No.6 11/Review [Final]
Can you believe it, guys? No.6 is already over! It’s really been a blast reviewing this show and hearing everyone’s different opinions, so it’s going to be hard saying goodbye. This marks my third series completed here at Sekijitsu (why, yes, I am keeping track), and it’s been interesting seeing how the comments/commenters differ per show. It’s given me the opportunity to talk to a lot of different people about a lot of different things, and I’m really grateful to all of you guys who read my posts and, of course, to Bass and the others for letting me blog here.
Anyway, I should really stop talking about myself and get on with this post:
Episode 11
Alright, it’s serious business time. I still have a rant to get out of the way before moving on to my thoughts on the series overall.
As much as it really REALLY pains me to say this, episode 11 was a mess. After such a brilliant climax in episode 10, I was starting to have hope that, despite it being impossible to wrap things up in a satisfying manner at this point, the writers would at least be able to create a somewhat decent finale. This, however, just felt like they pulled a bunch of random nonsense out of nowhere.
Nezumi and Shion didn't understand what just happened either.
First of all, I really didn’t understand the point of Nezumi leaving at the end. Was there any particular reason why he had to leave? It didn’t seem like it. It just seemed like an incredibly cheap way of making the ending more dramatic even though it was unnecessary. “Shion, I love you, but I have to go….somewhere…..I guess…because it just wouldn’t be bittersweet enough if we got to be together!” Where could he possibly have to go, anyway?
The other thing is the resurrection of Shion. If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s when I start getting all teary-eyed over a dead character only to have them come back to life five minutes later. Just as I started crying like a bitch for poor little Shion, Elyurias turns into an enormous wasp….thing and brings him back to life. Not only that, but I thought that Shion’s death was one of the few things this episode did right, and it feels like they ruined that by having him just come back to life thanks to Elyurias and her stupid forest fairy magic. The death of Shion was a very emotional and powerful moment that I thought was pretty well-done, and I especially liked the exchange between Nezumi and InuKashi before she inexplicably disappeared from the episode completely. So why bring him back? Instead of making a bittersweet ending where two lovers are forced to be separated for no apparent reason, why not just let it be a tragedy?
Hold on while I take off your clothes so we can have hot sex for the rest of the episode.
And why DID Elyurias save Shion? Elyurias just got done condemning random innocent people of No.6 to death simply for being associated with the city. Oh sure, the city thrives off of genocide and exploitation, but is that the fault of the people? If Elyurias believes it is, then why didn’t she punish everyone in No.6 indiscriminately? Youming, for example, was trying to stop the city, yet in the middle of his speech about the evils of No.6, he was killed. But Karan, who just sat in her shop all day baking bread was spared for some reason they never bother to explain. And Shion was revived from the dead even though he was associated with the city and received the benefits that people’s lives had been sacrificed for his entire life up until recently. Was it the Safu in her that made her deem Shion worthy of life? Who knows!
*Sigh* I somehow don’t even feel like getting into the sheer absurdity of the giant wasp tornadoes or Safu turning into a giant shining wasp creature. Overall, I thought this episode could have and should have been much better. The execution was just terrible, but I will give it credit for eliciting an emotional response for a few minutes at least. It’s always a shame when good shows end on such a lame note, but at least there was some lovely BL to make it better, right?
Overall Review:
Despite the fact that I just wrote paragraphs of complaints and ranting, I did not hate No.6. In fact, it’s the opposite: as a whole, I really enjoyed No.6! It had plenty of flaws, but almost every episode prior to episode 11 was rock solid and chock full of some great characterization. Add in a killer soundtrack, well-animated fight scenes, and a surprisingly down-to-earth homosexual relationship and No.6 was a worthwhile watch even if it couldn’t quite fit itself into its allotted time frame. If given 22 episodes or even just 13, this could have been one hell of an epic series. The biggest problem, as is typically the case with shows on this timeslot, is that Noitamina is a double-edged sword. Much like Fractale and Kuragehime, No.6 had a story that was just too big for eleven episodes, and because of that it ended up with such a terrible mess of an ending that did not, by any means, do this series justice.
But there were hot guys kissing, so it's all good.
The highlight of No.6, at least for me, was the characters. Nezumi and Shion are both excellent lead characters that play off of each other nicely. I know a lot of people don’t like Shion, but he serves as the perfect foil to Nezumi, and I honestly found him refreshing as far as male leads go. He doesn’t stay the sniveling male lead- he changes and becomes somebody who can stand as an equal to Nezumi. I especially liked how they handled Shion’s character in the last few episodes, and the destruction of his innocence was well-portrayed. The side characters, too, receive an incredible amount of development and depth considering the short amount of time they had to do it, and the chemistry between them all was just great. The only characters that felt bland to me by the end were Mr. Pedobear Plot Device (that old hobo in the cave) and creepy-ass Lilli whose telepathic child powers seemed forced and stupid, but they were hardly around anyway.
As for the story, it was rushed, but the pacing wasn’t that bad (before episode 11, anyway.) It was, for the most part, executed pretty well. There were some elements of it that just seemed unnecessary *cough* Elyurias *cough*, but I still enjoyed it a lot. Even if the ending was a train wreck, it was still a fun ride getting there.
The animation had it’s dips, but it was pretty decent most of the time. BONES really broke the bank animating some of the fight scenes though. I mean, that fight in episode 10 looked GOOD. The background art was also nicely detailed. As far as production values go, No.6 wasn’t anything ground-breaking, but it remained consistent.
Rating: 8.5/10. That may seem a bit high, but No.6 has been a really interesting character study that was genuinely enjoyable for 10 straight episodes. While I don’t suggest going into it with high expectations, I highly recommend watching No.6. It’s not amazing, but I don’t think you’ll regret it either.
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I have to agree with this post, that final episode didn't do the series justice but I just don't think a bad ending discredits everything else. No.6 was an enjoyable series and I'll miss it.
My recent post No.6 11 – Was I the only one who liked this?
I'll definitely miss it too. :<
(By the way, I love your Now and Then, Here and There gravatar~)
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This series needed to be longer, enough said. The characters were much too good to just drop like this. But otherwise, I can see why he kissed him, since they're 'good-bye' kisses and all, but why on earth did he bugger off? And I kinda bawled when Shion was dead, but then he came back to life and I was like …oh. all and all I still liked the series as a collective. Bad endings seem kinda common place for great series..
Because fujoshi love bittersweet endings? x3 Your guess is as good as mine.
It's kind of a shame how many Noitamina shows seem to be getting bad endings lately. You'd think maybe they'd realize by now that adapting anything into 11 episodes almost never works out…*sigh*
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I can describe this show as being a pretty good distopian utopia sci fi show…… For 10 episodes.
I was enjoying this show a great deal, i managed to catch up 9 or 10 episodes within a few days which says a lot for me. It's based off a nine volume novel so you can immediately see the ending would need to bring something amazing to the table. It didn't and you can tell there's still more story left and too many questions.
What shone in this series in my opinion was the character relationships. Sion and Nezumi obviously had a fair amount of UST but even Inukashi and Rikiga really felt part of the show and connected with the protagonists.
It just needed a few more episodes to really end the series properly with as little questions. How much of episode 11 was in the novel? If they made an anime original ending they could have avoided them (the questions).
My recent post ramblingsofanotaku:
Pfffthahahahahahahaha!!
I'm not sure if any of this was in the novels or not. I've heard that they're good though, so I'd like to think that means most of it probably wasn't. But even if it was, there's just no excuse for that ending. XD
My recent post Tiger & Bunny 25 [END]
Definitely, the relationships in No. 6 were the highlight of the show, which makes it much (e.g. a little bit) better than Fractale, whose characters were just 'what'.
Yet, we already have great characters in noitaminA's Usagi Drop – why bother with characters in a science block? It'd be cool if noitaminA had three blocks, one for pure drama, one for pure science, and one for a mix, but it'd be more likely that pure science would simply become a mix, given how it's bombed for the past few seasons.
Also, yeah. Those wasps, so mean. So they kill the citizens of No. 6 who didn't do anything wrong and aren't aware of the city's faults, but don't harm the people of West District, some of who may have been put there for legitimate reasons? Derp.
My recent post No. 6 11 [Completed]
True, at least No.6 had that going for it. Fractale just had nothing…XD I consider No.6 to be much better than Fractale though.
Actually, I don't really think the characters are that great in Usagi Drop. I always find Rin too hard to believe. I have five younger siblings (one of which is seven now), I babysit, and I've done peer helping, yet I've never met a child as mature and well-behaved as Rin. And I don't know, I just think Daikichi borders on Gary Stu-ish at times. But either way, I don't think it's bad to have more than one good character study on the same timeslot. I would love it if Noitamina had a third timeslot though! That would be one more show to get excited for. xD
Wasps are just assholes I guess. Haha~ I don't really understand Elyurias' reasoning in killing off random bystanders in No.6 either. Guilty by association I guess? You'd think she'd start with people involved with the government first or something instead of just killing off people all willy nilly. Damn wasps….
My recent post Tiger & Bunny 25 [END]
Nice review. I agree with you–the characters were the main draw, and they were very solid (I liked Shion, too). I also thought No.6 had excellent production values, not BONES' best, but easy on the eyes. But that ending. Jebesus. Not sure if I'll give the show a 6 or a 7 at this point (on MAL, I put it down as a 6, but I did mark it right after the ending). Still, it's not a great show if the most I can say is I liked it more than Fractale. xD
BONES, I am disappoint. When your best show in a year is Star Driver, you're doing something wrong. (Please, please, please be awesome Un-Go!)
My recent post No.6 11/Review [Final]
Thanks Renn!
Haha I still think No.6 is leagues above Fractale, but that's just my opinion. XD I'm hoping Un-Go! is better too, though. This sadly hasn't been the best year for BONES (although I adored Star Driver way more than I know I should have~)
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Agree with this post. Final ep. had some random bullsh*t in there. Another episode would have made a big difference, it would have help spread the last episode out a bit. I was really disappointed in Shion’s death ( not b/c i hate him). It was a well staged, emotional moment imo, that would have had a big boost to the ratings. If Shion was going to survive in the end, i would preferred him not getting shot and go through the whole saved by a mystical being crap that we have witnessed in many animes before.
Last episode was a fail but still i enjoyed it. I enjoyed the whole show. For 11 episodes i think its definitely worth the watch. Gave it a 8/10. Thanks for your review through out the show Elyon.
Yeah, Shion really should have just stayed dead. Or never died in the first place. But having him get resurrected like that was just silly and made no sense given the fact that apparently Elyurias believes that everyone in No.6 is guilty by association.
You're welcome ^_^ Thank you for reading them!
My recent post Tiger & Bunny 25 [END]
Ouch, No. 6. I know I said you could probably have a good finale if you handle the bee question, but I didn’t mean like that! I was also kind of frustrated that Karan never got to see Shion again, since that was most of her character arc, and Yoming’s contribution to the show ended up being a bit of exposition and a whole lot of nothing. At least the bee tornadoes and Rainbow Wasp Safu were pretty hilarious, since I knew that things were going to get crazy going into the episode.
I’m a bit torn on the show after the finale. I enjoyed episodes 1 – 7 quite a lot, particularly the characterization of the two leads and the slow buildup of the conspiracy in No. 6. As soon as Elyurias, Nezumi being a forest elf and magic came into play, though, I really got taken out of the show. I’m disappointed that a lot of the mysteries I watched the show to see solved had crazy magical answers, since the show worked well as a sci-fi based character study. Ah well, life goes on.
I was a bit disappointed that they never showed Karan being reunited with Shion too. I wanted to see her reaction to his new hair and scar. XD As for Youming, I thought he would contribute more too considering how nuts he was acting before. Having his big plan end up being a rant about corruption on a big TV screen was a bit lame.
I know what you mean. Damn forest elves ruin everything….
My recent post Tiger & Bunny 25 [END]
It's hard to see why Bones decided to go in this direction with the ending when they've been doing a good job for 10 episodes already. If they were going to have everyone be alive and happy in the end, they didn't have to pad it out by having Nezumi and Shion get shot, not to mention that they didn't really give us any time to really feel for Safu getting blown up, and everyone continuously switching personalities from Shion's on-and-off between being sweet and caring to torn and angry, Inukashi becoming increasingly selfish, and Elyurias killing off crowds of people for something that wasn't their fault.
Nonetheless, it's still a very enjoyable series.
I was confused during this episode, read the summary/translations of volumes 8 and 9 and then was just annoyed. Boooooones, you had source material that worked better, why didn't you use it? Q-Q
Link to translations/summaries for those who want it: http://hiriajuu.livejournal.com/
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