[Categories: Anime Reviews]
Allison to Lillia and the train arc: the wedding cake is a lie
After the fun I had at the show’s expense last time maybe it’s surprising that I’m even watching it still, let alone enjoying it. I can’t be arsed with listing all the faults this time though, but the more amusing ones still need highlighting. If laughing your butt off at a sarcastic critique is your bag though, let me direct you towards Hanners‘ side-splittingly vitriolic posts aimed at the A&L Plot Holes™; lulz aside, it really does openly invite ridicule on occasion. As for the question regarding “Is this a poor adaptation of a good story or a faithful adaptation of a poor one?” I think the light novel sales figures (over a million in Japan according to Wiki) speak for themselves. To that end, if anyone wants some (non Japanese-speaking) assistance in fanslating (sic) them, you know how to find me. I’m only half joking about that too.
Why are you sitting around drinking tea when there are lives at stake? Get on with solving the mystery, dammit!
In fairness though the third arc was an improvement over earlier ones, if only relatively: it stumbles clumsily and good-naturedly through the segue to the Lillia and Trieze half of the series and provides some fun and excitement outside of laughing at the clunky storytelling. The richness of the worldview peeps through at intervals, hinting at weapons industries and civil unrest still lurking beneath the surface, offering plenty of room for side-stories and spin-offs.
The problem is that the show’s flaws are not musical or artistic - it’s still one of my current OP theme faves, along with Kaiba - they’re in the storytelling itself. Furthermore they could be easily avoided, which continues to make the viewing experience frustrating for me. It’s understandable perhaps to suggest that it’s inheriting flaws in the source material but when you’re adapting something from one medium to another, what better opportunity to iron them out and put them right?
Take the scene in the church for instance: a wedding ceremony conducted with no ceremony whatsoever…was it a victim of last-minute budget or scheduling contraints? I felt like I was denied an extended scene of cheers, flowers and cake! It felt like the writers were torn between animating a wedding scene properly and leaving it out entirely, but opted for a course that walked the vast No Man’s Land in between the two extremes. Similarly the point where Wil confronts Stork falls between two different plot devices: namely shooting the guy and threatening to shoot him. I’m sure it’s common sense that even a rubber bullet is going to hurt a lot, and firing one on someone in this situation is nonsensical anyway. Why bother showing Wil shoot him with a rubber bullet that bounces unrealistically and laughably off his back?
Sorry. I regret to inform you that the wedding cake is indeed a lie
The storyline behind the events on the train is actually quite decent however and succeeded in that it kept me guessing every step of the way. I just wish that the Allison x Wil pairing (which was made glaringly obvious from the first episode) was handled in a smoother fashion. It’s almost as if the writers had got to the end of the train arc and realised that they would be writing about Allison’s and Wil’s daughter in a couple of episodes’ time so rushed things through. I actually felt a bit cheated with the ‘15 years later’ thing because after watching them get together and Wil leave Allison and her unborn child, there isn’t much in the way of portraying the beginning of their marriage and the times where they grow closer romantically, or indeed the years where they stay in touch through Wil’s assumed name.
I did notice one detail which proved to be a rare moment where I noticed it get something right, assuming my limited knowledge of the Japanese language is correct. As Wil’s train leaves he (belatedly!) confesses to Allison, he doesn’t say ‘Daisuki da!’, the sort of phrase we hear that used in situations like this. The fact that Wil uses the word ‘ai’ instead of ‘suki’ is significant in a way that the English language cannot fully convey. The French, being the romantic souls they are, can of course say “I love you,” in two ways: “Je t’aime,” and “J’adore,” the latter having something of a stronger meaning. Similarly, when Wil says “Aishteru!” to Allison he doesn’t just love her in the childhood friend sense, but the deeper and stronger sense that Allison had no doubt felt for him. It’s good to know the series pays attention to little details like that, although I’m not entirely sure why I noticed it in the first place.
Exactly, you FOOL
Even so, it’s baffling to me that Wil is willing to leave the woman he is devoted to - I’m sure he has his reasons (he didn’t know she was pregnant at the time of course, and Allison was foolish enough to bottle out of telling him) but I don’t think they were explained well enough. The scenes between them working together to solve the train mystery, and live together in the months that follow, were fun to watch and actually quite sweet; I just wish they had been handled better and more time devoted to the moments that mattered.
I’d also like to apologise for a slightly rambling post, and one that I’m still not exactly proud of writing. To say that a retrospective on an entire story arc is reduced to disappointment and lame attempts at humour just goes to show that when I’m not inspired or moved, I find it hard to write as well as I’d like. Rest assured that Frontier and Soul Eater ARE inspiring and moving, so better posts will follow. Maybe the most significant frustration with Allison to Lillia is that it hasn’t allowed me to completely dislike it, or drop it for that matter.
Posted on July 31st, 2008 @ 2:32 am
I totally understand what you mean. Despite it’s gaping plotholes I can’t help but love it oh so much! >_<
Posted on July 31st, 2008 @ 5:02 am
Yeah, what IS is about this show that keeps me watching it (though I suspect I’m closer to dropping it than you)? That rubber bullet scene … I mean, I can’t even try to explain that away, unless Wil thought it would be a laugh, and he’s not that kind of guy. I think for me it’s partly Allison, and to a lesser extent Wil. You once compared them to Claus and Lavie, which I think is apt, except those two were in a well-plotted, epic series worthy of them, and Claus didn’t display Lovely Complex’s Otani thickheadedness. I mean, he got Allison pregnant and hasn’t told her she loves him yet?
It’s like the animators are using interns as writers and sticking them in a reality series format to see which ones crack. … Actually, I think I’d watch that show …
Ohh, I could go on and on. As for the quality of your post, it looked all right to me. What can you say about this show? Maybe it makes us all lose our abilities to think coherently … Why am I still watching it again?
Posted on July 31st, 2008 @ 8:11 am
Perhaps it’s because you kinda know it can’t get worse?
Posted on July 31st, 2008 @ 9:56 am
Vitriolic, moi?
Surely not… In recent episodes I have begun to admit my undying love for this series, simply because the whole thing is almost a running joke. If they’d prefaced the show with an announcement that “Everything you are about to see is a parody of bad anime”, we’d probably be hailing it as a work of post-modern comic genius. 
Anyhow, by way of blatant and horrible self-pimpage seeing as you’ve been kind enough to praise and link to my ramblings, the easiest way to ‘enjoy’ my take on Allison to Lillia in its entirety is via this link.
Posted on July 31st, 2008 @ 2:52 pm
To preserve the peace of the world, obviously. But I still think he’s being stupid in leaving Allison all alone like that. :/
Posted on July 31st, 2008 @ 3:07 pm
I’ve read through the entire Allison series (just started Lillia & Treize), and I’d really like to see the books get out to a wider audience.but unfortunately I don’t really have the time to translate them — it’s a shame, because I think they’re much more enjoyable (and much more in line with the author’s other effort) than what the anime has to offer. At the very least, Sigsawa clearly has a soft spot for the world and the technology that goes in it, and is not particularly inclined to letting major plot holes slip through the cracks. (As you read through the novels, everything does have a legitimate explanation based on what’s been presented over the course of the plot — the anime tends to forget to do this.)
It’s a shame that the anime doesn’t do a better job of presenting the story — they do fine on the broad strokes, but then screw up the fine points in ways that derail (no pun intended) the entire thing, and with in more experienced hands, it could be really great. I still find it enjoyable for what it’s worth, but the books are better.
Posted on July 31st, 2008 @ 10:14 pm
@Ez: I’ll be watching the next two episodes tonight. And I still can’t say why.
@Peter S: absolutely.
The saddening thing it, this is Madhouse we’re talking about here - they’re about to break their nigh-on flawless track record with something that’s disappointed me. It feels almost surreal that I had such high hopes for it TBH.
@issa-san: I fear it might actually stay at this level of sloppiness. The change in central characters may change but that’s about it. For shame.
@Hanners: cheers for the link. I make a point of reading each post after watching the episode, for the express reason of getting a good laugh! For that you have my thanks.
@TheBigN: his motives are noble and all, but I honestly can’t respect a guy who leaves behind everything and everyone he loves - he might be doing the right thing morally but it just seems heartless to me.
@*shrug*: thanks for confirming what I already suspected! I absolutely love the anime of Kino’s Journey, and the Allison light novels are now providing an additional incentive to learn hiragana properly. The underlying quality is there, but it’s the amateurish execution that lets it down. I can honestly believe what you’re saying here!