking a lot more brighter now. Looking forward to your blogging of this show! 😀
Agree on the educated guess. I do hope the earlier spec appears in a second season though, assuming the show is done well enough to justify one. Normally, I don’t do week-by-week episode blogging; I might comment on an episode if time and interest are there. Might make an exception here. The possible directions of the series are kind of intriguing, and I’m curious to see if it really rises above its source.
Gonzo shouldn’t be giving away so much plot in the ED though; I thought that was Sunrise’s gig.
Dom posted a link to the new ED on youtube, so I’ve seen it now. Definitely Rubi, placed as an equal with the other girls, which is a potentially-interesting change. Just as interesting is them showing a big fight between alt-Moka and all of the other girls, after showing her giving Tsukune the deep-fang treatment. If it’s not just there to look cool, of course.
-j
This business of “Moka powering up Tsukune” — does she make him a vampire?
In the R+V universe,a vampire can switch their fangs from suck to blow, and alt-Moka uses this ability to temporarily give Tsukune vampire-level power, including rapid healing. It’s a huge stress on his human body, and the long-term side-effects are very, very bad.
-j
j: Careful — that’s a huge spoiler! I put it behind the tags, and I’m wondering if some of my spec should go there. This definitely should, as it explains what you mean. Everyone be warned it’s a MAJOR plot spoiler from the manga; if you don’t want to know, stay away from it:
If they come anywhere near this, the show is going to end up fairly dark. I’ve got my fingers crossed; while the animation is really crappy, Gonzo has it in them to do dark and tragic. I just don’t know if they can do it intelligently.
Oh, and two thumbs up for nekkid alt-Moka.
Edit: I’d say she weighs in at about 0.6 Rushunas. Harder to tell with Kumuru, until the swimsuit, but I’d say she’s about 0.7. I think they screwed up though, because Kurumu looked bigger (height/frame) than alt-Moka in several ep.4 scenes; she should be smaller than regular Moka — and is in the 2nd episode.
Sorry about that; I just answered the question without remembering that it referred to hidden text.
(and I can never remember how different blog systems tag spoilers in any case. I just spent five minutes searching wordpress.org, and I still can’t find anything useful)
-j
Sorry, you won’t find it there, it’s a plug-in. It’s (spoiler) (/spoiler), only with angle brackets instead of parentheses. I need to hack the template to explain it sometime. I’d like to hack enough to add a button for it, but my php is not up to that level. Maybe I can bribe Dr.H with copies of TAMNM…
If that’s really part of it, then this is no comedy, fan service and harem notwithstanding.
Which isn’t necessarily bad, of course.