Phantom ~Requiem for the Phantom~

[shinta|hikari]

I actually love robotic and cold expressions in most anime. Some of my favorite characters this season, like Felli Loss, (and some from older ones, like Rin from DTB) have such expressions.

[Buffalobiian]

That expressionless look sure is a major attraction of this show (a turn-off for some, I guess). I'm loving it. I did get put off by Zwei's "depressed" look though. I'm not really a fan of the darkened/wrinkled eyebag look. It just makes him look insomiac and sad. Sad as in homeless, pathetic sad.

[Kraco]

I have nothing to complain about so far. Obligatory test is finished - couldn't have arrived too soon, because we all knew how it would go, and on the other hand the story couldn't have advanced without it. It was a bit of a forced test, I suppose, as opposed to sniping someone defenseless, but maybe, considering Zwei's personality, this was the only way he could have ever pulled the trigger.

Still, like shinta, I'm mostly interested in the relationship between those two and their psychological development. I hope the story will serve that well enough, no matter what route it's going to go down; rebellion or adaptation. We don't actually yet know what Ein desires. It's pretty obvious Zwei isn't exactly happy and would probably get the hell out if possible. Ein's feelings and much of her personality is likely locked behind many walls; maybe she's hoping Zwei will do something about that, consciously or unconsciously.

[Buffalobiian]

Ein's feelings and much of her personality is likely locked behind many walls; maybe she's hoping Zwei will do something about that, consciously or unconsciously.

Yeah, while Ein's just following orders to train Zwei, if there was one thing Ein revealed about motives, it's that she wants Zwei to stay. While deep down, she's probably feeling bad about pushing Zwei down this path, she can't stop herself, as it's the first time she's ever had a companion or any sort.

I do think it's all unconscious.

[Naruto_RNG]

I should of said wut I meant for the robotic expression or should I say who that sentence refer to, which is Zwei at the end of eps. I actually don't mind Ein expressions, can't really expect much from her character. I like shows that main leads fight against their faith not give in to it. Well one thing is for sure, for the next few eps we'll get a obedient expressionless Zwei.

[shinta|hikari]

I like Zwei's expressions too. They look bad ass, without the arrogance.

[Kraco]

I like shows that main leads fight against their faith not give in to it. Well one thing is for sure, for the next few eps we'll get a obedient expressionless Zwei.

Assuming you meant fate, not faith, that's a pretty restricting attitude. There are plenty of shows where the main character has all the reasons to fight for his fate, not against it. For example Bleach: Ichigo was immensely happy he was turned into a shinigami. Saying a story would always benefit from fighting against your fate will limit the plot just as much as a stoic attitude (or even deterministic).

If we assume Zwei has truly lost all his memories, he has little to go back to right now. I'd say the paths of adaptation and rebellion are equal like now. By adaptation I don't mean to work like a slave till his death but to climb the ladder of power in the organization, doing what he sees fit.

[Naruto_RNG]

Yea I meant fate, don't know why I spelled it faith haha. Personally I think bleach and this show are 2 totally different things so the comparison doesn't really apply here, but thats my opinion. The thing I like about naruto was that he was and is always fighting against his fate. I enjoy that type shows I guess, it really comes down to that.

I agree with your second paragraph, but hoping that he slowly regains his memories.

[Yukimura]

Phantom - 04 (1280x720 H264) - [Desire]

More emotionless killing <3

[Xelbair]

Damn i just love this anime - it always stirs something in my heart. I have more trouble waiting for next episode than with code geass(and that was hard), bah, even than waiting for translation of fate game!

[Kraco]

I kept thinking in the beginning of this episode that it's Zwei having a dream, it looked so unreal after the previous eps. And still it seems like a bit of a stretch. They were acting roles in order to scout the place inconspicuously, but there was surely extra parts there. It will ultimately predict problems later on if they can still be that normal without acting, for it couldn't all have been acting. At the very least they are far from being emotionless killing machines.

But who cares when Ein looked so hot in a swimsuit.

[Buffalobiian]

Agreed on all counts Buffalobiian except for the fact I dont think Ein is cute at all...zenzen....

I dare you to say that now.

I think that lady-with-big-bossoms in the mafia has a good chance of dying sometime. She's too kind to be sitting in that position, and that Dr is pretty keen on rising through the ranks. Plus, she was mentioning before about what freedom she had (or didn't have). Just a hunch.

The swimsuit scenes were nice and all, but my favourite would still have to be the the whole pout-slap-hug scene. <3

Too bad I had to watch this in 512 x 288. It was the only DDL source that worked with my current connection.

[Xelbair]

Oh and in my opinion she is cute - especially in some scenes in mall - i don't think that everything was act there.

[shinta|hikari]

I think it was all an act, but it displays that she is indeed capable of such expressions. So far, the only real emotion I have seen from her is fear and concern, both involving Zwei.

[Xelbair]

EP 5, from comments it its pretty decent - rated 7.5/10

[Yukimura]

Apparently C&D's went out for Phantom c/o of Funimation (which is apparently streaming this if you like that sort of thing) and supposedly Desire, Ayako, and Menclave have all dropped. No word on Nekomimi and some anonymous group posted another ep 5.

Phantom - 05 (1280x720 H264) - [Timo]

Xelbair's link is to the (shitty) Lance-Menclayako-HorribleSubs release which I suspect is a rip of the Funimation stream (It's 640x360 and looks grainy as hell. Thanks Funi, but I'd prefer 720p).

EDIT: The Timo release seems watchable but clearly no QC was involved. I noticed some spelling errors and extra spaces between words and at least one untranslated line at around 19:12 which was easy to glean from the context. It could be a whole lot worse. Also no karaoke and no translation of the preview .

[Kraco]

Bloody Funimation. I wish some group outside of the USA was subbing it, and thus wouldn't drop it (as Funimation streams only to American recipients, as far as I know). A real group with QC. Well, who knows, maybe if we wait for a little while, strange Nyaatorrents hosted anon releases will appear that suspiciously remind of real subs...

[Xelbair]

Damn, haven't those groups thought that people outside US watch their releases?

[Buffalobiian]

Damn, haven't those groups thought that people outside US watch their releases?

I'll assume you mean "fansub" groups, and they're probably pulling back for more selfish reasons

[Kraco]

Zwei surely took hard killing the kid. No wonder, of course. He displayed remarkably dead eyes after the deed. Somehow I doubt he was of any entertainment to McCunnen that night. It'll be interesting to see how he will get over it later. Who knows how long this series will be, though, so it's impossible to say whether anything significant should yet happen (inside his mind). Also, we don't yet know if things will change because Zwei (and hopefully Ein) decide to change them or maybe there will be internal strife within Inferno, and things will just fall apart leaving those two no choice but to make a choice.

Asumming something will happen in the first place, of course.