Genres: Action, Fantasy, Occult
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In a world much like our own, around the height of the 19th century, a rather peculiar event happens upon ones’ death. Every memory, every recorded moment of your life encodes to a stone “book”, representative of your soul. A facility was created to house these tomes: the Bantorra Library. There in, every possible “book” is cared for by the Armed Librarians. These librarians must guard the books from those that might abuse them, as well as from the creatures which inhabit the ancient halls below them.
The Armed Librarians enter the series in dramatic fashion, speeding toward a steam ship owned by the Shindeki Church. The church follows a rather brutal hierarchy with those known as the “True Men” on the top. Under them are the “Mock Men”, who serve unconditionally, and give up their lives for the True Men. The lowest rung are called the “Meats”, and have little to no free will left. They are brutally brainwashed and mistreated; frequently being turned into living bombs. It is these bombs that begin throwing themselves at the Librarian’s boat.
The librarians acting leader, Hamutz Meseta, sits on the shore monitoring the group’s progress on their mission to gather information on the church’s activities. She shows on of her psychic powers, that of extended senses, by mentally poking around the boat with invisible threads (the visual representation of her power is that they glow white to the viewers). One Librarian, not realizing the Meats are bombs, is killed trying to rescue a man from the water. The rest make their way on board, slaying the Mock Men left to defend the ship.
After finding a suitable number of clues about the church’s goals, the ship’s cache of gunpowder and bombs explodes and throws the Librarians and Meats into the ocean. One of the Librarians, named Volken McMarney, attempts to save the Meats, but notices they have no will of their own to live, allowing themselves to drown. The Librarians begin tracking down clues which leads one, Mattoalast Barori, into a direct confrontation with three Meats in a mining town. One detonates himself and kills Mattoalast, the other rebels against one of the True Men, Segal, and dies. The remaining Meat continues on his programmed mission, to kill Hamutz Meseta.
There is absolute volumes of information I have left out of this article (the function of the books and shards there of), you just have to watch the series to get the true impact of the events that transpire! Two deaths amongst the Librarians within the first two episodes give us a good feel for the serious nature of the series. There are many levels in the complex social environment that have yet to be unveiled… and I can’t wait to find out. The mix of generally old technology, psychic powers and cults plays out well in these first two episodes. The cool display of Hamutz’s power at the end of episode two leave this as one series to definitely watch.
Overall Hook Rating: A
Check out the stylish opening sequence after the break:
(more…)
Genres: Action, Comedy, Ecchi, Science Fiction
Genres: Action, Magical, Romance
When World War III comes around, Japan again suffers heavy losses. Tokyo, the epicenter of the strike on Japan, is left in ruins. 500 years later the remnant of this nuclear disaster lies like a black spot (and is so named) on the map. This provided the impetus for a new breed of human evolution; the wastelands bred forth a mutated human strain. The mutants possess power (one per person) which far exceeds the natural human limits. This caused them to be shunned by the general human populace as an unneeded creature in the now healing world. They are the Needless.
In the sewers Cruz is again saved from the Testament by Adam Blade, a Needless with the power to clone his foes abilities. He destroys the Testament, but in doing so takes heavy damage. Cruz drags him back to the burnt out church that serves as the headquarters for his small group. Here he meets Eve Neuschwanstein, a doppelganger Needless, and Gido the scientist (who REALLY reminds me of Dr. Wiley).
The streets of Shanghai are alive with the sights and sounds of a great festival. Minoru Minorikawa, a journalist, and Maria Osawa, a photographer, have flown in to cover this event. In parallel to their soon-to-become active lives, an assassin drops her target from a rooftop, apparently miles away. A battle between this assassin and a terrorist group know as the “Snakes” rolls onward in a collision course with the other.
As the two stories collide we are shown that Canaan and Maria have met before and are actually good friends. Maria’s pictures, however, get her into trouble with the Snakes. She has uncovered something that undercurrents every aspect of this series, but we are not yet treated to an explanation. A flashback informs us that a terrorist group had spread a bio-toxin of which Maria was the only know survivor (by way of her father’s research toward a vaccine).
On the continent of Europa the small nation of Gallia finds itself in the middle of a larger conflict. The war started by the Eastern Europan Imperial Alliance and the Atlantic Federation has threatened to consume them as well. An important resource, named Ragnite, stands at the center of the conflict; both sides vie for control of as much Ragnite bearing land as possible.
Using this highly advanced tank they manage to escape, hold off the invading forces until the evacuation is complete, and hold out until the rest of the military regulars make it to the town. Unfortunately, the town is surrendered. Our heroes leave with the military as the town burns in the background.
Sometime in the not too distant future global warming has reached critical mass. The ocean levels have risen, reeking havoc on coastal areas. The world’s leaders have created a committee to ensure that all nations are in compliance with CO2 reduction measures. Those nations who continue to produce more carbon than they absorb are forced to pay a higher percentage tariff on global goods. Standing over the ruin of Tokyo is Atlas, which is attempting to bring about a rebirth of the nation. The old city, which is now being allowed to become overgrown with natural vegetation, has become a carbon-scrubbing sponge.
Hidden in the shadows, Karin Ishida toys with the world’s carbon markets. She may be a young girl, but is quite the prodigy when it comes to financial matters. When one of her abusive, yet legal, transactions catches the eye of those in Atlas’ Security Corps, they attack Metal-Age. The citizens of Duomo are caught in the cross fire. As the fighting climbs toward its climax, Kuniko standing defiant in front of Major Kunihito Kusanagi, a dagger he carries resonates when she strikes it. Then a third party attacks. Strange black projectiles reduce parts of the city to rubble, the military flees.
We begin to learn of the Selecao, of whom Akira was a part. Via a concierge, named Juiz, Akira learns of his task: to continue being “our savior” (and that he has an obligation to spend 10 million yen towards this task). He also crosses paths with another of the Selecao, Yusei Kondo, who is also a detective. The second episode concludes with a “show of power” that the Selecao wield… but I will leave that up to you to see.
An assassin drives toward his mark. He drops guards left and right; smooth, calm, and emotionless. He breaches the mansion and meets up with his teammate. She is disguised as a maid; already in place on the inside of the staff. They cover each other and make their kill. They are flawless and clean, known only as Phantom.
Upon subduing the woman (who we recognize as the other assassin from the intro) he is tranquilized. The scientists explain their plan of conscripting him to their service, rather than killing him for what “he has seen”. They name him Zwei, the second half of Phantom (with Ein being the other). The instruct Ein to begin his training.
