Mardock Scramble: The Third Exhaust Episode 1 Discussion

What did you think of this episode?

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May 9, 2016 6:29 AM

#51

WolfWood37

Offline

Jul 2008

11199

I liked the casino parts because I understand a bit about how gambling works. Now both sides were cheating to the extreme but that was beside the point of the story with them.

But that said animation was absolutely beautiful, but the plot was lacking and the end was predictable.

But even with the end, I kept asking what was the point of the movies in general. What was the point of the story in this crazy cyberpunk world that we got no explanation about.

We needed some more exposition on this world in general I felt.

I give the movie and the series in general a 5/10. 5 for beautiful and detailed art, 0 for the convoluted plot and the unexplained world surrounding it.

Jan 7, 2018 9:19 AM

#52

terrablu2003

Offline

Nov 2011

7621

A good ending, maybe I would have preferred that eventually show the new life of Balot, but it did not happen, this is my only regret. Trilogy a little too undervalued, I think it deserves a little more than it has had, even the deserved graphic quality of a quality higher than it had, especially in the CG. My vote is 8/10.

Jan 14, 2018 11:56 AM

#53

rinneganfire4u

Offline

Sep 2013

506

Finally over!!!! The casino bored the shit outta me, the cool characters Bell Wing and the Boss Dealer stood out more than Balot. The 1st movie intrigued me but the 2nd and 3rd were meh.

Apr 27, 2019 9:38 PM

#54

tabernac

Offline

Apr 2016

350

The first half involving the Casino Manager and Bell Wing was very well done. Those two characters really brought some well needed humanity into the story, beyond all the usual sci-fi/meta dramatics.

All in all an okay series.

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Dec 15, 2019 10:11 PM

#55

NoviSun

Offline

Aug 2018

1822

That was a good watch. Cyberpunk at its best. Dark themes, and lots of fcked up stuff in the 3 movies.

Jun 21, 2020 3:17 PM

#56

Desigan

Offline

Sep 2013

Does it really not bother anyone to have these series-wide revenge arcs that end in "ah, we better not kill this guy or we'll be bad too!"? This chick slaughtered a bunch of guards who most likely just took any job they could find to put food on the table, got to the incarnation of evil surrounded by child sex slaves and decided that that creature doesn't deserve to get hurt. That is utterly ridiculous. Then the serial killer who burned her alive in a car is excused because he had a past trauma? I don't know when this trend started for revenge stories but it is the worst kind of non-conclusions I've ever experienced and we're getting even more of them every year.

If I ignore those two "villains" even existing along with the whole revenge/justice plot-line (seriously, they don't matter at all they were just tools to make Balot go on a rampage and get rejected, she could easily have done that from being drunk on her new-found powers): this was an entertaining trilogy. Exceptional artwork and animation, passable sound and interesting characters with development.

The casino stuff was actually pretty interesting but it just didn't really tie in with any other part of the movies without employing some spectacular mental gymnastics on the viewer's part so it felt like a sideshow that was dragging on much like this sentence. This trilogy had so many good aspects but simply did not have a good enough plot to bring everything together.

Sep 21, 2020 1:03 PM

#57

removed-user

Offline

Jul 2018

562340

I found the first two movies equally better. This one could have been on par with other but the casino arc was bit too much indeed but I don't think any of the part could been cut off. Otherwise rest of the follow-up developments were interesting of how Ballot trying to overcome her past. Ending felt sort of vague until thanks to Monad's comment everything made sense.

Anyway I am pretty much really impressed with the whole trilogy overall especially Balot's development which felt so genuine and the whole scifi story. I had been meaning to watch this trilogy for long time as a fan of the same studio's other work until I watched their recent mediocrities. On the other hand, I don't think I could had gotten much out of this nor enjoyed if not watched other similar anime (from recommendations).

removed-userSep 21, 2020 5:07 PM

Mar 9, 2022 3:52 PM

#58

Comander-07

Offline

Sep 2014

4969

Not great, not terrible. But overall exciting and a nice piece of cyberpunk.
Easiest 7 I have ever given.

I think GoHands really carried this with their great artstyle. It felt like a classic 90s anime and looked the part too.

The casino part felt like it made up half the screentime of 2 of the 3 movies. I appreciate anime trying to make classic casino gambling look like the most exciting thing in the world, especially when its in such a "comedic" setting. I mean this is cyberpunk, they have transforming mice, artificial gravity etc but still play with cards?

A lot of themes get "scrambled" here but by the end I still wished there was more to it. It felt like the starting arc to something greater.

Maybe that sequel the author is writing will be animated one day as well.

Comander-07Mar 9, 2022 3:56 PM

"This emotion is mine alone.
It is for Madoka alone." - Homura
or how I would descripe Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica.

Oct 2, 2023 1:36 PM

#59

Archean-Return

Offline

Dec 2022

5393

An interesting high stakes blackjack game here. Even though I don't care for card games, the passion it was presented with made it oddly enthralling. There were parallels drawn between Harvest and Rune's pasts when they were chatting, but the strategies employed during the game itself also dove through their respective mentalities, even showing Rune to be more confident in making decisions without wearing the Oeufcoque gloves.

Shell should've died. I fail to see the reason for leaving him alive, or why anyone should care about restoring his memories, since he was a terrible person to begin with. Rune goes on to kill Boiled right after this, despite reaffirming herself that no one would die beforehand. Even if Rune didn't make a priority of revenge at this point, keeping someone like that off the streets forever is the easiest way to "close the case", lest Shell reopens said case for another unfortunate victim when the urge strikes him.

Pretty good movie with thoughtful discourse and an average plot.