[Categories: Anime Reviews]
Dennou Coil 19-21: see you on the other side
As cliff-hangers go, #18 of Dennou Coil took some beating with poor little Kyouko being dragged away by shadowy Illegals; it’s become something of a supernatural piece in which the cyberbody can be separated from the physical self, and by the end of #21 offers some head-scratchery that led me to question certain portions of what I’d seen previously. Honestly, I never expected a kids’ show to go all Lain on us, not that I think of that as bad or anything. From the creeping Illegals through the Pochi battles that played out like Star Wars scaled down, to the quite cruel mental attack on Isako, this is pretty heavy stuff by DC’s own standards; the series has come a long way and I’m looking forward to see where it takes things as it enters the final furlong.
The retrieval of Kyouko threw up a few interesting details to chew on but the highlight was undoubtedly good old Densuke coming to the rescue and providing a nail-biting finale to the episode: kudos to the little pooch for bringing back the little brat who’d been tormenting him for the past nineteen episodes! It did make me wonder though - just how much does Mega-ba really know about the Other Side? While society at large was dismissing it as idle gossip and the work of hackers, she seemed to think that the situation really was cause for concern and even went to the trouble of calling Yasako and Fumie (I thought the way in which the Dennou-minded Yasako looked a bit baffled at an old-school analogue telephone was a nice touch).
The visuals of this episode were fantastic in conveying that creepy atmosphere - it looked like something out of Project Zero at times (one of the few games I’ve seen that I’ve genuinely wanted to try out for myself). The watercolour-based aesthetic of what came across as a sci-fi show felt a bit odd to me at first but now that the story has progressed this far I can begin to see why the decision was made because it wouldn’t have maintained its air of mystery had it gone for the polished cyberpunk-derived approach.
Episode #20 is, without a doubt, one of the best yet; not only in terms of action and explanations but characterisation too. I’m sure we all saw Yasako’s confession to Haraken coming sooner or later, but it gained a lot more weight after that encounter with Kanna. From Haraken’s point of view this is a pivotal moment I think, so it’s no surprise that he’s profoundly affected by it all. Why and how Kanna wound up in the state she was is still not clear but damn…that was a really powerful scene - a highlight I’ll no doubt remember when I look back on the series as a whole.
Did I mention there was a decent slice of laser-powered action in that episode too? How about a souped-up Sattchi, aerial Pochi dogfights and an Indiana Jones-esque dash for the exit? For the zillionth time I was reminded that Dennou Coil accomplishes that tricky knack of deftly moving between the tender and the exhilerating with ease; the murky, misty atmosphere of the Other Side contrasted noticeably with the present, as a three-way battle between Isako’s encoding, Tamako’s Sattchis and the cubic pochi-like devices of the other organisation (who I’m guessing are the ones that Sousuke belongs to) rages.
After the dust from all this settles, the whole story seems to leap into the sunlight with the kids all attending a shiny new school building with the generally bright outlook of new beginnings, although Haraken was still recuparating. This jarring change threw me a bit, and made the systematic breakdown of Isako’s character all the more shocking and painful to watch. For the previous twenty episodes she had been that confident, always-in-control character so when all that began to crumble and when she lost her grasp on some pretty fundamental truths it was downright traumatic. I never thought I’d ever see that girl shed a tear, for any reason…
This marks a much more serious portion of the series, after going through the playful, midly filler-ish and creepy phases of the storyline in turn. The facts that Isako - and we - thought to be solid and clear are now beginning to fall apart, which is an unsettling but strangely exciting development with only five episodes to go.
Posted on November 30th, 2007 @ 1:40 am
So, it really did get all Lain then? I had expected that it would take a turn for the surreal, but I didn’t feel like waiting.
Posted on November 30th, 2007 @ 5:56 pm
This was really a shocking turn off events for the world of Coil, I do have to say. With episode 21, It seems to be starting another brand new arc with the mysterious ‘Cat boss’ and the like.
Also, I’m eagerly anticipating the end of this series, The finale premiering on Japanese TV on December 1 if I’m not mistaken. This has most definitely been the best series of the year, And I can say that will full confidence because the end of the year is nigh.
All thats left after that is to see how will snatch it up for a license. Funi would be nice.
Posted on November 30th, 2007 @ 6:21 pm
(spoilers from episode 19 in this post
I find it fun that ureshii released episode 19 for halloween,that was so fitting.
And I think that while I’ve enjoyed these last few episodes,i wouldn’t have enjoyed it as much without the fillerish episodes that let us really discover all the possibilities of the cyberworld. I say that because in episode 7 Isako said she was joking when she said that illegals ate children’s soul and at the time i remember watching that scene and thinking “it BETTER be a joke or else i’m dropping this series”,yet in episode 19 yasako speculates that illegals can rob people of their consciousness through imago,I know the wording is different,but you could say it’s the same thing,but while it would have bothered me in episode 7,it doesn’t in episode 19,i attribute to the fillers that got me attached to the world and characters,thanks to them,i was ready for the revelation.
Posted on November 30th, 2007 @ 6:41 pm
@j.valdez: yeah, it pulls the rug from under Isako, which I really didn’t expect. In a lot of shows you get a psychological about-turn like that but I honestly didn’t see it coming here!
@Jayme: I’d definitely say that this is one of 2007’s highlights and I’m holding out for a licence too (iirc it’s doing well in Japan so my hopes are high). The Haraken arc seems to be resolved now so I reckon the final episodes will focus on the two Yuukos.
@totoum: I was initially disappointed at the filler episodes at the time but even then I was reluctant to dismiss them as filler at all. It’s just proved how thoughtful and solid the writing was all the way through - quite a rollercoaster ride too!