The Third: The Girl with the Blue Eye

[Munsu]

First episode released by Ayu:

http://ayu-anime.net/torrents/torren...5D.avi.torrent



"In the distant future, because of an interplanetery war that has continued on for centuries, the civilizations were ruined. Human beings have lost everything, and only 1/5th of the population survived. Pseudo-human, “The Third”, is said to have appeared just after the war. They have red pupils called “Space Eyes”. Using them, they can control computer systems and so on, and rule the world by their superior power.

In this world, there is a girl, Honoka; She is a jack-of-all-trades, and she accepts any order except murder. One day, she happens to find a young Ikus in the desert. When she accepts the order from him, her great adventure begins."


http://www.wowow.co.jp/anime/third/
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/ency...me.php?id=6466
http://anidb.info/perl-bin/animedb.p...anime&aid=4088
http://www.animenfo.com/animetitle,3...ird__aoi_.html

[Munsu]

Watched the first episode the other day, surprised that no one else has giving it a chance. I liked the OP song a lot, the melody it has sets-up the series nicely.

For the episode itself, I really liked it. Not sure yet about the plot, but I think the characters are interesting and they live in an interesting world. It reminded me of Appleseed a bit with the main character communicating with her tank.

The episode had some cool action scenes, which I think will make this series worthwhile, but I don't know yet if the plot will be good yet. Guess I'll have to wait and see.

[Ryllharu]

At first I wasn't really caught by it, but the second time I watched it I liked the atmosphere of it a lot more. Maybe I watched it after a bad day or whatever, but it definitely has promise.

I like the laser-katana too. Very reminiscent of post apocalyptic series from the 80's and 90's. Can't go wrong with a series that has Rie Tanaka in it either.

Overall, I don't know how it will hold up to the rest of the series I picked up, but its an interesting premise at the least.

[masamuneehs]

hmm like Ryll mentioned it seems to have a nice atmosphere. The main character is a little run-of-the-mill, but oh well, so many of them are nowadays anyhow...

The animation, especially the backgrounds and skylines was awesome. The sand tank was also wicked sweet and the action had a good pace and was quite detailed.

Only thing I don't care for sofar: the writing. As if Honoka reciting those poems all the time wasn't enough we seem to have this mushy overly-prosy narration. It was really annoyingly overwhelming with the sentimental stuff. Dialog wasn't anything to write home about either.

The music is nice although neither the OP or ED are more than OK, IMO.

I'll continue with this show, i suppose, though not as enthusiasticly as some of the others.

edit to below - i really meant to say that the poems i can stomach. they actually are an interesting aspect of Honoka's character. The narration is really what bothered me.

[Ryllharu]

I think the poems actually add to the atmosphere that they were trying to create. A sort of comtemplative narrative into the world and her thoughts.

Characters like that are always a bit cliche (think Izumi from Nadesico or the blonde one of the great four from Stellvia, if I'm remembering her correctly), but always a decent addition to any series. In a way, it's kinda nice seeing one as a main character.

[Munsu]

Well, I see a lot of upside to the series, I think the setting and atmosphere has been set fairly good.

And I don't mind her quoting some poems, if you think about it goes against what her character represents, so there might be some hidden meaning. She's a mercenary, yet seems very educated and quotes poems which are usually reserved for the "elite" of society in anime convensions. So, this may speak a bit of her origins, maybe she belonged to a rich family and she belonged with the high society.

[Apraxhren]

Episode 2 by Ayu

[Ryllharu]

The three eyed guy and Honoka were pretty familiar with each other. That mystery alone is enough to keep my interest with this series pretty high. There really wasn't too much else to this eps though.

I did feel like I was watching a shamless tie-in for Sony everytime they mentioned the powered armor.

[Munsu]

Well I'm liking this series a lot, not that I cared much for this episode... it really didn't have much interest for me. But, I think it's laying out the setting nicely, and I see plenty of potential. Hopefully 2-3 episodes from now we'll see some good shit go down. And, have I mentioned that I love the OP?

[Ryllharu]

Ayu released eps 3, hope everyone didn't forget this series, its got a fair amount of promise.

[Ayu] The Third - Aoi Hitomi no Shoujo eps 3

EDIT: A funny eps. The perverted doctor and the android nurse who obviously takes after him a bit were great.

It's fairly obvious from the title if you think about it, but I've had a feeling from the beginning that Honoka was hiding a third eye behind that bandana. It would explain the interest the guy from the Third had in her, and a few other odd things about Honoka as well.

[Apraxhren]

Thanks for the link, I agree it was a quite funny episode with only minor plot information but it looks like we will get plenty of plot in the forth coming episodes. I am really enjoying this so far, I hope it isn't a let down.

[NeoBear]

I like this show it gives me a warm fuzzy felling its paced well and the characters seem to all be likeable also Honoka is KAWII!!!!! =)

Does anybody know if this is gonna be 12-24 eps im hoping 24 but they seem to be moving along pretty fast as the story goes at lest that’s my feeling?

[Kraco]

Ho... I just noticed there's Ueda Yuji among the voice actors. That does it; I'm picking this series. With 3 episodes already released, it'll give me a nicer head start to the story. Hopefully.

Besides, "Azure-Eyed Girl" sounds intriguing...

Edit: Well, it seems like a decent enough series. Nothing really remarkable yet, though. So far The Third has impressed me the least - I hope there is some yet to be revealed potential there (or somewhere else), or this is going to be a boring series. They really need something more to be able to keep the whole world suppressed like they apparently are doing. Robots that can be beaten with bare fists or a sword aren't quite up to the task. And I seriously hope the charmer dude also has some hidden agenda, and is not just a doll like he looks like right now.

And I have to agree with Masa; the narration would need to disappear. It does nothing but strangely detach from the series. As if such things would need to be explained aloud.

[Munsu]

Well right now this is my favorite series of all the current season ones. Action is great, music is great, characters are great, the humor has been good, the world is interesting and I've liked how the story has progressed so far.

[Apraxhren]

Well for anyone who didn't watch the KnT episode 4, or just wants a higher quality, the good people at Ayu have come to the rescue with The Third - Episode 04

[Kraco]

It was quite an interesting episode. But the narration still plagues it, so I guess it'll be there till the end. The Blue Breaker seemed like a decent enemy, as opposed to those models shown earlier that were no good.

[Ryllharu]

I regret continuing using the previews for the next eps as the discussion, but its there the really interesting things are said. They say so much that it tend to eclipse whatever happened in the eps itself. (Just let me know if you'd rather I not talk about what's said in the preview)

So Honoka's azure eye signifies that she failed to become a Third, and that's why she's on the planet instead of wherever exactly they are. It also said she never knew who her parents were because of that. So this makes me wonder if the Third who came down to hassle her with the white units is more than just interested in her solely out of curiosity.

[Apraxhren]

FnT released Episode 5. They seem to be decent quality but that is just judging from episode 4 they released.

Episode 5 - XVID
Episode 5 - H264

[Munsu]

Just watched episode 4 loved the episode...

Don't understand what the real complaint of the narration is, I like it. It gives you more insight of the world and of the characters. Plus all great animes have narration, like Legends of Galactic Heroes.

[Kraco]

Just watched episode 4 loved the episode...

Don't understand what the real complaint of the narration is, I like it. It gives you more insight of the world and of the characters. Plus all great animes have narration, like Legends of Galactic Heroes.

"All great animes have narration" is not true, but quite an exaggeration. And even if it was true, there are many styles of narration: some good, some bad.

The problem with the narration here is that it basically has only been telling what you should have been able to imagine and figure out yourself. It has been always said that TV and movies don't require as much thinking as reading books, but the makers of this series have taken the extra step to insure that.

I said earlier the narration detaches the viewer from the story and characters, and I still claim that is true: When you aren't free to judge and evaluate the characters, their feelings and motivations yourself, but are provided with the ready made explanation like in that narration, it robs one very big element that normally makes you feel attached to the world and people of the series.