Sora no Woto

http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/2542/anime4570.jpg



Alternative titles: So・Ra・No・Wo・To, Sound of the Sky

Synopsis: The story takes place in an imaginary town Seize (the model cities are Cuenca and Alarcón Fortress in Spain). A long war brings a gradual decline to the world. People disappear from the town and fishes cease to exist in the sea. In this quiet world, five girls guard a fortress and play brass vividly.-MyAnimeList

Links: AnimeNfo, ANN, AniDB, MyAnimeList, Official.

Episode 01 - GoalGG




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I'm impressed.

At first I wasn't sure how well I'd swallow the K-ONified character designs, but they were quite acceptable.

The landscape and music, rather than blew me away, drew me right in. Beautiful would be the word to describe both aspects here.

I'll be expecting Rio to experiences some of the fandom that Mio went through, given the similarity in hairstyle and her "get in line" attitude. She's a lot more hardy than her high-schooler counterpart though, just as Kanata very much resembles Yui, but with some watered-down airheadedness. Felicia's backseat manipulation immediately gave me the impression of Captain Mugi.

The setting's definitely interesting, and I'm eager to see how much of a part their music will contribute to the overall effect of the war. If this episode is any indication though, the final development may be more supernatural in nature. [K-ON spoiler]In contrast to K-ON, I'm glad Kanata starts out with a genuine love for music, but without the genius to go with it (the latter which lead to Yui performing near flawlessly with little onscreen practice). Kanata still has perfect pitch though, which is a talent in it's own right I guess.[/spoiler] Add that to the music, and I think this show shows promise to deliver where K-ON didn't.

Kalafina's "Hikari no Senritsu" (Melody of Light) was a joy to listen to.

Keeping up with my K-ON comparisons, I'm pretty much as impressed as I was when K-ON neared it's peak (ep 2-5?), but for much more solid reasons (art, music, setting vs 100% moe characters/gags)

PS: I decided to go with "Sora no Woto" as the thread title rather than So・Ra・No・Wo・To since it looks less stupid and makes more sense to romanji readers. I realise they were probably going for a "musical notes" effect here, as well as perhaps each "sound" representing a girl or something.

just watched ep 1, and i enjoyed it.

the animation was fantastic, and yeah the characters were definitely similar to k-on..

you know, with that introductory and back story to the village, a clash with the demon thing is pretty inevitable. but with a second episode titled "the story of the chair", i'm thinking it be mostly episodic slice-of-life :\

I want to watch this, but I'll probably wait for another group. GG is not safe anymore... even if they are working with another group this time around. Whose Goal anyway? CoalGirls?

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Originally Posted by RyougaZell

I want to watch this, but I'll probably wait for another group. GG is not safe anymore... even if they are working with another group this time around. Whose Goal anyway? CoalGirls?

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it's CoalGG, Buffalobiian just typo'd i think.

also, why aren't gg safe anymore?

there is a Himatsubushi (torrent: h264 - xvid) release out. think it was the first one out.

but actually after reading their site

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Hello hello! Here’s episode 1 of Sora no Woto. However, as of now we have no plans to continue subbing it. So I guess enjoy this one shot!

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maybe you shouldn't get them after all O_o.

GG dropped several series last season out of nowhere or started to sub without quality check. Himatsubushi is actually Ayako with another name, I found out several days ago, so... ugh... so little options out there.

there's this pwq release. just read their full release article, and after reading it, I wish i had gotten theirs O_o.

HD - SD

and I thought the same thing about ayako when they had the ayako irc on the torrents, but they have a different site and stuff.. maybe they just like operating under different titles O_o.

I wasn't put off by the K-ON style moe blobbing at all. It's just a style and not an unpleasant one. The character personalities and the story are what counts. Unfortunately there lied the one thing that annoyed me: Kanata's airheadedness. It was cool in K-ON due to the high-school setting, but seriously, this girl is supposed to be in the military yet a mission of finding her way from the city gate to the fortress right in sight was too much for her. I don't know, if it's going to be like that, why did the author have to make it military? It feels far too unreal.

The other thing that bothered me was Rio's annoyingly slow nature and behavior. Not slow like stupid but just slow like taking ages to react and say anything and equally slow to get to the point. I hope I'll either get used to it or it was just this first episode.

Otherwise I have no complaints. It was interesting enough and I'll definitely watch the second ep (if only to find out why girl-soldiers not even carrying rifles have such a badass looking tank).

Valkyria-ON!

The animation looks superb and it seems like a very soothing series so i might check it out, but the trumpet has to be the lamest musical instrument in history

Minimal French mistakes from regarding the Helvetia letter, not perfect, but way above anything I've seen in anime before. The song was sung by a French native, too bad it wasn't interresting at all.
(Helvetia, now better refered as Switzerland with parts of the country speaking French)

Other than that, I'll have to watch ep 2, because that first one was incredibly boring and useless to me and I would drop the show if my curiosity wasn't piqued by the French references.
The synopsis refers to spaniard origins, so it's strange, or maybe that's because Helvetia is an ally.

Since not a whole lot really happened and they didn't even introduce the other characters, there's no way I can make a determination about this series off this one episode.

The music was great, and I loved the OP/ED. The art was really good too. The characters are Kannagi style, but the backgrounds look great. That sequence about the legend was the real highlight though. The art style was definitely Klimt like the Elfen Lied opening was, and it looked fantastic.

But the characters we a bit lacking for an introduction episode. Like Kraco, the fact that Kanata was still allowed in the military was a mystery completely. The girls at the fort are pretty obviously not much in the way of soldiers, despite their awesome tank, but being late and then requiring rescue is something a bit far beyond, "cute soldier is slightly incompetent but means well." Their captain may prefer they don't use ranks around each other and is fairly lax on discipline, but Kanata deserves a bit of punishment, like a day in the brig or scrubbing some toilets. If they are going to go with a military setting, at least act like it.

Quibbling aside, there were a lot of things that barely got mention that will certainly keep my interest until the rest of the girls get formally introduced. That tank for one. That thing looked awesome. Also, the quick glimpse that Kanata caught underwater. Winged. Headless. Monster Skeleton.

I guess the biggest question I have about this is what kind of series this intends to be. If it is just another K-ON slice of life with a military setting, I'll probably pass. But with that tank there, and the monster quite possibly all too real, the series might take a very different turn, and be a delight to watch.


As a side note, there are obvious parallels with K-ON in terms of character design, but in terms of their personalities, someone elsewhere suggested that from a first impression standpoint, the characters are a lot more like counterparts from ARIA. Their captain, the Endou Aya character, is a rather a lot like Alicia. She is very relaxed but obviously knows how to toy with her subordinates while still looking completely innocent. Same for Kanata and Akari too. Very enthusiastic about their chosen skill, but only marginally competent at it in the beginning.

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..With the aid of a giant spider, they defeated the demon and took its head..

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http://img704.imageshack.us/img704/845/smallvc.jpg

Now I must see this legend-inspired giant spider tank!

Rio is voiced by Nagi-senpai!

Impression so far, is that I'm glad it's not like K-ON's premise of 5 girls going about their daily lives. Nothing happened, and it doesn't look like it'll turn out to be a comedy or anything. It's filled with some mystery and intrigue. Don't know what 5 music players has to do with anything...

Hopefully it turns out good, it'd be something decent to follow, considering this season looks flimsy.

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Originally Posted by Ryllharu

That sequence about the legend was the real highlight though. The art style was definitely Klimt like the Elfen Lied opening was, and it looked fantastic.

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probably because it's the same director ^^

FYI everyone, gg dropped this one

In that case, I here's another subber for evaluation:

Nekomimi - Episode 01

Edit:

Perhaps this one would be a better consideration for weekly releases:

Hatsuyuki - Episode 01

edit2: didn't like Hatsuyuki's karaoke.

[Kimagure]​_Sora​_no​_Woto​_-​_02​_(1280x720)​.mkv 139.24MiB
Let's try ep 2 and a new group, probably a low res release per its size.

Edit: not downloaded yet, but I'm pretty sure it will be a CR rip.
Edit2: Decent in sub and quality

Yuurisan and m33w in cooperation released the first ep. I haven't checked it yet (though I downloaded it already) but still I'm 90% certain theirs is the version I'll be archiving.

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Originally Posted by Buffalobiian

In that case, I here's another subber for evaluation:

Nekomimi - Episode 01

Edit:

Perhaps this one would be a better consideration for weekly releases:

Hatsuyuki - Episode 01

edit2: didn't like Hatsuyuki's karaoke.

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Hatsuyuki / Fubuki aren't that good with karaoke, but their subs are good. I'll be switching to me for several series

I watched the HorribleSubs release (perfectly watchable, better than their average actually). I'll be archiving m.3.3.w.

I'm hooked on the setting of this story.

After seeing the school that took Kanata so long to recognize, that the pair were amazed that a school could be so huge, that no one even knows what Japanese is anymore, that any other past language can't be recognized (as on the sheet music), this world is clearly Post-Apocalyptic. It is also very anachronistic. They use trains as primary transportation, bolt-action rifles and sub-machine guns...and an old model tank is nevertheless an advanced walking tank.

I wouldn't be too surprised if the Nomansland on the other side of the mountains is a completely devastated war zone from 'ancient' history.

Rio's got her perks, Felicia's charming in a supportive way. Kureha's meh, and I dig Kanata's hairstyle, but by far my favourite girl is Noel.

She's a Yuki that interacts!!

I didn't like the OP sequence as much as I liked last week's, mainly because they showed the girls in very limited poses. Horrible Subs also appeared a bit choppy to me.

Like Ryll said, I find this show to be more like Aria than K-on in terms of characters. The two contrasting senpai and the two contrasting kouhai, plus the single aloof extra. There are of course differences, but one cannot deny the dynamic is pretty much the same.

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Originally Posted by shinta|hikari

Like Ryll said, I find this show to be more like Aria than K-on in terms of characters. The two contrasting senpai and the two contrasting kouhai, plus the single aloof extra. There are of course differences, but one cannot deny the dynamic is pretty much the same.

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Not to mention the soothing element it gives off

Actually, after seeing an article in Sankaku Complex, the characters are actually more similar to Strike Witches (to a terrifying amount, I must say). I am a bit embarrassed I didn't catch it earlier. I guess it is because the characters in Strike Witches vastly outnumber those in the other shows mentioned, not to mention it does not give off the relaxing atmosphere like Aria and this show does.

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Originally Posted by RyougaZell

Hatsuyuki / Fubuki aren't that good with karaoke, but their subs are good. I'll be switching to me for several series

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On the other hand, yurri-san-m33w's release sported beautiful karaoke. If I had to pick something other than non-intrusive white translation, this would be it.

Episode 2 - Yuurisan-m33w

This ep certainly gave contradictory hints about the world like Ryll said. The fact the rifles look WWI era whereas futuristic walking tanks exist as well, suggests to me that it's a world quite devoid of large civilizations capable of coordinated mass production. That is, they use what they can dig up from old rubble and perhaps manufacture simple things small-scale in workshops.

Why the heck did those two go to check the school carrying those insanely huge backpacks? The director's image of soldiers must have come only from pictures of soldiers being translocated.

Anyway, I don't dislike any of the characters. Too bad the tank is in such a sorry condition. I was already looking forward to the girls driving around the countryside...

[Nipponsei] Sora no Woto OP Single - Hikari no Senritsu [Kalafina].zip

Sora no Woto - 03 (720p) - [HorribleSubs]

Sora no Woto - 03 (480p) - [HorribleSubs]

The tank looks to be even more badass than I previously thought and the depths to which humanity, at least in this little corner of Helvetica, has seemingly fallen are somewhat clearer now.

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Originally Posted by Yukimura

The tank looks to be even more badass than I previously thought

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Stealth Mode?

STEALTH MODE?!

Good luck finding parts to repair that thing now, though if it's something from the past I suppose simply digging it up isn't such a far-fetched idea.

The control panel gave me Macross vibes. It better not remain a music player for the rest of the series.

I thought the atmosphere was portrayed rather well, music + art and all. I had a bit of a hard time with "malaria", but if there's a vector and an infected, I suppose it's entirely possible.

Yeah, the tank looked pretty advanced. I wonder what manner of a cannon it has. At least it has nice warning lights for driving among general traffic.

This episode worked nicely and demonstrated that despite her normally cool and professional attitude Rio has quite strong weaknesses as well. She was quite panicked and useless when confronted by a sick person.

I wonder if this series is going to have any male characters... Male VAs will be out of work soon if this trend continues.

HorribleSubs - Episode 04

[pwq] ep 4

HD - SD

Again, I'm really in love with the setting to this story, much more so than the characters.

From the remarks made in this episode, we can conclude:

- That the War occurred a long time ago since there was a Twelfth Helvetican Archduke. This means that the current empires have been around at least that long, probably much longer. Society must have collapsed completely and rebuilt itself from the ground up (often by moving into abandoned buildings like their school/fort) with relics like the tank all over the place.

- The world was nearly completed destroyed in the previous war. The oceans are sterile.

I'm really liking this show. It is like War Aria, or Waria for short. Noel is cute too. If the glassblower was telling Kanata what a genius Noel was, I wonder what the condition of the Tachikom- err...Takemikazuchi was before Noel started working on it. I was also greatly amused that the reason Kanata sucked was because she was trying too hard. I would have liked to hear her still screw up a bit still, but this is good too.

Looking forward to the next episode.

Another great episode. This show is definitely my favorite this season. Waria is a great description of it, and I love both the characters and the setting. I am glad that Kanata does not suck anymore. It is very weird for someone with perfect pitch and who practices so hard to not be able to play properly, and it is a nice change from the common pattern of spending an entire season just to make the main character play at a decent level.

I like Noel, but I usually like the silent and smart types. I am more surprised that I actually kind of like Kanata as well. I usually hate air-headed characters, but the voice acting definitely does not make her as dumb-sounding as Yui in K-ON, and her perfect pitch makes up for what she lacks in other areas, as her usefulness in this episode evidences.

I remember a class discussion we once had in Yr10 English, and our teacher proposed the question of what would happen (to our knowledge, lifestyle etc) if some catastrophe happened, and only our class was left alive. I suppose this gets pretty close.

Noel's really cute, and while I'm not attracted to Kanata all that much, she's definitely likable, and far from annoying.

This show is sure to satisfy my steampunk appetite.

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Originally Posted by Buffalobiian

Noel's really cute, and while I'm not attracted to Kanata all that much, she's definitely likable, and far from annoying.

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I definitely like Kanata's really enthusiastic nature. She's only been in Sieze a few days or weeks, and she still finds so many things about the place wonderful. Kureha or Rio might have found her a bit annoying with all those questions, but Noel stopped to take the time to answer, even before Kanata proved herself to Noel by saying a machine is just a machine, it's not something you can blame.

I said that the characters aren't as interesting as the setting, and while that's true, there have already been some hints, as with the blond woman that inspired both Kanata and Rio.

The two have a connection through her, but they don't know it. However, with what Rio said the episode prior and what we've seen from Kanata's flashbacks, the two of them couldn't possibly be more different. Kanata may have been orphaned, or perhaps she was just poor and miserable. The woman raising her spirits with the impromptu trumpet performance led her to join the army. Rio on the other hand, seems to have come from a rather wealthy and well off family. Yet she also mentioned that she "escaped" to the army, for a reason completely different from Kanata's. I wonder what Rio is running from.

Would it not be the usual avoidance of responsibility? I think it is possible that she has an amazing talent for music, and that her family may be well known for it, and that she simply chose to escape the pressure by going to the army. It may also be possible that she was chosen as the successor of a business or the like, and she opted to follow her love for music in the army.

I do hope it is something different, yet believable. Surprises are very rare in stories nowadays, much more so in slice-of-life shows.

EDIT: This is my favorite excluding Katanagari, which I watched after making this post.

[Nipponsei] Sora no Woto ED Single - Girls, Be Ambitious. [Tomatsu Haruka].zip

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Originally Posted by Ryllharu

I was also greatly amused that the reason Kanata sucked was because she was trying too hard. I would have liked to hear her still screw up a bit still, but this is good too.

Looking forward to the next episode.

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at first, i felt a little bit cheated that Kanata just jumped from Suck to Pro in the span of one revelation. it felt like they only bothered recording two bugle tracks, one awful, one great. i'd rather see development play out over a longer period of time...

but i don't suppose this show is going to be that long. i sure hope we get some answers (and some action. I'll be pissed if this ends up being a moeified "The Desert of the Tartars") before it ends

also have to agree with "the facts" about the Helvetian royal family, The War, and the disconnect between the old world and this one. i enjoy "post-apocolyptic" stories that aren't set immediately after the crisis

not sold on this show as far as characters go. feels a bit too much of "the usual moe suspects". the premise is good. i think i could stick around for almost the whole thing just because i found episode 1 to be so rich.

i really like the cast. The girl who does the gunner was great as Budoko in Akikan! (and i was afraid we wouldn't hear from her again, but she's in two big shows this season). Yu Kobayashi always puts in good work as "the tough one" (Shidou Mariya, Kimura Kaede, Rio) and the girl who does Kureha has had some big roles before. I even caught Sergei from Gundam00 as the dude in who drops off Konata in the first episode.

but on the other side there are a ton of unknown or start-up VAs in this, working right alongside some of the bigger recent players. i can not believe that Kanata is voiced by a girl doing her first role.

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Originally Posted by Buffalobiian

[Nipponsei] Sora no Woto ED Single - Girls, Be Ambitious. [Tomatsu Haruka].zip

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hah. as much as i don't like this song, i think the title is humorously clever.

HorribleSubs - Episode 05v2

This is probably the most hilarious episode so far.

The way their eyes looked when they first managed to carry those huge backpacks was really funny. I also really liked how they commented how uncool Rio was when she demonstrated how to carry the packs.

While it was interesting that Kureha saw Phylicia as evil, it was even funnier how Noel not only confirmed it, but also added that it was Phylicia's good point. I would have to agree, since a kind senpai is really boring compared to a "seemingly" kind senpai.

Isn't it "Filicia"? Her name is carved right into the stone of the observation posts.

I think my favorite part was when Kanata immediately tried to grab her trumpet to signal for help before even starting, and Noel grabbed her sidearm in an attempt to use it. Whether that was on herself or shooting Rio for making them do this is up for debate.

No Man's Land was predictably a desert wasteland of a city, utterly destroyed by war. Probably heavy ordinance was used as well, leading it to become all sand, trashed machines of war, and collapsed buildings. It was interesting to see holographics on the observation posts. It reminded me of Castle in the Sky.

Ah yes, indeed it is Filicia. I based the spelling off ANN. That needs to be updated then.

I can't believe I forgot to mention those parts. I really liked those too. I must have been distracted laughing at how blank and desperate they looked.

I wonder if this show's post-apocalyptic setting is based on our future. In contrast to the Japanese school, that holographic machine really does seem fantasy like. I can't see our own technology advancing in that direction.

If it really was that advanced, then looking at the level of tech they're at now and factoring in that the War was so long ago, society really must have started from scratch.

In any case, it was a fun episode.

[HorribleSubs] Sora no Woto - 06 [720p]
[HorribleSubs] Sora no Woto - 06 [480p]

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For a moe slice of life series, this one is wonderfully multi-faceted. The two parallel stories in this episode tied together in a really amusing way and then ended in a warm and fuzzy way at the end.

I can't really say I'm all that surprised that the girls turned out to be mildly corrupt. They're a small, often forgotten, poorly equipped isolated military squad. They might not need it for combat in their present duties being so close to the wasteland, but Filicia (and her predecessors apparently) kept alternate means to outfit themselves. Moreover, they're bootleggers! If there is one thing I have always enjoyed in fiction, it is small military squads doing illegal (but still morally above the level) things to keep themselves properly outfitted.

The little play acting was funny, Filicia probably wouldn't need to go very far to become a mafia tsarina in her own right. Rio of course being her enforcer.

I had also taken the flashbacks of her sobbing in the rain to mean Kanata was an orphan herself, but she has quite a number of family members alive and well.

As for the little revelations:
- Sieze has a minor criminal element who is used to move material around under the radar.
- There is a large central mafia with a great deal of power, who was probably would have been interested in expanding into unclaimed territory like Sieze.
- The church still knows kanji.
- Rio's mother loves the wine/liquor that the Sieze squads secretly produce, and with as wealthy/powerful as Rio's family seems to be, arranged for her to be stationed in Sieze both safe and willing to reluctantly go along with the minor corruption (uncharacteristic for someone as upstanding as Rio is).
- A force exists, called the Invisible Reaper, and it razes towns. Rogue robot tank or perhaps some random monster? Or maybe it is a secret military squad of another nation (possibly in control of some of the high-tech ancient technology).

[pwq]
HD - SD

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I really enjoyed the two-sidedness of this episode. Though I enjoyed the latter story more than the first one. I didn't really like the mob-play they did :\

didn't they give wine to that one military dude?

and what was this, Tacky Sunday in Sieze? I guess there's no accounting for taste in the future :\

all in all, another great episode. This show's innocent lightheartedness really reminds me of Haibane Renmei, and Sketchbook full Colors, only it doesn't seem as dragging as either of those. Of course, they could just be because I'm not marathoning this as I did those <.<

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Originally Posted by Ryllharu

- A force exists, called the Invisible Reaper, and it razes towns. Rogue robot tank or perhaps some random monster? Or maybe it is a secret military squad of another nation (possibly in control of some of the high-tech ancient technology).

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interesting. pwq tl'd that as "the town stricken by the Invisible Death". So I naturally associated it with a disease, like the Black Death. I didn't think of it as a "force" at all, but I guess we'll just have to wait to hear more on that (assuming it's actually relevant at all).

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Originally Posted by Pandadice

I really enjoyed the two-sidedness of this episode. Though I enjoyed the latter story more than the first one. I didn't really like the mob-play they did :\

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Heh, I thought it was great :D

Kureha and Noel's expressions fit those trigger-happy Mafia grunts all too well.

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interesting. pwq tl'd that as "the town stricken by the Invisible Death". So I naturally associated it with a disease, like the Black Death. I didn't think of it as a "force" at all, but I guess we'll just have to wait to hear more on that (assuming it's actually relevant at all).

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That's interesting. I'm pretty sure I heard "shinigami" in that phrase, which translates to Death God. It could always be a figurative term though, likening the disease to the arrival of Death in the city.

I find it funny that everyone who receives Rio's supposedly scolding/mocking comments always seem to take it as praise.

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Originally Posted by Pandadice

interesting. pwq tl'd that as "the town stricken by the Invisible Death". So I naturally associated it with a disease, like the Black Death. I didn't think of it as a "force" at all, but I guess we'll just have to wait to hear more on that (assuming it's actually relevant at all).

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Originally Posted by Buffalobiian

That's interesting. I'm pretty sure I heard "shinigami" in that phrase, which translates to Death God. It could always be a figurative term though, likening the disease to the arrival of Death in the city.

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Yeah, it was 'shinigami,' so it really could be both of these. It may mean a presumed supernatural force like a disease (that assumes they don't know too much about medicine), which is supported by Rio freaking out when Kanata caught "malaria" and the medicine seemed very World War I era. I hadn't thought about that possibility.

But I think that the mention that he town was near another border gives greater support to kind of military power or some kind of monster in lieu of disease. A "reaper" bringing death in a physical manner rather than the personification of something like plague.

It sounded like the town was physically destroyed, and then her mother caught something along the way to Sieze, rather than the people being killed and her mother succumbed to it after they fled.

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Originally Posted by Ryllharu

Yeah, it was 'shinigami,' so it really could be both of these. It may mean a presumed supernatural force like a disease (that assumes they don't know too much about medicine), which is supported by Rio freaking out when Kanata caught "malaria" and the medicine seemed very World War I era. I hadn't thought about that possibility.

But I think that the mention that he town was near another border gives greater support to kind of military power or some kind of monster in lieu of disease. A "reaper" bringing death in a physical manner rather than the personification of something like plague.

It sounded like the town was physically destroyed, and then her mother caught something along the way to Sieze, rather than the people being killed and her mother succumbed to it after they fled.

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The thing that supports a "physical reaper" most, so to speak, for me was the fact that they didn't mention anything about quarantining refugees, and that scene with the girl being in physical contact with her mum before she died. If it was such a deadly and feared disease, any mum would not allow their daughter to come so close.

Indeed. But they did name it "Invisible", so whatever struck that town still remains a mystery, even to the people in the story.

Sora no Woto's true colors.

[HorribleSubs] Sora no Woto - 07 [720p]
[HorribleSubs] Sora no Woto - 07 [480p]

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Wow. This was an immensely powerful episode.

There was so much in this episode, I'm not really sure where to start.

I guess it is easy to say that Kanata comes from a very Japanese influenced part of Helvetica. She was involved in more Obon traditions than she was in Festival de Lumines derivatives. That's understandable, because as the lead heroine, she is the one the audience is supposed to identify with the most.

Kureha is the orphan. No wonder she has such a strong urge to fight. Perhaps she is after revenge.

More surprising was the very dark turn this series took with Filicia's history. As it turns out, both Filicia and apparently Noel are combat veterans, while Rio most notably is not. This goes a long way in explaining why Filicia runs her squad the way she does. She said it outright, she doesn't want them to suffer the same way she had to suffer. Rio might know the facts about Filicia, but she really knows nothing, which Noel subtly accused her of.

Filicia also seems to have a mild to severe (perhaps only on Obon) case of PTSD. After seeing what happened to her former squad, I can't say I blame her. She saw them burn to death, and now she has a bad case of survivor's guilt.

Then there was the flashback with the ancient era soldier. Earth was destroyed by those monsters, and humans lost nearly completely. We don't know if there are more of them, but that skeleton that Kanata saw under the river is certainly one of them. Whatever they had, they outclassed the most advanced weaponry that humanity had. If they're not dead, it took nearly everything to keep humanity from the brink, including the oceans getting sterilized, and effectively "killing" the world. I wonder if these things were the "Invisible Reaper." They're fast, powerful, and can destroy swaths of a city in a single shot.

Then, the woman who Rio, and Kanata, and Filicia all know from their memories turns out to be the Princess. At first I had thought that the necklace around Rio's neck was Iria's, but with the priest's comments, now I am not so sure. That one may be her own. It doesn't take much speculation to make the jump that Rio is in fact, royalty. This would explain why her mother or family has the influence to get Rio stationed to the most remote, most peaceful station in Helvetica. If Rio isn't royalty, she is without a doubt nobility.

It was surprising to see Rio's apathy. She really doesn't understand. Princess Iria saved Filicia with an apology for being late, and giving her a reason to carry on. Rio doesn't take after Iria, she doesn't have much of a will to fight for anything. So in essence, all her brash ordering the other three about is really just posturing.

This episode added just a tremendous amount of depth to all of the girls. I'm not sure I can really process it all in one post.

There was also the very silent but obvious scenes where Noel refused and/or couldn't make a lantern and pray for anyone. Episode4 had her mentioning about which of humanity or machines was to blame for the bad deeds of the world, leading me to believe that she was an orphan who grew up with machines, or was betrayed by her companions before that. There wasn't anywhere near enough development in Episode 4 to hypothesis anything like we could this episode.

(edit: ^ revisiting some scenes in episode 4, at around 10:00 where the kid slaps Noel's hand away, saying all soldiers are killers had a different effect after having seen the latest ep. At first it seemed Noel was simply accepting the fact that they were soldiers, and that killing was part of their job. But rewatching that again, Noel's feelings are best described herself:

I know first hand (what solders are.))

I'm speculative as to whether this Invisble Reaper is the alien too. All that was visible this episode was the tanks were shooting at some sort of spire.

Combining everything that's happened to date, I'm even more convinced that the order from HQ in one of the previous episodes (right before the magaton-backpack mission) was an order to mobilise the Seize squad in the hear future.

DVDs to included extra episodes

looks like we're getting some ovas ^^

[pwq] episode 7: HD - SD

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Buffalobiian

There was also the very silent but obvious scenes where Noel refused and/or couldn't make a lantern and pray for anyone. Episode4 had her mentioning about which of humanity or machines was to blame for the bad deeds of the world, leading me to believe that she was an orphan who grew up with machines, or was betrayed by her companions before that. There wasn't anywhere near enough development in Episode 4 to hypothesis anything like we could this episode.

(edit: ^ revisiting some scenes in episode 4, at around 10:00 where the kid slaps Noel's hand away, saying all soldiers are killers had a different effect after having seen the latest ep. At first it seemed Noel was simply accepting the fact that they were soldiers, and that killing was part of their job. But rewatching that again, Noel's feelings are best described herself:

I know first hand (what solders are.))

---

What conclusion are we to draw from this? That Noel experienced similar events to what Filicia did, or that Noel is a killer herself? She asked whether it was machines or people, but she liked Kanata's answer that people act, not the tools they use. Does she view herself as the machine (simply following orders)?

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I'm speculative as to whether this Invisble Reaper is the alien too. All that was visible this episode was the tanks were shooting at some sort of spire.

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I think they were attacking something clinging to an office building in Japan (since the soldier wrote in Japanese). There was a brief but distinctive flutter of feathers on an appendage (not sure if it is a wing or not) before the beam shot out.

Horriblesubs - Episode 08



---------------------------
~Seiya gets a boner! :p

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ryllharu

Wow. This was an immensely powerful episode.

More surprising was the very dark turn this series took with Filicia's history. As it turns out, both Filicia and apparently Noel are combat veterans, while Rio most notably is not. This goes a long way in explaining why Filicia runs her squad the way she does. She said it outright, she doesn't want them to suffer the same way she had to suffer. Rio might know the facts about Filicia, but she really knows nothing, which Noel subtly accused her of.

Filicia also seems to have a mild to severe (perhaps only on Obon) case of PTSD. After seeing what happened to her former squad, I can't say I blame her. She saw them burn to death, and now she has a bad case of survivor's guilt.

---

Since I'm watching Yuurisan-m33w subs only, I only now watched the seventh ep. This leaves me out of the discussion, unfortunately, but I couldn't help but leave a comment here. This was supposed to be a powerful episode, for sure, and it contained a lot of valuable information but unfortunately it was ruined for me by the early Filicia memories. I hate it when that happens because I surely didn't want to dislike this episode.

But I simply couldn't get over by how poorly Filicia's captain was leading her squad. Thus the death of the crew was left me with a thought: They totally had it coming and deserved it, instead of any sympathy. I'm no armored division man but still the way the captain lead the fighting looked completely ridiculous. First they shot at a group of enemies, then stop that lumbering tank of theirs, open the hatches and start to play the trumpet... What on earth was that captain thinking? It was made all worse by how much Filicia seems to miss her, despite the fact she got herself and most of her group stupidly killed.

Well, like I said, it was a fine episode otherwise but I hated the Filicia sadness parts due to it all being a result of extremely bad battle tactics.

That trumpet annoys me - signaling destruction of ONE unit? its just totally stupid idea! I'm no warfare specialist - but i think that no army in the world signals taking down one unit with such lengthy signal, and i don't think that they signal one unit but destruction of like 10-50 if they do.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kraco

But I simply couldn't get over by how poorly Filicia's captain was leading her squad. Thus the death of the crew was left me with a thought: They totally had it coming and deserved it, instead of any sympathy. I'm no armored division man but still the way the captain lead the fighting looked completely ridiculous. First they shot at a group of enemies, then stop that lumbering tank of theirs, open the hatches and start to play the trumpet... What on earth was that captain thinking? It was made all worse by how much Filicia seems to miss her, despite the fact she got herself and most of her group stupidly killed.

---

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Xelbair

That trumpet annoys me - signaling destruction of ONE unit? its just totally stupid idea! I'm no warfare specialist - but i think that no army in the world signals taking down one unit with such lengthy signal, and i don't think that they signal one unit but destruction of like 10-50 if they do.

---

They weren't signaling the destruction of one unit, they were signaling the Advance of the rest of the squad as a result of destroying that one unit, which included Princess Iliya I imagine. They were part of the unit who was on point.

I will agree that it was their fault they didn't notice any enemy flanking them, and Filicia feels guilt because she was supposed to be covering them but got out of the tank too slowly and couldn't swing the gun around in time. Granted, I don't think it would have helped a whole lot in preventing the tank shell from taking them out, but that is where Filicia's self-blame comes from. They just didn't notice another coming in from the side around the debris of a fallen building. I can't really blame them for that.

The trumpet signal, while quite impractical as a way of informing other units as compared to a let's say a radio, is still necessary because it is their main means of mass communication. Like Ryll said, it wasn't done because they were bragging about a single kill, but rather a way of informing their allies of what action to take.

remember the training part? they said there that they were signaling the destruction of unit - it was after one shot! it was the same trumpet melody.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Xelbair

remember the training part? they said there that they were signaling the destruction of unit - it was after one shot! it was the same trumpet melody.

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Hmm, quite true.

Valkyria Chronicles (anime) is hardly a good source to learn battle tactics from.

The main problem here is that their fired shot, regardless of its success, would never mean the whole battle is over. However, they acted as if it was, because apparently they didn't consider firing that huge cannon is essentially the same thing as waving a flag to the enemies telling "hey, we are here!". Of course the enemies will turn their attention right there, especially since they managed to kill that one tank and thus became a proven danger.

Modern warfare is about fire and motion. Like I said, I'm no armored division man but even in the AA forces, it was the basic rule that after every single shot (missile or otherwise) you had to pack the stuff up and change locations (except for special cases). Kind of annoying if you had the tent, communications, and other elements erected and everything properly camouflaged. But the trouble is infinitely better than getting destroyed by the enemy that now potentially knows your exact location. Just like this series showed in practice (and that the captain ignored dooming her team and vehicle).

Rather than it being the captain's fault, it seems it is a flawed cultural thing since as Xel pointed out, it was also done in training by the girls.

I wonder how many tanks have been blown apart because of this practice.

i wait for the m.3.3.w releases, since this is one of those series i think the TL work is important for.

episode 6 was done in a very clever way, and although it's a gimmick that's been done before, it was done well here. even the sap with the side characters i couldn't care less about was tolerable

episode 7. fuck, man. i would have never guess it to be Felicia to be the one with all the baggage, but, man, it certainly made a lot of sense the way they presented her character and how they did this episode. the little tie-in's they do with "the old world was Japanese culture" worked pretty well in this episode, too, with the Obon festival traditions.

this whole show was mediocre, then this

edit - regarding the episode with Felicia's unit "deserving it"

Now, okay. Sure, we have this stupid music motif in this show. And that gets real soppy and useless when we're trying to think about it as a war piece (which this show ain't).

But stop and think for a minute. Those fucking people were fighting in modern day Japan (or not far from modern day), and they were fighting some fucking killer enemies. The Unknown Soldier said it himself, that they lost, but, at the same time, that some small remnant of humanity got to live on. Then you have the scene where the Princess herself comes in to rescue a single soldier.

It leads me to believe two things: A) Those opponents were jamming the living shit out of the humans. If they had to resort to audio communication like that, they were getting killed, and getting flanked the way Felicia's unit did had to be a common thing for front line units like hers. B) The humans knew (at least at the end) that they were going to lose a lot. The Princess was fighting for one individual as if she knew that one day all that might be left would be one or two people. It's not unthinkable that the entire war was fought just to make the Earth so unihabitable that the opponent couldn't/wouldnt want to continue after it. One tank kills one unit and sounds an advance so more units can get in range and take out one more unit a piece, and it really doesn't matter if each tank gets killed after they knock out an opponent, so long as they all move forward. That's power in numbers and an absolute objective.

Finally, The Invisible Death, to me, is dubious at best. Since the name of the front was close to the town where Mishiko lived, and her mom just died after something like getting infected, it's not too off the wall to imagine this was something the humans did to themselves, in order to stake off the opponent.

This series is full of fucking win. And i like it

Hmm... My impression of the current state of affairs seems to be somewhat different from yours. I think Filicia was fighting in a normal war against other humans. The war against the whatever enemy happened hundreds of years earlier, I'd say. After that catastrophe, some small civilizations began to rise, pretty much from nothing, and there were occasional fights between them. So, logic dictates sensible battle tactics should be employed. Well, these kind of battle tactics paying no regard to the survival of individual soldiers were still seen in the early 19th century (although not with tanks...) so it's not all baseless.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by masamuneehs

But stop and think for a minute. Those fucking people were fighting in modern day Japan (or not far from modern day), and they were fighting some fucking killer enemies. The Unknown Soldier said it himself, that they lost, but, at the same time, that some small remnant of humanity got to live on. Then you have the scene where the Princess herself comes in to rescue a single soldier.

It leads me to believe two things: A) Those opponents were jamming the living shit out of the humans. If they had to resort to audio communication like that, they were getting killed, and getting flanked the way Felicia's unit did had to be a common thing for front line units like hers. B) The humans knew (at least at the end) that they were going to lose a lot. The Princess was fighting for one individual as if she knew that one day all that might be left would be one or two people. It's not unthinkable that the entire war was fought just to make the Earth so unihabitable that the opponent couldn't/wouldnt want to continue after it. One tank kills one unit and sounds an advance so more units can get in range and take out one more unit a piece, and it really doesn't matter if each tank gets killed after they knock out an opponent, so long as they all move forward. That's power in numbers and an absolute objective.

---

While on the one hand I don't agree with Kraco's harsh criticism of Filicia's former commander, they weren't fighting the nameless enemy that inspired the Sieze legend of the maidens and who's skeleton is lying under the river. They were fighting one of the other remaining empires. The Helveticans have been fighting with one of the other nations for decades, and that was just another battle fought in the middle of No Man's Land.

But you do bring up a good point about Princess Iliya. She is willing to fight on the front lines, and every soldier's life is precious to her. She is willing to risk her own life to save that of one of her soldiers. Rio, who was suspected by the Priest to be a princess herself (be it legitimate or not), shows some of those characteristics, but has a lot to learn herself. Filicia was inspired by that act, and treats all of her soldiers with care. She doesn't want any of them getting hurt, and wants to give them a peace and a sense of prolonged camaraderie that she lost. She knows it might not last, but she made a vow to protect them as much as she is able.

HorribleSubs - Episode 09








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The atmosphere was quite well done this episode. The whole "emergency" announcement actually sounded urgent, and carried its way through the whole typhoon incident (partly thanks to the omnious flashback of Ilya's deathbed).

Guess Rio's responsible for her sister's death.

I don't know how comfortably stockings are to sleep in, but they sure look sexy.

Noel must either had plenty of confidence in the cannon's pricision, or was also brought up with weird military tactics like Filicia.

I'm thinking confidence, since she is the most sensible and smart of the bunch.

HorribleSubs - Episode 10









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This episode was so.... different. After last week, I was about to start complaining that this show fell off the tracks a bit in terms of its focus on Kanata and her music career. Despite the first episode where the granny said (the girl today doesn't sound very good - as if there are multiple girls that rotate the morning call), it seems prior to Kanata's arival that only Rio could play an instrument.

In terms of the episode itself, it's comparable with episode 1 in terms of atmosphere, grandness, beautiful backdrops (we don't exacrtly get HEAPS of those), and music. (they even reused the water-throwing track, following a trumpet-track. The soundtrack does a wonderous job).

This episode didn't exactly "put it on track" so to speak, but it did bring it back to roots of sort and show us how far things have come now. (the tank helped - along with Noel's "shiawase" line)

Kureha crying for not reason (yet), with Noel comforting her tearing up herself was sweet in a saddening way.

I'm still very much interested in and enjoying this show, but I seem to have had the wrong expectation that this show would have a strong focus of sorts.

(The animation of Rio retracting her hand from Kanata's head and taking out the bell was a bit weird. Very badly disguised (if disguised at all) CG animation.

This would have made for a great Season 1 ending.

The tank getting four legs gave me a rather foreboding feeling. If the tank is operational, the girls can get involved in combat again.

The episode didn't strike me in any particular way, but I got a strong sensation of, "this is how it has to be," from it. I wasn't sad, I wasn't moved notably, but it felt...right.

One thing I did like that was what Kanata saw in Rio. Kureha and Noel were both very shocked (Noel even has a bit of an emotional reaction in that scene!) and Kureha sobbed while Noel comforted her. On the other hand, Kanata knew. She saw so much of Iliya in Rio, that she somehow suspected, though perhaps not consciously, that Rio was meant for bigger things than Sieze. Kanata saw an air around Rio and she wasn't saddened by her departure at all, despite being one of the more emotional members of the squad.

The only thing that was out of place was Kanata's admission that her parents wanted her to marry and take over the household. While I see the connection, it felt somehow petty in comparison to what Rio is probably about to go do. It seemed so out of nowhere.

ep 11 is out

[pwq]​ _Sora​_no​_Woto​_-​_11​_[HD]​_[ED149AD0].mkv
[pwq]​ _Sora​_no​_Woto​_-​_11​_[SD]​_[DA2D6CD5].mkv

Quote:

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Two subtitle tracks. First without German translations (recommended), second with German included.

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man this is getting intense D:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pandadice

ep 11 is out

[pwq]​ _Sora​_no​_Woto​_-​_11​_[HD]​_[ED149AD0].mkv
[pwq]​ _Sora​_no​_Woto​_-​_11​_[SD]​_[DA2D6CD5].mkv



-

man this is getting intense D:

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And who would have thought the Invisible Death was the chemical weapon created by none other than Noel. I shat bricks this episode, and I don't do that often.

This show is awesome.

Noel really is my favorite character in this series. She is a silent, smart, witty loli with platinum blond hair, and has a nice tragic past to boot.

It seems that she has scars far deeper than any of the girls. Being called the Witch of Helvetia and the Invisible Death takes a toll on someone, especially if they did it without knowing what it would be used for. She was completely taken advantage of because of her youth and naivety. This also explains all of her conversations with Kanata about the issue of morality regarding machines and inventions.

I totally cannot blame her for going crazy at the end. I think it is more of the nun's fault, chattering away when there are soldiers searching for them.

War has come, and the tone of the show has changed significantly. The grim foreshadowing has slowly come into place. I have to say I am very excited on how it will all turn out. Kureha's death would make this the pinnacle of awesome, but I guess that is too much to ask.

According to wiki there will be 2 OVAs coming out this year. Judging from the scope of things, 1 episode would certainly make for a rushed ending.

Quote:

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Noel really is my favorite character in this series. She is a silent, smart, witty loli with platinum blond hair, and has a nice tragic past to boot.

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I laughed at how desperately(?) she was blowing that food so the Roman would eat it. Seriously, after seeing that face, how could you not? :o


edit: It seems those OVAs will be BD episodes to be shipped with two BD volumes. We may get an ending to this next week after all. Fingers crossed that it ends well. Not necessarily in a happy fashion, but well.

I also have this affinity for characters dubbed as witches. The reason should be obvious for those who know me long/well enough.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Buffalobiian

edit: It seems those OVAs will be BD episodes to be shipped with two BD volumes. We may get an ending to this next week after all. Fingers crossed that it ends well. Not necessarily in a happy fashion, but well.

---

I'm pretty sure one of these episodes will be the missing episode inferred by the part where Kanata told the Priest that she would tell him some other time how she found out about the bootlegging operation (during the telephone episode).

I think that the one part of this episode that caught me more than the Noel info, more than Aisha's huge jumblies, is Yumina cross-examining Aisha about the Roman beliefs. Aisha calls Yumina a heretic, and each part of her version is the precise opposite of the Helvetian version.

The winged demon is an angel of judgment.
The Flame Maidens are...?

It looks like this entire centuries-long war could be a religious crusade. Moreover, Yumina called Aisha's grandmother a soldier, while Aisha (according to HorribleSubs) said that she was a Maiden. I would how long Sieze has actually been a Helvetian city.


Edit:
And lest we forget, the Helvetians speak French (dubbed into Japanese), and the Romans speak German. History always repeats itself.

Figured if I'm watching a Crunchyroll rip and archiving another, then it doesn't really matter who does the ripping. Bring on the finale!

Commie - Episode 12 END










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Man, the Takemikazuchi sure was a surprise. seeing how it slowly shifted its weight during launch and heavily lifted itself out of the hanger, I all but expected it to just take off like that. It's gait did look a little clumsy, but boy was it fast. Nothing compared to those 4-legged units.

My favourite scenes would be Aisha forgiving Noel, as well as the Roman Legend retelling. In particular, how the different interpretation twisted the "facts", such as taking turn to soak up the angel's blood as opposed to putting out the spewing fire.

The music and use of sunlight was good too - I'd say exactly the way the first episode was. In that sense, this anime really has come full circle. I liked how they threw in the bunch Kanata knew from the train as well.


Thank goodness no-one decided it was a good idea to finish with "Girls, be ambitious".

Rio still doesn't look very princessy, I have to say. The dress was alright, but the way she carried herself seems all too similar to how she commanded back at the fortress. It's probably not a bad thing considering she's announcing a cease-fire to soldiers. (edit - on second watch, she didn't do anything particularly wrong. Maybe it's just her voice)

Considering how the flame-maiden story talked about sacrifices, yet we got a 100% happy ending here, this does put things on an artificially happy mood, but to me it really wasn't that bad.

There were times in this series where I thought it was about to derail from the whole plot and become another slice-of-life show that only used an interesting 1st episode to catch your attention. In restrospect, it's forgivable, and even a good thing when you consider the examples of previous anime that were way too complex to tie itself up neatly in 12 episodes.

Takemikazuchi was bad ass. What impressed me the most was its armour. It can take tank shells head on with almost no damage. The material used for it must indeed be at least a civilization apart from what they are currently using. This also explains the great pains the girls have had to go through to reconstruct it.

My favorite scene was when Kanata played Amazing Grace at the battlefield. I have always loved that song, and it is one of the few songs that can actually make me tear up. I knew she was going to do it, but it was a great scene nonetheless, cleanly rounding up the different aspects of the series, from its war facets to the musical elements.

Since Durarara is not ending this season, this show is definitely my favorite. It has great consistent art, good characters (even the irritating Kureha was somewhat redeemed this episode), fantastic world, and the delivery is spot on, no matter how simple the story may be.

Even the fairytale end of having Rio back in the platoon had a believable excuse, even if completely unorthodox.

Damn Takemikazuchi was awesome. It was an all terrain tank, that can go to almost anywhere. The climbing ability was imba considering their battlefield was moslty ruins or mountains. This explains why Noel is having a hard time restoring it.

I was also afraid that Sora no Woto would derailed from its plot but im really glad how it ended. Episode 12 was really good.

[Nipponsei] Sora no Woto Original Soundtrack.zip

That French insert song better be there...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Buffalobiian

[Nipponsei] Sora no Woto Original Soundtrack.zip

That French insert song better be there...

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04- Servante du feu

is the one ;)

I could eventually provide you with a "basic" translation later this evening (day's work is to begin), unless it's already available with a simple googling.

Edit:
After a quick search, it seems that whole song isn't translated yet, because you have the anime version and the full one.

Also, some scripts seem to have some mistakes in french, thus the translation to another language reflect those mistakes.

I will have to listen to it carefully, headphones on, because some words confused me when listening and reading the scripts at the same time (on laptop speakers...)

If you have scripts, that will save me some work ;)

The double is there to separate the lyrics from the discussion:

First is the french transcript. It wasn't that easy, because it is more a poem than a song, so some pronounciation techniques useful for rhymes make identification a little more difficult. Headphones really were useful.

Aimerais-tu en ce monde voir quelque chose s'effacer
Et que l'air soit plus pur, le coeur des hommes transformé ?
Et pourtant tout est si fragile ici sur la Terre
Il n'est rien qui soit futile, tu sais

D'un côté beau ou bon et quelque fois prodigieux
Et de l'autre les loups pauvres et bien souvent monstrueux
Qu'importe ce que ton coeur te dictera, souviens-toi
Que la différence naît dans tes yeux

Chante toutes les couleurs du monde
Sans manquer une seule note
Chaque chose a sa place ici
Chaque émoi forme la symphonie de notre vie

Savoure l'harmonie du ciel
Vois que tout est essentiel
Et comprends que toi aussi
Tu en écris la mélodie

Voudrais-tu de ce monde pouvoir revoir l'écriture
Et choisir ses couleurs, confères ta propre peinture ?
Prendre le bien, le mal, et sans trier, accepter
Sans couvrir tes yeux tout regarder

Joie et malheur ne font qu'un
Tout est dans le destin
De chaque rire naît un chagrin
Dans chaque voix dans chaque petit bruit vit l'infini

Savoure l'harmonie du ciel
Vois que tout est essentiel
Et comprends que toi aussi
Tu en écris la mélodie

I really need sometimes to get something meaningful in english, rather than a too direct translation, I need to get the global feeling of the text first. I even wonder if I'm good enough for this task.

This would be the missing episode that was alluded to when Kanata mentioned it was, "a long story," about how she found out about the distillery that that funds their remote base.

Sora no Woto eps 7.5 [BD]
file size: ~900 Mb

----------------------------------------

I can see why this episode might have been skipped from the original broadcast set, but it was certainly a most excellent episode.

What really brought a smile to my face was how serious they all took the mock battle and Yumina's inclusion. Certainly Filicia's actions were a large contributor to that level of behavior, but they really took it to extremes, Noel's Gatling Gun being one of them. The bigger one was the fact that every one of the girls always "died" with the dye dripping from their mouth like blood. How the dye gets from a shot to the abdomen to their face is anyone's guess, but it was a cute and ultimately hilarious effect.

Filicia's zero resistance to alcohol was an amusing surprise given how mature she usually acts, as well as Kureha's absolute resistance given her typical immaturity. I must admit, I truly felt sorry for the poor girl.

Their hangovers the morning after was just icing on the cake. Yumina, Kanata and especially Filicia having next to none, Rio and Noel having it the worst. Even the owl.

pwq - Sora no Woto Episode 13 (1080p)


-----------------------------------








World map at last! It was hinted that Helvetia was built on old Japan, but all the French and castle backdrops completely wiped that from my memory. If No-Man's Land is Asia (or Eurasia, as they put it), then that means the Sea of Japan's been completely dried up. I have no idea where Rome is then, but they hinted it as being somewhere in North Korea.

The aerodynamics/physiology books were written in English, so I guess Asia must have been screwed over big time in the invasion to the extent that no survivor speaks their language.

That, or everybody packed bags and moved halfway around the world.

Kanata didn't look as good as Rio as the Flame Maiden. Long hair and maturity goes much better with that attire.

I started watching it thinking I'd have lost the magic I felt while watching the original run... but in fact it's still there.
Music, sceneries, atmosphere, everything is nicely done and I can plunge into it in a matter of seconds. Truly a delicious experience, even if not that much happens, it's very nice.

Regarding the aeronautics and anatomy books, they are in fact in French, at least the titles hint at that.

For the map, well it's very hard to mix it with the sceneries and culture bits.
The architecture, town, rocks, construction material, mountains and cliffs are incredibly close to what you'd find in one of the Balkans countries or a Italy, South of France, or other places aroung the mediteranean sea.
I'd be very surprised that in a crumbling world, they'd be able to transport everything from rocks to very old construction methods in Asia.
But having lots of Japanese/Asian culture visual elements is also strange in that background, with people that do not show much of Asian physique.
Also, I do not think that this story would take place a lot more than 100 years after our time, as books and many elements from our era aren't that degraded. I don't know if we shall put too much thought into this. It is good enough in itself I guess.


The flight dream to find the promised land was obvious from the very first picture where we see the aeronautics books. After all, flying is a very efficient way of quickly covering lots of ground and maybe find the place that isn't dying.
But looking at the map also tells that even with a plane, it might be an all or nothing approach.

After all, the deserted land is at least as large as the land from Vladivostok to Lisbon and Athens to Oslo. If the promised land is like an average European country in size, you can totally miss it. You can however always think that the promised land needs water and as such would have rivers and deltas you can see while flying around the land coasts.
That would be an approach easing the landings, maybe allowing for water and food resuply... provided there's fish and other edible things, eventhough they stated that everything of the like died/was dying. Then there's fuel for the flying object and repair elements. The distances to cover are huge, I wonder if it's possible for her to organize things. It would also be sad finding such land and not be able to go back and tell people.
Also, you could meet people there, that would not be happy knowing there are starving/depleted nations willing to come and share/take what they have.
We are after all in a declining world where every resources are coming to an end, hence the wars fought in order to steal/get what's left and try to survive just a little more.

Ah, a nice ep it was ;)

Finally got around to watching the ep, when I happened to spot a 720p release. A jolly good episode. It has the same atmosphere like David mentioned, and served the larger story really well, far better than most extras ever do.

Regarding the dream to find new, living land, logic dictates it should be easy enough unless there's some otherworldly killer virus going around killing everything with DNA, but that seems unlikely since these folks have lived for a good long while in their shrinking sphere. Thus it seems more like a combination of two things: Larger climate change drying East Asia and all the people living there in their ignorance believing their little corner is the last viable place in the world.

We can already deduce from the fact the quite southern land of former Japan seems to be relatively friendly and moderate that the temperature of Earth hasn't drastically risen turning the whole planet into a hellish Venus v2. So, it's a simple climate change. Which ultimately and absolutely means that there must still be vast lands receiving sufficiently rain to support lush life.