Phantom ~Requiem for the Phantom~

[Yukimura]

Lol the preview for 11 hinted at exactly what I expected. I figured after losing Ein Zwei would need something like a cheerful positive genki gir type person in order to re-regain his humanity (Like Saya for Train in Black Cat). I didn't expect him to go back to Inferno though, but perhaps they found him, stitched him up, and Clau rebrainwashed him some while he was hurt.

In any case, it seems Ein is really gone and that's about the worst thing that could possibly happen in this show. Still Ms. McCunnen still interests me and I want to see more of Zwei's jouney so I will persevere despite the tragic loss.

[Buffalobiian]

Ein....

I'm still going to tell myself she's out there somewhere, unless I see a grave or something.

[Kraco]

Hard to say for sure. Zwei's own scene certainly showed him receiving several rounds of slugs yet he seemed to be in perfect operational condition in this ep. Although the difference here is that we didn't see the bullets hit any vital areas. Ein's single wound was through her lung, and could cause problems if not treated immediately (instead of taking a dive in the ocean). Still, it wasn't immediately fatal like a heart hit.

However, considering we see a new girl in the next ep preview already it makes me think Ein has become nothing but a character development waypoint for Zwei already.

[Buffalobiian]

That also proposes another question:

What's her name going to be? Drei?

[Kraco]

What's her name going to be? Drei?

The name's Cal.

Episode 12 - Inferno
Episode 12 xvid - Inferno

Edit:
Episode 13 - Inferno
Episode 13 xvid - Inferno



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Well, she was that sort of a girl. I was expecting her to be somehow connected to Inferno, but she was more like a collateral victim. Now Zwei's partner... Haha, that was actually almost funny. She certainly had no idea what kind of a deal she made. It was pleasant Zwei went for it, though. Shows how he doesn't care anymore - even if down the line he might still start to care again.

Edit. #13 was surely a troublesome episode. I thought I saw some insanity in Zwei during ep #12, but this episode revealed the guy is actually a pussy, and nobody's afraid of him (except those who don't know him at all, only his reputation). I had been hoping he was a barely contained lose cannon, or a time bomb, waiting to break all hell around him, but instead he's very insecure and the Inferno bosses view him as nothing special.

What a bloody letdown. And here I was waiting for the ep when he would launch his masterplan of killing all of Inferno. The girl is kind of a nice character, but would probably be even more so, in reflection, if Zwei acted like a half insane hitman, and not like some neighbourhood dude, who just happens to have a couple of secrets and strange friends.

[Buffalobiian]

First of all, I'm totally into Zwei's new theme. Very appropriately gangstar!!

That aside, I'm with what Kraco said. The Zwei pre- and post- Cal were entirely different. The first was as if he's totally lost it, living on a work/reward (tits, as they put it) basis.

It's a bummer things have turned a bit more "normal" now, though Cal's development still holds my interest. Ein trained so she has a place to be (I presume), Zwei trained to live (as his talent's staying alive), so if Cal's talent is the will to kill, Zwei would certainly bait her that they know who killed Judy, but it's up to her to kill them.

Let's just hope she does have something up her sleeve and it wasn't all BS Zwei coughed up on the spot.

To my joy, I can only think of 1 person who's outline matches that of Episode 12 - 13:42.

[shinta|hikari]

Let's just hope she does have something up her sleeve and it wasn't all BS Zwei coughed up on the spot.

That should be a safe bet, since Reiji did call her a genius during the preview.

To my joy, I can only think of 1 person who's outline matches that of Episode 12 - 13:42.

Yuki should be ecstatic.

[Buffalobiian]

[Inferno] Requiem for the Phantom - 14 (1280x720 h264) [CBCD452D].mkv.torrent

[Kraco]

Episode 15 - Inferno


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This is no good. Like I said earlier, I was hoping Zwei had become a cracked killing machine after losing Ein, but instead, as was very clearly shown in this episode, he has become a broken assassin who can't even shoot without hesitation anymore, nor does he possess a sufficient mindset and attention. If McCunnen has any wits, she will get rid of Zwei and get a team of compenent men to replace him. Zwei is no good any longer. You can't rely on someone like that.

What comes to Zwei himself, he should stop pretending to be Phantom and hit the road before it's too late. It's painfully obviously he's not interested in the work anymore.

[shinta|hikari]

The reason why he couldn't shoot was because he thought the assassin was Ein. He can't really help it, since he actually saw Ein going down the elevator. Since the sniper is assumed to be the same person targeting the Japanese, the chances that the sniper was Ein is very high (she was actually, only not the one Reiji shot). In fact, the only reason to doubt such a possibility would be Reiji's past trauma, causing him to see things when he chased after the female assassin.

I'm pretty sure he can function properly outside of this exception. I don't think he ever did the assassin work out of interest, either. He simply realized he can't go back to any normal life since he already has so much blood on his hands, explicitly shown when he chose to forgo calling home years ago. Being a killer is his only way of life, except killing himself maybe,

[Kraco]

I'm pretty sure he can function properly outside of this exception.

Unfortunately that exception will haunt him forever from now on. He will always be a second late, and that means there's nothing but the plot of the show between him getting killed first or failing the mission. Plot devices aren't my favorite plot elements... He should take a leave of absence from his other work to hunt down Ein (and Scythe Master). It's quite obvious that is what he would really want to do, regardless of the fact he now has Cal's life to worry about as well.

[Buffalobiian]

Well, most (if any) negative feelings towards Zwei was completely blown away during the last few seconds of the episode for me.

Ein's back with a bang (literally). It was sort of bothering me how each new successor to the name Phantom seemed to be naturally more talented than the last. They always named Ein the best sniper though, and I'm glad they used this opportunity to demonstrate that. Even without seeing her face, Zwei realises the only person who is capable of sniping at such distances is Elen.

Claudia has a huge tattoo on her back? .....

Okay, she's still sexy, but she loses a point now. I always thought Claudia was attractive, but I couldn't figure out why. A certain shot this episode had her looking almost identical to Galetea from Claymore, which explains everything.

It's hard to say for me if I like Zwei hanging around Cal so much. It's just too easy-going when I see them around, and I can't really get into the mood that this is supposed to be a critical counter-sniping mission, or that it's their last chance.

On the other hand though, it helps establish how much of a prodigy Cal is, and how Zwei is slowly helping her along the way, instead of her suddenly becoming a pro assassin out of the blue.

[shinta|hikari]

@Kraco - He will only be a second late if the enemy is possibly Elen. If he was tasked to kill someone else (which is practically what he does, since he is an assassin), his issue with Elen should not matter. The main weakness here does not lie with him being unable to do his job in general, but with the fact that he cannot possibly kill Elen again, and that Elen seems to be their enemy. These problems are limited to this specific case.

I do agree that Reiji would definitely want to find Elen if he is 100% sure she is alive. Right now, he probably still has doubts, and that would prevent him from simply going on a search while neglecting his duties (which I'm pretty sure is not allowed in Inferno, anyway).

[Yukimura]

I have come up with a prediction for the endgame of this series. Ein and Zwei play cat and mouse for a while longer, eventually Scythe is killed off but not before ordering Ein to either kill Zwei or do something that requires killing him to get to her objective. Ein and Zwei face off, wounding each other. Zwei ends up getting the upper hand but Ein manages to incapacitated/kill him due to a hesitation to rekill her. Cal witnesses this whole fight, perhaps also flashing back and revealing that it really was Ein who killed her roomate, then she kills Ein, as she glitches over killing Zwei. Then the ever manipulative Ms. McCunnen, injured perhaps but still viable after the final showdown, recruits Cal into Inferno as the new Phantom candidate. Roll credits.

[Kraco]

Haha. Just a bit morbid scenario prediction, eh? After Ein and Zwei both miraculously surviving once, I'm having a tad hard time believing they would both get killed again. What good was killing and "resurrecting" them in the first place if they are simply killed again? Now that they are both obviously alive, I could even see a happy ending to this series, though I'm not really expecting one. Cal is one big question mark, though. Obviously she will have one big role or another before the end.

[Buffalobiian]

As much as I wish all three ex-Phantoms-to-be would survive, I like Yuki's prediction. It's fittingly morbid.

[shinta|hikari]

A little too morbid for my taste. What usually keeps me going in dark series is the chance for a happy ending, and vice-versa. The contrast is always a good thing when done well.

[Kraco]

Cat and mouse:

Episode 16 - Inferno
Episode 16 xvid - Inferno





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Edit: Hmm... This is certainly going down a very textbook path right now. Even to the point the yakuza underling didn't even ask where Scythe magically got the photo so conveniently. Aside from that Reiji certainly isn't Zwei anymore. I guess he pretty much said it himself in this episode as well: When he began to take care of Cal he ceased to be an assassin. So, you might say he switched from being Phantom to being a random gangster when he switched from serving death to serving life.

I'm not really expecting too much anymore from the next ep's fight. Although maybe we will already see an interesting death.

[Buffalobiian]

[Inferno] Requiem for the Phantom - 17 (1280x720 h264) [6897F65B].mkv

[Yukimura]

Well that ending would have actually been impactful if people actually stayed dead in this show. That said, they did take Cal's little snapshot out of the midway break so maybe she really was there (lol as if).