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R2 DVD Reviews
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Written by maehara
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Thursday, 07 February 2008 16:00 |
 There’s nothing quite as infuriating as plot twists that come out of nowhere, and that’s a sin that this volume of Innocent Venus is guilty of. But first, it’s going to torture us with three episodes of “more of the same”. Why am I watching this again..?
5 - Duet
The gang arrive at Shuzou Chikura's dojo - he seems a little uncertain of them, until he sees they've brought Sana with them. He's Sana's grandfather, and Jin had been asked by her father, Nobuto, to take her to him. Nobuto had been involved in genetic research, and was killed in suspicious circumstances as the project he was working on - the Vulcan Project - was almost complete. In the tradition of all over-enthusiastic scientists, though, Nobuto seems to have been unable to resist experimenting on his daughter - which explains why everyone seems so keen to get their hands on Sana. But just what is it she's capable of that has so many peoples' attention..?
6 - Rampage
After Sana's collapse, Jin has an idea of what may have caused it and begins trying to figure out the details - something to do with her reaction to the off-key music produced by the piano she'd been playing, but why? He doesn't get too much time to investigate, though, as Phantom arrive at Chikura's dojo with orders to capture Sana. Chikura & Jin do get some advance warning of what's happening - a jamming field thrown up by Phantom clues them in that something's not quite right, but Chikura's men foolishly head out into the valley to try and locate the source of the jamming, leaving the dojo relatively undefended, so once again it falls to Jin and Joe to protect Sana...
7 - Scheme
With the Ishin surrounded, Toraji adopts the tactic that the best defence is a good offence, and starts by taking out a large chunk of the fleet's air cover before disabling enough of the fleet to allow the Ishin to make its getaway. Unknown to Toraji, though, his ship is followed by Phantom all the way to its secret underwater dock in the city of Satsuma, and while Toraji and the others prevail on the Mayor's hospitality, Lenny prepares her plan for taking them out and retrieving Sana. Back at the Mayor's mansion, meanwhile, Jin has found a convenient piano, and continues trying to find out what happened to Sana when she'd been playing Chikura's piano...
8 - Loss
Lenny may have captured Sana, but that's just the start - she has to keep her as well, and armed with information from Logos' own observation airships, Toraji, Jin and Joe are already on their way to rescue her. Phantom have been put on standby, expecting the rescue attempt, while Toraji has agreed to play decoy to give Jin and Joe a chance to get inside Phantom's base. But getting in is the easy part - inside, a trap has been set for them, and the boys soon find themselves in trouble...
The long list of opposing groups continues to grow - Phantom, the military who'd rather be rid of them, Jin & Joe (who are former Phantom members), Toraji and his pirates (with Toraji again being ex-Phantom), Shuzou's group... the list seems to be endless, and they all have an interest in Sana and whatever abilities her father's meddling has give her. That it's something significant is clear enough from the number of people who want to get their hands on her, but the specifics remain a mystery for far too long – it’s episode 8 before we finally get some answers.
Along the way, Jin and Joe continue their efforts to keep Sana out of Phantom's hands, while Phantom themselves become ever more devious in their efforts to catch her, and no-one who comes into contact with the group seems to be safe – and some annoying stupidity on the part of some of Shuzou’s group doesn’t help matters. Phantom's pursuit of the gang at least creates plenty of opportunity for action scenes and chases, even if the details behind what’s really going on didn’t come to the surface as quickly as I would have liked. While the action scenes aren't truly spectacular (a TV series budget will only go so far, and I've commented on my issues with the style of CG used here before), the battles between Phantom, the Ishin and the gang are very well presented and provide plenty to keep the action junkie happy. Phantom are also getting some decent character development, particularly Lenny, which makes them feel a little less like just carbon-copy anime villains, which is definitely welcome.
Where this disc goes badly wrong is in the final episode. This volume has been titled Blood of Betrayal, and the titular betrayal is saved until the end of the disc. Now, I’m not against a little bit of character backstabbing – it makes for a good story, and it’s always good to keep the viewer on their toes by making sure that they know that anything can happen. When it’s done properly, though, you’re able to think back over what you’ve seen and see the betrayal being foreshadowed – a line here, a look there, and you put two & two together five minutes too late and wonder how you missed the signs. The Innocent Venus approach to betrayal? Hove one of your lead characters turn out to be almost 180 degrees from what you thought they were – but without any sort of hint before they turn, or any sort of reasonable justification for them doing what they do. It’s a betrayal that in all seriousness makes no sense at all (short of some very good explaining next volume), and it left me sitting at the end of the disc wondering why the storywriter had gone though the rigmarole of the previous 7 episodes if it was all just going to be tossed in episode 8. Unimpressed? You bet. Leaving your audience feeling misled and cheated isn’t what you want, but that’s how this disc left me feeling.
And yet somehow I still want to see the next episode, to make sure I haven’t missed anything that makes the situation seem different, or to see if there’s some logical reason given for what I’ve seen here. The problem is that Innocent Venus hasn’t really lived up to its potential so far, so I’m not expecting it to make amends, either – but some morbid part of me just wants to make sure.
For three-and-a-half episodes, this volume of Innocent Venus is okay, before it all just falls apart with a plot “twist” that turns part of the series on its head is a way that just leaves you wondering why. While you do finally get the explanation of what Sana represents and why she’s so valuable to the military, that’s overshadowed by the completely unsatisfying way that the disc ends. In the end, it’s a disc that’s not the best, from a series that’s not the best – while the show does have some appealing aspects, the overall package just doesn’t stand out as anything special.
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