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Mar 31, 2008 1:57 PM
#1

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Feb 2008
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THIS IS AN ANIME ONLY DISCUSSION POST. DO NOT DISCUSS THE MANGA BEYOND THIS EPISODE.
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NO!!! Can't believe Hamdo lives. Oh well, Shu will kill, or he'll kill himself during one of his lunatic rampages =P
Also, poor Sara T_T
Aug 10, 2008 11:16 PM
#2
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If the assassin had succeeded in killing Hamdo, everything will fall apart and the people would have been freed. Such a simple solution to everything going on, but nooooo!!! the assassin failed!!! boooo :(
Jun 2, 2009 4:33 AM
#3

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Jun 2009
30
eheh I too was expecting him to die. Would be such a joy =D
But I guess this is just the way it happens.
Jul 28, 2009 12:18 AM
#4

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Oct 2008
84
Those assassins were so incredibly inefficient.
Aug 2, 2009 12:02 PM
#5

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Dec 2008
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^Yea, seriously.

Hamdo didn't fail at aiming though, I'll give him that. Although he dd freak out and didn't find out who tried to assassinate him, heh.

Kayro said:
Also, poor Sara T_T


T___T
「Godspeed You! Black Emperor」
Jan 25, 2010 8:15 AM
#6

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Sep 2009
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Those assasins were incredibly efficient at sneaking in and reaching Hamdo but failed so miserably to kill him even though they had about a whole minute in that room alone with him atleast.

I hate shu even more after this episode. and he's only just started to wonder where he is.
Jul 28, 2010 10:02 AM
#7
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Aug 2008
10
I like Shu, I think he is a good person :P
Nov 18, 2010 7:01 AM
#8
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Jun 2009
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i just want sara to be saved somehow.
Dec 9, 2010 5:02 PM
#9

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Aug 2010
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XxMalcolm said:
i just want sara to be saved somehow.


Seriously, after Shu told her everything will be fine. Really sucks. With all his worrying about Lala-ru, he's barely given a thought to the girl getting raped.
Jan 15, 2011 11:39 PM

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Sep 2008
7062
Hamdo is a pretty good shot for a loser.
I hope Sara will be okay...
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Feb 28, 2011 12:17 AM

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Jul 2007
6144
I couldn't help but feel sorry for sara on this episode, all the pain she has to endure. She has absolutely nothing to do with this anything either. La la ru is the one with the pendent, there just using her for mating only, so they can get more soldiers, more women and more children me more soldiers. I seriously hope that hamdo guy dies. Is it just me or does Abelia hate him to. It just seems like it. She acts like he will never leave his side but deep down i think she has a immense hatred for that guy.



Mar 25, 2011 2:18 AM

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Mar 2007
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Gods, characters like Shu annoy the hell out of me. Thank gods there's Nabuca, he's at least possible to relate to.
Sep 7, 2011 2:23 AM

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I'm still waiting for a reasonable explanation as to how an unstable lunatic can build up his little kingdom and keep it together. Not to mention the source of Abelia's unquestionable loyalty. Also, Sara needs more screen time, I should feel sorry for her, she really gets a horrible treatment, but her character is not established, I can't connect.

Maybe my expectations were too high for this show after all the positive praise I have read about it. Still, the depressing mood is conveyed well. I also like Nabuca and his murder, the execution of the scene was great (no pun intended). 4/5.
Sep 27, 2011 3:51 PM
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Dec 2010
1087
I though this was just shounen action/scifi anime. So i said yeah, lets get pumped up bz some fighting spirit and such. But This is little bit more then i expected it to be. Girls getting raped, kids forced to kill or be killed, madman as head of some ultra strong fortress and still no turning point.
I bet that Sara is gonna try to take her life or something serious like that is gonna happen.

Man, this show makes me feel hatred like no other anime at all... Maybe because i didn't expected it to be this serious.
I really need them to start fighting against that bullshit above them..
( Currently interested in OP MC genre. Recommendations are welcomed, preferable those yet not on my list )
Dec 15, 2011 9:52 PM

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Oct 2009
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Man fuck, the episode was called 'Murder' so I thought Sara's rapist or at least Hamdo would have been murdered.

Man, poor Sara, if she isn't saved by the end of the show, I'll write a letter to the director.
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Feb 7, 2012 7:49 AM

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greenmarty said:
I though this was just shounen action/scifi anime. So i said yeah, lets get pumped up bz some fighting spirit and such. But This is little bit more then i expected it to be. Girls getting raped, kids forced to kill or be killed, madman as head of some ultra strong fortress and still no turning point.
I bet that Sara is gonna try to take her life or something serious like that is gonna happen.

Man, this show makes me feel hatred like no other anime at all... Maybe because i didn't expected it to be this serious.
I really need them to start fighting against that bullshit above them..


Well thats good, your supposed to feel immense hatred for the characters, that shows the level of emotion in the show and the writer has succeeded in portraying the harsh reality that he envisioned in this series. Personally i think this is one of my favorite anime series of all time. I put alot of thought into my review and for just 13 episodes, its impressive how much is established in this series.



Nov 11, 2012 3:02 PM

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Jun 2009
15302
Man, Hamdo is so incredibly psychotic with how he shot the shit out of that assassin. I still get this feeling that Abelia will end up killing him or vice versa, I just don't know how this will go about. I agree with a poster that Sara needs to get a bit more characterization, but then again I don't think this is the type of show that goes deeply into it's characters for the most part. I think it's using them more as a way to facilitate the story, which is fine to me as it's been a very well done series so far.

The scene of the episode was Nabuca shooting the guy and Shu trying to cover his wound screaming at him to stop moving only to get a close up shot of the guy getting a bullet in the head. I really felt Shu's pain there and I think people are being judgmental of him are frankly terrible at having empathy for a character.

That said, I'd say Nabuca is probably my favorite character so far. It's obvious that he was scarred by, going by his reaction, his first kill and yet he convinces himself that he will be freed if he follows his orders. It's clear he isn't 100% in this, though, I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up helping Shu in a rebellion or fighting against Shu. We'll see.

Lala-ru, by the way, seems to be somehow aware of what happened in regards to the assassination. The way they interspersed her into the scenes here and there, makes me wonder if she has some sort of psychic abilities or she was freaking out because of whatever Hamdo did to her last episode. Just curious about that.
"Yes, I have been deprived of emotion. But not completely. Whoever did it, botched the job."

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Jan 19, 2013 5:34 AM

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May 2012
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Damn they sure got a triumph card for making this anime dramatic by just showing Sara a couple of seconds...

Nice episode, a lot has happened again and they're now on path to search new recruits, I wonder what will happen next!
May 20, 2013 2:33 PM
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Aug 2011
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Hamdo dying this early on would have been too good to be true.

I'm still interested in seeing what role Sara has yet to play.
If nobody is going to save her then hopefully she tries to save herself.
Jul 7, 2013 11:01 AM

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Dec 2012
16125
That scene with Shu trying to stop the bleeding from the assassin was pretty powerful, especially with how the kid who killed him reacted to his first (guessing) kill.

And damn I hate that I was naive in hoping for that guard to feel sorry for Sara and try to help her out, but he was attracted to her instead.
Jul 13, 2013 1:26 PM
The Shrike

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Nov 2009
11581
There are some surprisingly deep characterizations in this show like Nabuca and Abelia. It's really only Shu and Hamdo that are your flat archetypes.

Please, please let Sara be saved in some way by the end of this show.
"Perhaps there is a universal, absolute truth. Perhaps it justifies every question. But that's beyond the reach of these small hands." Mamoru Oshii

There is a cult of ignorance (...) nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that “my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.” Isaac Asimov

Aug 23, 2013 9:09 PM

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Jun 2013
362
Hamdo is a moron. I feel bad for poor Sara. I'm pretty sure I know what happened to her.
"The will to live is stronger than anything else"
Aug 26, 2013 8:21 AM

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Apr 2010
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Yanoflies said:
Man fuck, the episode was called 'Murder' so I thought Sara's rapist or at least Hamdo would have been murdered.

Man, poor Sara, if she isn't saved by the end of the show, I'll write a letter to the director.

Nov 25, 2013 1:18 PM

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Nov 2009
14588
Poor Sara . . .

Anyways, curious to see what this battle will be like. Also why are they so focused just on more recruits instead of stealing more water . . . Since it is pretty clear that water is a major issue.
Jul 1, 2014 6:54 AM

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Jan 2014
4581
I felt with Shu trying to keep the assassin alive. So much irony in this world of war.
He killed the man who tried to kill the man who's responsible for them suffering in
a place like that. Oh man, this Hamdo guy's not only purely evil, but stupid too...
Nov 16, 2014 11:46 AM

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Jan 2013
13743
Hamdo acted like he never held a gun before but he managed to fire 3 clean shots on one guy and then efficiently shoot the gun off the other terrorists? While trained armed terrorists miss almost every single shot? Yeah no I call bullshit
Jan 25, 2015 2:16 PM

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Mar 2014
2752
Pretty slow episode.
It was still good, though.

Those assassins weren't, though. They couldn't hit the broad side of a barn, ahaha. XD

Anyway, now they're on the road, which should be a nice change of scenery for the next episode.
I wonder if they'll be able to find any recruits.
::End of Transmission::


May 18, 2015 5:58 AM
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Jan 2012
352
That guy who is training them, punched the mc in the last ep and now he says that he never saw him? ok..

aside of that, this is a pretty average anime, but idk if I should drop it or not, I'm kinda curious about how it's gonna end
Feb 3, 2016 3:33 AM

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Mar 2010
5226
This anime is so touching and so good.. And i dont hate shu.. It isnt that easy to just kill someone if youre not used to it
Jan 5, 2017 3:44 PM
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Sep 2016
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I'm absolutely loving the setting, how the hell this series slipped under so many people's radar?
Mar 14, 2017 10:42 PM

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Feb 2016
460
That silent suspense was great! The flurry of adrenaline and anger which ends in slack jawed disbelief, that you've killed a man, you really did it, despite all the logical justifications and calls for duty, it fails to soothe your woe. You can't go back, you're a killer, a monster...

I am very surprised at the amount of hatred for Shu... a sad reminder of the fuel that drives war and crimes against humanity... Not everyone is courageous enough to stand up and say this is wrong. If everyone did that, King Hamdo's reign of terror would've long ended. "I had no choice." "I was just following orders." "I didn't know what I was doing."

HORSESHIT.
Cloud_IllusionMar 14, 2017 10:47 PM
Nothing can happen until you swing the bat.
Apr 9, 2017 3:17 AM

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JD002 said:
I'm absolutely loving the setting, how the hell this series slipped under so many people's radar?


The genre sort of hides the premise of the story pretty well. You think it is a regular shounen show where the MC saves a damsel in distress but this show is a lot more than that. Perhaps a bit too much for some
Apr 10, 2017 3:57 AM
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booyah10 said:
JD002 said:
I'm absolutely loving the setting, how the hell this series slipped under so many people's radar?


The genre sort of hides the premise of the story pretty well. You think it is a regular shounen show where the MC saves a damsel in distress but this show is a lot more than that. Perhaps a bit too much for some


Yeah, i thought about that, well, worse for them.
Aug 6, 2017 9:49 PM
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Jul 2015
1009
I like this show, but I think the main problem it has is that Shu's character is so one note. He's perpetually optimistic, unrealistically kind in insane situations, and never seems to have any fear. He seems to only exist so the writers can destroy his innocence. It's not that I hate him, but he's not written very well.

Honestly, everything else in the show is much more interesting than him.
Dec 3, 2017 3:03 PM

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Dec 2016
3523
I wonder how venturing into the wasteland is going to change Shu? Maybe he'll actually have to kill someone to defend himself or help a comrade, but we'll see.

Also damn I wished one of those guys somehow killed Hamdo, but I bet the payoff of Shu or Lala Ru kicking the shit out of him later will be pretty good
“I love heroes, but I don't want to be one. Do you even know what a hero is!? For example, you have some meat. Pirates will feast on the meat, but the hero will distribute it among the people! I want to eat the meat!” - Monkey D. Luffy
Sep 7, 2018 1:26 AM

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Aug 2015
984
Man, Hamdo is his own worst enemy. Not unlike certain famous dictators.
Abelia for King, she's still a piece of shit but she'd at least do a better job than this guy.
Jan 17, 2019 7:01 PM

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Oct 2013
4358
I have a suspicion Sara is more than just a worldbuilding tool to highlight the agonies of the setting, but she'll also be integral to the overall plot. It is likely not a coincidence she so closely resembles Lalaru. Her pendant as well, if I'm not mistaken, is strikingly similar to the lost pendant.

Great episode. The dramatic pause after Nabuca shot the assassin in the forehead was... powerful.



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Apr 8, 2019 7:23 AM

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Nov 2011
3473
Sara's side story is the most disturbing part of this show ...
"The Slave is the have-not, the oppressed one with nothing to spare.
But because the Slave is in that despairing situation, having nothing, it can kill the Emperor !"
Nov 7, 2019 8:11 PM

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I didn't think it was possible to create such unlikable characters, but they've done it! The only good character with a sliver of "personality" is Shuu, and he's dumb as a rock. Hamdo sucks, Nabuca sucks, Tabool sucks, everyone sucks.

I really hope it's explained why Abelia follows king Hamdo. And it better be a damn good explanation too, dude fucking sucker-punched her.

Those assassins shoot as well as stormtroopers!

The scenes where the assassins are killed... damn they're brutal. Fucking psychos, the both of them.

Sara must have hawk eyes, cause there's no way she would've seen that ugly bastard from her cell.

I really hope Sara and Lala-Ru actually do something, they're basically props at this point. Definition of damsel in distress.
Feb 19, 2020 7:20 AM

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May 2017
1039
ehh. I mean I get the themes.. The concept itself is kind of appealing to me, but it hasn't really clicked with me so far.. Can't say that I'm really enjoying this.
Aug 14, 2020 4:04 PM

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Aug 2017
3040
"Abelia, we don't have soldiers?"
Several seconds later:
"Abelia, prepare a military operation"
I love how clearly it is shown that Hamdo is insane. Fast change of mood, contradictory statements, etc.

It's also awesome how "the great king Hamdo leading the great nation" is actually a crazy guy with signs of schizophrenia living in a shabby "castle". Does he even come out of his several rooms?

How was Shu allowed to attend the training with that big stick? And the coach didn't remember him from last night...which kinda suggests that he doesn't care about his "students" at all (of course).
By the way, they're training with real knives, I wonder how many people end up dead or badly injured.

Boo, a little kid, to a kid who's older than him: "You're acting like a kid"

Those wannabe killers threw a corpse at Hamdo instead of just shooting him right away...of course they failed. Did Lala-Ru "feel" them, by the way?

That headshot delivered by Nabuca surely was "bloodless"

Sara got...raped again? By a guy who wanted to appear "kind" by asking her name first? Jeez. Or is the show suggesting that Kazam *didn't* rape her by making him ask Sara's name? And she got PTSD after seeing her first rapist.

there just using her for mating only, so they can get more soldiers

That didn't cross my mind for some reason, but it's not the most effective "way" to get more soldiers, 1-2-3 a year at most, assuming Sara is the only woman prisoner (doubtful but still, there don't seem to be many people in the castle)...they made Sara endure this just because they want soldiers to "have a woman" for "pleasure". It's awful but that's their logic, I suppose. A "tool" to control the soldiers' behavior (so that they don't get "mad" without sex). Another scary thing is just how everybody brigns Sara to her next rapist in cold blood. They don't even know her name (e.g. Nabuca didn't understand who "Sara" was). The banality of evil.

P.S. Sara and Lala Ru need more "development"? Well, I agree to an extent, but given the situation they're in (especially Sara), it's just *impossible* to make the character develop. And that's the whole point, isn't it? Sara is in prison constantly getting raped, how're you going to "develop" her? She needs to escape first. Same with Lala-Ru, though unlike Sara she has a mysterious past among other things.
St0rmbladeAug 14, 2020 4:23 PM
Jan 17, 2021 7:49 PM

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Apr 2017
421
I don’t care if she is bad Abelia is hot af.
Jun 11, 2021 6:28 AM

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Jun 2015
3466
I guess the two men can kill the guard and throw him over the table as a threat, but somehow can't finish the job at all. Awkward.

Gods, characters like Shu annoy the hell out of me. Thank gods there's Nabuca, he's at least possible to relate to.
I hate shu even more after this episode. and he's only just started to wonder where he is.

Imagine hating (almost) the only remotely sane person here, archetype or not.
Jul 9, 2021 2:36 PM
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May 2012
7011
I literally dance to the opening song. It's so nice.
Mar 30, 2023 7:39 PM

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Dec 2022
5310
Never rooted for assassins more in my life. Shame they were poor shots, and didn't just run up to Hamdo's desk and shoot him at point blank range while he was cowering and unarmed. Meanwhile Hamdo is somehow an accurate shot when he can barely hold the gun without shaking. Very strange.


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Jun 21, 2023 4:28 AM
otp haver 🤪

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Jul 2017
6391
Abelia is so interesting due to the fact that she’s being abused and manipulated but she does care what happens to the people involved in this war effort when this crazy fuck Hamdo doesn’t care who he has to sacrifice and does not get it.

The painted contrast between Shuu and the other boys is so interesting all around “what are you a child or something?” It would probably be too on the nose for Shuu to say “yeah we all are.” But the fact that he looks around gives you that conclusion on your own.

Hamdo getting on a power trip like a child. It just. Baffles me yet I know how disgustingly real it is. This man has done probably so much unspeakable damage I just know it.

Nabuka just cold blood killing that man and the immediate trauma of it. This feels so much more scary yet real.

Shuu question at the end just man.

10/10 this show get me depressed.
Sep 10, 1:55 AM

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Aug 2019
3003
It's awful to watch these innocent children being abused and forced to participate in military service.
Yesterday, 9:25 PM

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Oct 2021
10
"What are you child or something?"

What does he mean by that? They are all children. They are not even teen yet.

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