This little miracle occurs after Kuniko is reunited with Momoko, just in time to (coincidentally) stumble across Lady Mikuni's solar eclipse playtime. Naturally, the nearby guards and Sayoko try to stop their escape (particularly in the case of Momoko, who they want to capture for some reason - "Should I capture her dead or alive?" queries one particularly slow-witted guard), leaving Momoko no choice but to make use of her special sexual harrassment moves.. plus, of course, the whip that can deflect bullets. Just in case you were still taking this action sequence too seriously at this point, Sayoko gets turned on in the middle of the fight and Kuniko's boomerang has a coming together with Miiko that had be laughing out loud with its comical hilarity. The upshot of all this is that Momoko is indeed captured, where presumably she'll be forced to sit and watch all the transsexual jokes she's made throughout this series as punishment.
Everything feels like a bit of a blur after the "intensity" of all this, but in short Kuniko escapes, finding time to meet up with Takehiko who is still digging in his ridiculous plan to save her. Luckily, although nearly three episodes too late his efforts aren't all in vain, as Kuniko joins him to rescue the rest of the girls in the prison, although of course as we already know they're all dead, a discovery which leaves Kuniko naturally distraught.
You know, the more I watch of Shangri-la the less I understand what they're trying to do with it - On the one hand we have harrowing scenes of a prison yard full of dead girls, yet on the other we have Momoko defeating guards by rubbing his/her breasts in their face. Shangri-la may not be the first show to mix humour and darkness by any stretch of the imagination (see my comments on Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood's ninth episode for proof of that), but while some series pull off this juxtaposition admirably in the case of Shangri-la it simply feels embarrassing or otherwise entirely out of place. Whereas other series make you laugh when you know the comedy is deliberate, during this episode I occasionally found myself laughing and wondering whether the moment in question was actually meant to be funny, or simply a disaster of poor animation and dialogue. I'd like to try and be positive and imagine it to be the former, but... well, I just can't. I swear at one point (and it could just be the final vestiges of my sanity departing) I heard a cow mooing in the background, and somehow that bizarre and completely out of place moment sums up my bemused reaction to this episode perfectly. Moooo.....
As far as bullet-deflecting armaments go, I've seen worse, but a lot of Gonzo's animes are like how you described, self-handicapping efforts that come off as neither serious nor comedic, but insultingly stupid. If one was to synopsisize a bunch of their plots, they all sound OK, if a bit generic, but the devil is in the details. Moooo.
ReplyDeleteI think Shangri-La is starting to have a "Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo" moment where so many things are happening early in the show, but those many things make so little sense (I don't think I need to remind you about Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo episode 9).
ReplyDeleteShangri-La seemed to have a decent premise with the whole "Carbon-whatever" plot, but that's just buried at the bottom of a pile of other outrageously nonsensical plot ideas.
One particular gripe that I currently have with this anime is the blatant gender-confusion; I mean, that Lady Ryoko is a man, right? RIGHT?!
Oh, and what's with that sadistic Sayoko? Does her (or his; not quite sure to be honest) sadism have anything do the with the general storyline, or is it just a poorly-guided attempt at developing a character?
I don't have a problem with transsexuals, but I'm already sick of even looking at Momoko, let alone hearing his/her poor jokes. Leeron from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann was a fine example of a flamboyant character that could pull-off comedy successfully, without going to the lengths that Shangri-La's Momoko is attempting.
I'm quite simply lost for words with this show. But... like Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo, I'm sure there's time for Shangri-La to improve.
Probably... hopefully... maybe... please?
Deflecting bullets with wipe you say? Sometimes people need to pay more attention to the previous episode.
ReplyDeleteEpisode 1 of Shangri-La had Kuniko deflecting bullets with her boomerang. As Momoko is her mentor I expected no less. Absent minded or surprise, sometimes I wonder if your post are clouded by cynicism.
@ anime2kuk
"Oh, and what's with that sadistic Sayoko"
She is just a sadist there is no major reason, it is simple her character just like how Momoko is a transvestite. Her bio entry on the official website listed her as a sadist to me, there was no surprise.
“Shangri-La seemed to have a decent premise with the whole "Carbon-whatever" plot, but that's just buried at the bottom of a pile of other outrageously nonsensical plot ideas.”
The actuality of carbon trading has always been a premise of backdrops; it simply explains the current world after the apocalyptic era. There was never a need to go into further depth with carbon trading. Let’s take a look at waterworld, a film which features the same foundation using an apocalyptic era and a total erratic world full of abnormality. Waterworld presented itself as a world plague by abundance of sea water to an evolution of mankind. Its importance in the world was never the focus of the movie but what the current survivors wanted from the new world. The plot itself revolves around saving mankind and bringing hope to a dysfunctional society.
I'm not sure Kuniko deflecting bullets with a boomerang somehow makes doing it with a whip any more plausible... ;)
ReplyDeleteAnyhow, I'm liking the Waterworld comparison, I think that says it all really. :D
"I'm not sure Kuniko deflecting bullets with a boomerang somehow makes doing it with a whip any more plausible... ;)"
ReplyDeleteThe idea of a teacher who excels at Kuniko fine points doing someone more incredible is plausible but what I really wanted to say is with regards to the series. The series itself hasn’t changes from the first several episodes but rather the audience/viewer stance on the show has, mainly your own views.
There’s an interesting initial view which is comparable with a polar view from your blog. Small details of flaws are more highlighted on your blog while those who enjoy the series will watch it more entertainingly. Most of the small flaws are no different to fans watching Stars War interrupting the space battle as superficial while it can be acceptable as a form of entertainment. You tend to have a habit of beating a dead horse over, hence the Momoko. The series itself has not been any wackier than what was previously shown but I can’t help but see a change in analysis to something more critical. Hahaha what changes do you think the series should undergo which would impress you? Initially what thoughts you had of the series has not been living to your expectation.
I think every show gets (or arguably should get) a "free pass" for its first couple of episode while it lays down its key tenets and establishes the world it portrays - Shangri-la did an okay job of that, but as anime2kuk mentions these key tenets have since been buring under a pile of nonsense.
ReplyDeleteOf course, unbelievable nonsense can be fun if it's carried out with style in terms of artwork, strong characters and good dialogue (see Gurren Lagann)... the trouble is Shangri-la has none of those. The animation is simply terrible (I think it's the worst looking show I've watched in the past year by some distance), the characters vary from annoying to "what the fuck were they thinking?!" (although I do still quite like Kuniko herself to be fair) and the dialogue makes me think that maybe Vincent van Gogh had the right idea.
In the case of this particular series, I was intrigued by the concept but other than that I had no particular expectations of it - As far as this show goes, the fact that I now derive more enjoyment from poking fun at it than anything else it has to offer speaks volumes really. Of course, the mileage of others may vary, but my name is in this 'Blog title for a reason, and that's because it's the home of my thoughts, musings and (on this occasion) outright piss-taking. I'm British, it's what I do. ;)