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R2 DVD Reviews
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Written by maehara
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Sunday, 16 December 2007 16:00 |
 After being forced into going their separate ways, the gang are eventually reunited and begin the journey to Edel Gardens – but it seems there are several groups who want to make sure they never reach their goal, while Cou’s about to find himself with girl problems...
14 - The Return of the Hunter
With Ren having decided to head for Edel Gardens on her own, Cou's at a bit of a loss as to what to do next - although his feelings for Ren mean that he's keen to try and track her down. Back in Arc Aile, Cisqua's trying to get some answers about why recent events have happened - the separation of Cou and Ren, and the attack by the Chaos Choir - but her superiors aren't talking, and she's growing ever more disillusioned with her job. With a little prompting from Kuea and Rowen, she soon decides to head off on the trail of Ren and Cou. Meanwhile, hunter Wolx has been given a new mission - to capture Ren...
15 - The Village with the Large Windmill
Ren arrives at a village that's been built within a ravine, where the first person she meets is a young boy, Eugene, who bears more than a passing resemblance to Cou. He's about the only friendly person she meets at first, as a group of bandits have built a huge wall across one end of the ravine, preventing any wind from blowing down it - wind that the villagers need to run the windmills that in turn power the village and its farms. Eugene has a plan to beat the bandits, though - and the more Ren sees of him, the more she's reminded of how much she misses Cou. While she may not be able to see cou, though, she can certainly help Eugene. Meanwhile, Cisqua pays a visit to a nearby hospital where Arc Aile agent Sunweld is laid up - she's hoping he'll have some information about the Chaos Choir and what they're up to. He does, but Cou's about to get some first-hand experience of them...
16 - Memory of a Windbird
The journey to Edel Gardens means an ocean cruise for Cou and the gang - it's rumoured to be located on the Volcyone continent, and since Cisqua's meant to be on vacation, they may as well travel in true holiday style. But problems follow them - no sooner has the ship left port, than Cou is struck by a poisoned dart and left unconscious, in what looks like a scheme to make sure Ren can't React to protect herself. But whoever the enemy is this time, their plan is a little more subtle than that - and the danger to Ren is closer than the others may know...
17 - The Rocky Fateful Encounter
The gang arrive at the Volcyone continent, where Cou's immediately accosted by his self-proclaimed greatest fan, young girl Viro - apparently, she saw him fight against Rasati, and she's been fangirling ever since. Next thing you know, the gang have a new groupie tagging along with them - something that Cisqua's not happy about. She does claim to know the way to Edel Gardens though, and sure enough, she's able to point out a floating island in the distance that Ren's feels certain is the place she's looking for. Viro's not the only person to have followed them from the arena, though, as Marl soon appears - along with a Sting Raid powerup, courtesy of the Chaos Choir. Later, Cou finds that dealing with Viro's amorous advances isn't exactly easy...
Another disc of two parts. The first two episodes take place while Ren and Cou are still separated, and partly deal with the way they’re missing each other, and partly with Cisqua’s continuing conflicting emotions over her connections with Arc Aile. Since she’s officially ‘on leave’ at the moment she’s free to do what she wants, but the more time she spends with Cou and finds out what her superiors have been up to, the more you feel that she’s going to eventually turn her back on them. The main stories in these episodes aren’t anything worthwhile – another long, drawn-out battle for Cou and an episode focussing on Ren that typically manages to feel like nothing’s happened – but some scenes that peek more behind the scenes make sure that they’re not a complete waste of time.
Things begin to liven up in the remaining episodes, first with the cruise and the attack by a dangerous Sting Raid that only backs up Cisqua’s doubts about Arc Aile’s motives, and then with the arrival of Viro in episode 16. Viro’s all over Cou whenever she gets the chance, and it’s fairly obvious that there’s going to be a rivalry between her and Ren for Cou’s affections. Of course, I’ll be hugely surprised if Ren doesn’t win that battle, but Viro has one big advantage that, of the other characters in this series, only Cisqua can match: she has a personality, and a rather fun one at that. She also has a secret, revealed right at the end of the disc, that will upset the balance of Cou’s relationship with Ren quite a bit – nothing that was hugely surprising, given the fairly predictable way that Elemental Gelade works in, but enough to raise a smile and give my interest in the series a little more of a kick.
Across the episodes, the mysterious Chaos Choir also play their part, manoeuvring behind the scenes and setting up confrontations for the gang to deal with. Their real motivations are still a mystery, but they’re there and will obviously have to be dealt with at some point, as will the other “bad guys” of the piece, Arc Aile. With two volumes still to go, there’ll be plenty of opportunity for them to cause problems.
Elemental Gelade is growing on me more as the series progresses, but I’m still not seeing enough in it to make it anything other than a low-priority rental – what interesting storylines it has are only being followed up slowly, and the series seems to avoid doing anything too unexpected. Viro’s arrival is a little ray of light, but not enough to lift the series into worthwhile territory.
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