the third 4
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Tagged: the-third
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This is what I would call a pivot episode. The Third really begins now.
Back in my thin slice, I called The Third “the next Shakugan no Shana.” How’s that prediction turning out? Like Shana, the main female protagonist — Honoka — was pretty much a loner until she met the male protagonist — Ikus — and the two are trying to survive in a futuristic wasteland controlled by a mysterious organization called “The Third.” (I originally believed that the series was named after this organization, and it may well be. This episode, though, reveals another meaning.) Up to this point in the series, I pretty much regarded Honoka as a more evanescent and sincere version of Shana. She also has an almost Kenshin-like ability to fight using her instincts that’s different from those around her. Well, things change.
Why did I call this a pivot episode? First off, the plot settles down as Ikus hires Honoka to show him her job and her world in the previous episode, thus setting the stage for the series. But the plot quickly does a 180 and accelerates… Honoka is expected to meet with her friend/mechanic/neighborhood pervert Oyaji (sorry, real name escapes me atm!) and his daughter, Millie. Oyaji gives Honoka her PSP (an overpriced portable video game system made by… oh wait, I mean mobile suit), but afterwards, he gets targeted by a Blue Breaker, an l33t enforcement mecha that The Third uses to dish out punishment. (Possibly be because he possesses weaponry that may be illegal.) Honoka tries to save him, but the Blue Breaker ends up killing Oyaji. That’s one pivot. The series had been very upbeat (Honoka even composing poetry), and once Oyaji gets attacked, the series loses its innocence and becomes a bit darker.
With Honoka still not at 100% (she was injured back in episode 2), she barely manages to fend off the Blue Breaker. During the coarse of the battle, the villianous mecha slides Honoka’s trademark red bandana, and when the bandana falls off, we see that Honoka has a third eye, hence another meaning for “The Third.” Even her allies and friends were shocked to see her third eye, and Millie even fainted. That’s another pivot… I wasn’t expecting it, and I thought I was watching another series. The third eye gives Honoka heightened battle instincts, and I’m sure is one reason why people call her the Sword Dancer. Makes for some interesting questions that I hope future episodes will discuss.
The final and most delicious pivot? One reason I had called this series “the next Shakugan no Shana” was that Honoka looked about as flat as Shana. The narrator even refers to her “small chest” from time to time. Well, as Hubie Brown would say, “That’s not bad. That’s not bad at all.” Plug Suit Honoka for the pivot. (As a bonus, there’s a nakkid shower scene this episode. I think there’s going to be an uptick in searches for The Third on animesuki about now…)
Overall, I’m enjoying The Third… there’s a few places where the series kinda drags and the narrator is completely unnecessary, but the action sequences are quite good. Honoka’s delightful giddiness when she sees her PSP is fantastic… it’s like she found a stash of killer lolis, and there’s enough interesting questions to keep me lingering around.
19 Responses to “the third 4”
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I wish more people watched this series, it’s really good, and much better than most of the crap out there!
My favorites this season are the third Jyu Oh Sei, Blood+ ,Ergo Proxy, Higurashi no naku koro ni, Black Lagoon and Utawarerumono.
>>I think there’s going to be an uptick in searches for The Third on animesuki about now…
Pretty right on about there. You’ve gotten me interested enough to take a look at it. =)
Aha, finally people begin to appreciate The Third a bit. It’s my favourite Spring-series at the moment. I’m really urging people to check this out, though I’d wish that the fansubs would be coming out a bit faster.
Hmm… I suppose I can spare the space… now that F/SN is coming to an end. Hopefully it will not disappoint. The narrator and Ikus reeeeally grates on my nerves.
Millie’s reaction to Honoka’s third eye was exceptionally well done. We really know very little about The Third, but Millie’s reaction to seeing that Honoka was one of them told us a lot. They are obviously hated and feared so deeply, that Millie instinctively recoils in horror even to Honoka, who she absolutely implicitly trusts. (they went out of their way the last few episodes to show how much Millie looks up to and adores Honoka JUST for that moment)
The narrator and Ikus reeeeally grates on my nerves.
If anything ends up killing htis series it’ll be them.
The way Jyouganki said, “The Third”, made me wonder whether it was the same Voice Actor(VA) as Joker from Read or Die. :P For the record, it is not. Unfortunately, I cannot erase the image of Jyouganki drawling out, “The Paper”, everytime he appears. ;_; It is screwing up my immersion.
Interestingly… Rie Tanaka is also one of the VAs, and so is Megumi Toyoguchi( Honoka), who is also the VA for… Revy, from Black Lagoon. This alone adds brownie points to The Third for me.
Currently in the midst of watching Ep03. My command of Japanese is virtually non-existent, so I will have to wait for Ep04 in the future.
Cheers.
Right. I have completed watching Ep03. I have one thing, and only one thing to say at this point.
“GET RID OF THE DAMN FUCKING NARRATOR! OH GOOD GRAVY! I am watching an anime, not reading a book! HALE! Even if I WAS reading a book, this narrator is too much of a ‘Captain Obvious’!”
*sob*
Imho, the show lie almost completly on its cute lead, the rest of the cast ranging from “decent cliché” to “outright annoying”. The setting isn’t original in any way either. I hope they’ll spice the mixture in the few next eps, but if they don’t I guess i’ll still take a look for Honoka alone.
Whoa… I’m probably one of the few persons who actually likes the addition of the narrator. I find this guy highly useful in order to clear up some of the unspoken conflicts and feelings of the anime. And what’s wrong with books? ;)
Hmm? There’s nothing wrong with books. ô.Ó?
Maybe it is just me, but I find the narrator redundant, because he keeps stating the obvious. To me at least. Even in written literature, one is highly advised not to forcefeed the reader information. It ruins the immersion, and it becomes a lecture, not a story.
Eh… I forgot the term given to it, but basically, show the reader what is happening, not tell.
Narration of character feelings makes the character very distant to the reader/viewer. It is one thing to listen to a salesperson talk about how fast a car is, and quite another to actually see the car in motion. By allowing the reader/viewer to engross him/herself with the characters instead of the narrator, it makes for a much richer experience.
Cheers.
Narration CAN work. Look at Haruhi, there’s a show with a narrator where it works. The Narrator in The Third reminds me the one they added into Robotech. Completely redundant, and somewhat insulting to the viewer’s intelligence.
I find the narrator kind of funny. It’s like a nature show on the discovery channel following honoko in her adventures. Unnecessary, but a little wacky.
Fencedude, the ‘narrator’ in Haruhi is Kyon. An actual character, not some third party disembodied voice. Also, I think it is more accurate to say that Kyon is doing soliloquies, not narration.
IMHO at least.
Fencedude, the ‘narrator’ in Haruhi is Kyon. An actual character, not some third party disembodied voice.
No shit!
Guys, please be nice to each other. I have enough problems right now. o_o;;
>> My favorites this season are the third Jyu Oh Sei, Blood+ ,Ergo Proxy, Higurashi no naku koro ni, Black Lagoon and Utawarerumono.
The Haruhi fanboys have a new target.
>> Interestingly… Rie Tanaka is also one of the VAs, and so is Megumi Toyoguchi( Honoka), who is also the VA for… Revy, from Black Lagoon.
Awesome. Didn’t know that… the best part is how Revy and Honoka are completely opposite characters. Can you imagine Honoka swearing? Yet, they’re both very similar in that they don’t acknowledge their feminine side.
>> Imho, the show lie almost completly on its cute lead, the rest of the cast ranging from “decent cliché†to “outright annoyingâ€.
Still light years ahead of Zegapain and Magipoka.
>> Narration CAN work. Look at Haruhi, there’s a show with a narrator where it works.
Kyon is hilarious with his sarcasm. It’s when he blandly recounts the steps that he’s at his worst… and he does add in a lot of his own thoughts. The dude in The Third kinda tells us what we know. I like the Discovery Channel analogy… it’s like watching one of those Dinosaur Island shows where they follow some poor CG dinosaur around.
So, I realized I had time for a new series, and when you recommended The Third I decided to check it out – even without reading the whole review for fear of spoilers and so not seeing the mention of fanservice to come.
Personally what drew me to Shana was the promise of an intruiging universe, which it generally delivered on. The Third, on the other hand, has a far cuter main character. I understand that there’s a lot of Shana love floating around, but she’s just too young for my taste while Honoka is – if not exactly legal – still damn sexy.
Oh, and I thought the narration is utterly self-indulgant and useless.
I for one welcome our obvious-stating totally unnecessary Narrator overlords…
Not really, but I don’t find it to be nearly as much of a problem as everyone else seems to. I’ll agree its extra fluff, but I don’t feel insulted or whatever…
On another note, “exposition” is the term given to a bland listing of story events and background info rather than the more interesting and effective involvement of the reader in the experience of the story.
I hope Shana comes back for a second season (I haven’t paid attention to the news at all), but at least for now, I’m making do with the awesome triplet of Utawarerumono, The Third, and Blood+. Ergo Proxy is interesting, and certainly has a higher production value than most anime, but I’m still not as drawn in as I could be. Witchblade is looking promising, and I’ll start F/SN here in a few days. We’ll see.
“while Honoka is – if not exactly legal – still damn sexy.”
She’s 20-24…. At least what i’ve been telling myself.