Dantalian no Shoka Final Episode

This episode starts off with Huey seeing the girl in Dantalian no Shoka, but his side is bleeding. Back in the real world, some sort of zombie is roaming around the streets. Huey talks to Dalian about it, who tells him about the Book of Atonement, which can take the soul from a person and leave a zombie. While they’re out buying bread, they run into some of these zombies, who are attacking a paperboy. Dalian tells Huey that the newspaper is the Phantom Book, but only certain ones have the text. The two find a printing press that is creating the newspaper, and meet the man from the last episode (the bartender), who introduces himself as the Professor. They then meet Raziel, and Dalian exchanges insults with her. After asking Huey his motivations for being with Dalian, to which Huey responds that he wishes to save the weird pink-haired girl from the beginning of the episode, the Professor shoots Huey. Huey is able to shoot the gun from the Professor’s hand before he is able to fire at Dalian, though, and the two escape. Huey tries to rescue the girl from Dantalian no Shoka, but is stopped by the warden of the gate. He collapses in the real world after failing. The girl is chained to the gate, but she calls out to Dalian, calling her the “other me.” The two work together and Huey wakes up again with a Phantom Book in his hands. With it, he is able to destroy the zombies, but is unable to save the girl. The Professor has more copies to distribute everywhere, but a familiar flame burns them all (yup, Hal has returned). Well, this definitely leaves room for more seasons. The ending felt a bit rushed, but I was glad that Hal could make another appearance.

Dantalian no Shoka Episode 11

This week’s episode starts off with Huey flying around in an airplane, meeting a man named Ilas. Elsewhere, a man is shot down by a plane piloted by the one known as the Faceless Phantom. Huey then appears, identifying the pilot as Ilas and chasing after him. Huey loses control when Dalian’s key starts to drop, and Ilas misses his shot and escapes. We then move over to a scene where Ilas is talking to a bartender about a book he’s writing, and then later he meets a strange Biblioprincess. She talks to him about how Phantom Books are made, saying his book is not qualified, instead calling it an egg of a Phantom Book. She then introduces herself as a library of Raziel, saying that she wishes to help him create a Phantom Book. Flashback to a scene where Ilas is telling Huey about his past, and the first time he heard about an airplane. Ilas again attacks some airplanes, and Huey again appears, but this time, Huey has a Phantom Book with him. Huey reveals that Ilas is actually dead, having died in a bombing and shoots him down. Huey notices the Biblioprincess from earlier and another man near the wreckage, but flies off. Meanwhile, Ilas comes out of the wreckage unharmed, but his anthology has been destroyed. The man turns out to be the bartender from earlier, revealing that he was the one that brought Ilas back to life. With the anthology burned, the bartender returns Ilas to the grave. This is one of those episodes that you probably need to watch a second time to catch everything. Episode without Dalian…dunno how I feel about that.

Dantalian no Shoka Episode 10

Kinda late…I know. But I wasn’t sure if anything would come out today, so I had to make sure I had something to post about (and I’m a bit lazy). Anyways, this week’s episode starts out with Huey playing the violin for Dalian (very poorly). A strange woman appears and asks to see the violin when Huey blames it for his poor sound. Just then, a man rushes on the scene, introducing the girl as Christabel (not gonna lie…it’s kind of an epic name). He then asks to see the violin himself, saying that it’s broken and then fixing it on the spot. He then gives it to Christabel, who plays a few cacophonous notes before playing a beautiful piece. A crowd then gathers, confirming her identity as Christabel Sistine. The man then introduces himself as Dallaglio Hayward, asking Huey’s permission to borrow the violin for a bit and running off. Later at the bookstore, the owner tells them that Christabel performed a piece of Guillermo Baldini, who was rumored to be able to sway his audience’s emotions with his music, similar to a narcotic. His works are also supposedly impossible to play, causing all who attempt to perform them to die. The owner calls the scores Phantom Scores. The two set off to see Christabel, but are unable to get into the concert hall, so they sneak in through a back alley. They follow Hayward, who they spot sneaking around, but they are ambushed and Huey is knocked out. He awakes to find Christabel, who is about to play Utopia, one of the Phantom Scores, with the accompaniment of a mechanical keyboard. She is interrupted by Hayward, who asks Huey and Dalian to help Christabel escape. However, he is interrupted by a Director Kendrick, revealed to be the one who tied up the two. Kendrick reveals that he has been using the song’s effects to convince people to do whatever he asks, including building the concert hall. He wishes to use the music to control the world (it’s like Lelouch’s Geass on drugs…uncool). Huey realizes that Christabel is a machine, but Hayward insists that she has her own will. However, Hayward is shot, and Kendrick leaves to avoid hearing the song himself. Hayward then reveals that he made Christabel in order to honor his father, who made music boxes. He frees Huey and Dalian before dying. However, Christabel doesn’t play Utopia, instead first playing a warning to escape and then playing Twilight, which is meant to be a more destructive piece. The concert hall is destroyed, but all of the audience members survive. Christabel is destroyed in the collapse, and Huey and Dalian realize that she truly did have a will of her own. A very interesting episode, but the premise didn’t feel as original as the other episodes. Also, we’re nearing the end of this series and the other man and Biblioprincess pairs haven’t come into play…this kind of annoys me. Oh well, we’ll see how it ends up.

Dantalian no Shoka Episode 9

Alright, this week, we see some interesting animation as Huey and Dalian approach the Michaux Fortress. We are introduced to a girl named Ira, who is under the care of the village elder. We also find out about people being eaten by bugs at Michaux Fortress, which Ira identifies as Baziumu. The knights have come to ask the elder for Elegans to face the Baziumu, and the elder reluctantly agrees. The elder asks Ira to gather some leaves from a certain tree, and as she rushes to find it, she runs into Huey and Dalian. She tells them about the Baziumu, but Dalian tells her that any effort to fight them is futile. Ira tells the two where they can find some books, and they separate. She returns to the elder, who gives her a charm to protect her as she goes into town to check on the guy she likes, Tito. As she reaches the town, multiple explosions occur. The Baziumu are flying around the town, and Ira throws the charm at one, but it is ineffective. Huey and Dalian show up, though, to save her. Dalian figures out that the Baziumu were attracted by the books on a fallen cart, and finds that the cart bears the seal of Galeazzo, which worries her. They rush up the mountain to find the villagers, as well as one of the knights from before, Gianni, holding a sword to the elder, angry that the elder had waited to give them elegans. However, Ira tells them about elegans not working, and she is defended by Tito. At that moment, Huey and Dalian get everyone’s attention as the Baziumu show up. Huey reaches into Dalian’s chest and reads from the Phantom Book, causing all the bugs to disappear. With that, Huey and Dalian disappear, revealing that they were actually inside the world of a book that whole time (explaining the weird animation). Kind of a neat premise for this episode. The animation reminded me a bit of FLCL…

Dantalian no Shoka Episode 8

Surprise visit from Camilla! Let’s do it. After messing with Dalian a bit, Camilla notices Dalian looking through an auction catalog. She asks Huey to give her anything and Huey gives her a paper clip, and then she leaves (O.o). Later, Huey and Dalian go to a bookstore, the owner of which has a Phantom Book, but the owner mistakenly sold it. It turns out Camilla bought the Phantom Book, the Book of Equivalence. Dalian tells Huey that the book, when read aloud, can allow you to exchange any item for something of equal value. They go to Camilla’s place to find that she has gone to the residence of a Margaret Wilson. Dalian and Huey follow Camilla down a road of exchanges. We find out Camilla has been making these exchanges to slowly work up enough value to exchange for the bear that Dalian wanted from the auction catalog, leading her to a collector named Mr. Fearon. However, Mr. Fearon tells her that the bear is worth more to him than his life. Huey and Dalian show up to find out that Camilla has traded the Book of Equivalence for the bear. Later, Armand appears at the door to beg Huey for help, and vines shoot out of his hand. He tells Huey that he has a girlfriend named Lianna Scholes who he met through a Phantom Book, the one growing vines on his arm named the Book of Relationship that will guide someone to their soul mate. Lianna has the other book, and the books are said to bring the two owners together. On the day the two met, Lianna proposed to Armand and Armand accepts. They are having a good time together, but then things start to go sour. Dalian reveals that the only way for the relationship to go bad is if Armand cheated on Lianna, which causes a collective judgmental stare. Armand explains that all he did was help up a woman that he had bumped into, which had angered Lianna. However, the final trigger was talking to a maid, and Lianna activates the book’s power. At that moment, Lianna arrives at the door. She is angered once again by Armand and Armand is covered in vines and burns until there is nothing left but ashes. She gives her book to Huey before leaving, after which Huey and Dalian bring Armand back to life with another Phantom Book. The episode ends with Armand learning his lesson (supposedly) and hitting on Camilla. Two stories for the price of one…

Dantalian no Shoka Episode 7

This week’s episode starts with Huey and Dalian buying some famous buns to eat. However, just as they get them, a woman rushes into the store and begs Huey to save her from some people who are chasing her. Dalian refuses, so the woman grabs their food as collateral. Huey tries to stop the men, and the woman tries to escape, but trips. Later, Huey and Dalian are talking with the woman’s father, who reveals that she is actually a talented perfume maker named Fiona. He mentions a book that Fiona used to create her most famous perfume, which interests Huey and Dalian. Huey asks to talk with Fiona, and she surprises Dalian with her acute sense of smell. Huey and Dalian are asking Fiona about the Phantom Book when a deranged man knocks on the door begging for something called Relic. He reveals that men from the Padauk Firm are trying to kill Fiona’s father and the three rush off to find him dead. Two men named Noth and Vance reveal that they are there to steal the recipe for Relic, a narcotic perfume, and kill all that know it. Huey starts to fight with Noth, but is at a disadvantage because Noth is numb to pain. Fiona takes a stab meant for Huey and then hits Noth with a different perfume, a sort of Anti-Relic. Noth passes out from the pain and Fiona hits Vance with a hypnotism perfume. Huey reaches into Dalian’s chest to grab a Phantom Book to heal Fiona. Fiona agrees to return the Phantom Book, but then hits Huey with a perfume that knocks him out. He awakes to find Dalian tied up and Fiona gone. Huey realizes that Fiona has gone over to Padauk firm and the two rush over to find everyone dead. They find Fiona shot, but they can’t use the Phantom Book again and she dies. The episode ends with Huey and Dalian burning down Fiona’s lab and discovering the scent that she had been looking for, the scent that made everyone happy, washing over the town.

A pretty interesting episode, but it reminded me too much of Getbackers.

Dantalian no Shoka Episode 6

ERUPTING BURNING FINGER!!

Ugh, this is so late…Anyways, we start this episode introduced to a two new people, Hal Kamhout and his companion Flamberge, who are a pair similar to Huey and Dalian and are traveling around looking for a Biblioprincess and a Phantom Book. They run into a policewoman named Mabel Nash, who offers them a place to stay. While talking, Hal reveals that many people have gone missing in the town, which Mabel finds unbelievable. However, Hal points out that the ones that have gone missing were just travelers, which made them harder to notice. They arrive at Mabel’s house to find that she also lives with her grandparents and little sister Patricia, the latter of whom is not so accepting of their arrival. That night, Hal leaves to investigate the town, finding some strange ruins. He runs into a prostitute while he’s there, but maintains his cool attitude and questions her for being in the ruins. She attacks him and reveals that she is a marionette. Meanwhile, Patricia comes to meet Flamberge while she’s alone and Hal returns to find her asleep next to Flamberge. Hal also notices that the grandparents greet him in the exact same way as they greeted Mabel earlier, even calling him Mabel. Patricia is surprised that Hal has returned, telling him that travelers that had stayed at their house before had not been so lucky. Hal and Flamberge leave again and find a production facility for these dolls, run by none other than Mabel herself. Mabel reveals that as her home was burning down from the war, she met a Bibioprincess who gave her a Phantom Book to rebuild the town. However, Hal reveals that the dolls panic when they encounter change (as he saw earlier), and that they are the cause of the missing travelers, as they panic and lash out at the novelty of the travelers. Mabel attacks them anyway and Hal reaches into Flamberge’s stomach to grab a Phantom Book. Mabel taunts that he will never be able to read the book in time, but Hal just sticks the book on his staff and starts to shoot fire from the staff. Mabel points out that Hal will eventually be engulfed by the flames of the staff, but Hal reveals that he has accepted that fact. Back at Mabel’s house, Hal reveals to Patricia that he only killed the part of Mabel’s mind that was corrupted by the Phantom Book, and that she will have no more memories of it upon waking up. The episode ends with Patricia thanking Hal and Hal showing off some emotion to Flamberge as they leave the town.

An interesting episode. I wonder if there will be more man + Biblioprincess combos in future episodes. Hopefully it doesn’t turn out to be a copy of Zatch Bell or something (loli allies and magical books? it’s already close). I mean, I’m sure more pairs will be introduced, but I wonder if they’ll take the focus of the episode as Hal and Flamberge did. I wonder what will happen when they meet Huey and Dalian as well. I’m guessing Hal’s cold attitude has something to do with his profession’s death sentence and I’m curious to see how that will play out.

Dantalian no Shoka Episode 5

This week’s episode starts with a man, Armand Jeremiah, begging Huey and Dalian to give him a Phantom Book. He wants it to satisfy a woman named Viola Duplessis, who demands a Phantom Book from any of her suitors. The two go to meet Viola, who strangely knows a lot about Dalian, even the fact that she’s a Biblioprincess. Dalian tries to question her, but she tells them that she has no memories. As Armand starts on a very bad romantic conversation, they are all interrupted by a strange fairy-looking thing that attacks them and gives a warning to Viola. Huey and Dalian return to Viola’s place on the promised night, the next full moon, along with a slew of other men armed to the teeth in preparation for the count’s arrival. Along with these men are the 5 suitors, each of which has found their assigned Phantom Book. The count arrives, and the men with guns open fire, but it has no effect. The count simply swings his cane and the men all collapse (he has the Death Note!!!). Huey reveals that he turned all of the men’s blood into mercury, but Dalian says that he is not using a Phantom Book. More men continue to fight, but the count summons more of the fairies from the other night and they attack. Dalian tells Huey that the count is actually using magic of his own will without the aid of a Phantom Book as the count finally introduces himself as Melgar. The 5 suitors try to protect Viola, but Viola finally fights back, knocking away a bunch of the fairies. Melgar reveals that Viola is actually a homunculus that he used as an experiment to see how human she became, but she betrayed him. As the count moves to finish them all off, Dalian finally allows Huey to reach into her chest (how many episodes has it been?) and Huey pulls out the real Phantom Books (as opposed to the fake ones that the 5 took). These books turn out to be perfect for fending off the count’s magic and all of the other men are healed. Melgar admits defeat and disappears in a flash of light. With him gone, the 5 suitors finally ask for Viola to make a choice, and she ends up choosing none of them and going for a 6th man (lol). An interesting episode this week. I’m not sure if they explained Melgar’s magic enough, but it was still enjoyable.

Dantalian no Shoka Episode 4

More book…fun? We start the episode by finding out that Dalian’s into boys’ love (yeah…about that). Anyways, Dalian is annoyed that Huey only bought two parts of a trilogy, but Huey reveals that the author died before finishing the series (cough…Frank Herbert). However, the author, Lenny Lents, also sent a letter to Huey, so Dalian insists they go investigate. They go to Lenny Lents’ house where they meet a woman claiming to be his wife, Paula. However, Dalian notices that Lenny’s wife should be dead after seeing a note in his book. That night, Dalian and Huey sneak back to the house to find a dead Lenny Lents and an imprisoned woman who claims to be his lover, Leticia Serkis. Huey attempts to free her, but she begs him to let her stay and to come back the next day. They return the next day to find a living Lenny Lents on a typewriter. They have a conversation with Lenny about his third book, but Lenny takes the opportunity to communicate with Huey through the typewriter outside of Paula’s gaze. They return during the night again to find a dead Leticia this time. Paula shows up and locks Huey and Dalian in the prison while Lenny mourns over Leticia’s death. Huey reveals that Paula is actually one of Lenny’s crazed fans who keeps killing him because she dislikes the way he ends his story (uhh…ok…). She then uses a Phantom Book to resurrect him, but the book requires the death of another, which is why she uses Leticia. The book also is only able to resurrect them for one day, which is why she kills them every night. Dalian manages to tick Paula off and she blows Lenny’s head off. However, he starts to regenerate immediately. Dalian explains that because of the cycle of death and rebirth, the two have evolved, allowing them to resist death. The two combine into a weird-looking monster and kill Paula. Dalian prepares to battle the two, but Huey realizes that it isn’t necessary as the two disappear, finally able to die. The next day, Dalian is disappointed with the ending to the series and resolves to write it herself.

So…this episode. On the one hand, I think that it had a cool concept. On the other hand, I’m not sure if I agree with the science. Even if the two had been killed every day for a year and if their genetic code went through normal mutation, I’m pretty sure that someone would have developed a resistance to death by now if their logic is correct. Yeah yeah…I understand that it’s anime, but seriously? Come on…you gotta come up with something better than that. Oh well…this one isn’t getting dropped yet.

Dantalian no Shoka Episode 3

We start this episode the same way the last episode started. Huey meets a girl and Dalian gets jealous. However, this girl, Camilla, finds Dalian’s soft spot, sweets (just like every little girl >.>). At Camilla’s house, Camilla tells Huey that she started a school for children, but another woman, Mildred, also started a school. However, Mildred tells Camilla that she has a Phantom Book that increases the intelligence of her students. Dalian tells Huey not to worry about it, but Huey insists on seeing Mildred (denying Dalian of her scones). Huey and Dalian meet with the children, who seem to know quite a lot about them. The children reveal that they have no plans to take over the world and hand over the Book of Wisdom. Huey later burns the book. That night, a couple of burglars break in and tie up Huey and Dalian (all Dalian’s fault). They begin to search for a book called “Queen of the Night”. The book turns out to be a plant, which consumes the two burglars. The next day, Huey and Dalian are talking about the incident with Camilla (not the truth, of course). Dalian mentions that the burglars got what they deserved for “damaging one of her favorites”. Huey assumes she means “Queen of the Night”, but Camilla realizes that she is referring to Huey himself, who had been pistol whipped by one of the burglars. I like the idea of books taking the form of other things, like the clock tower in the last episode and the plant this episode. The Book of Wisdom was a little underwhelming and I kind of wish it comes into play later in the series. Also, Dalian is super cute…that is all. Why doesn’t this show come out in HD first??? It’s so annoying!