| DNAngel #6: Ice and Darkness |
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| Monday, 12 December 2005 | |
 DNAngel returns, and Daisuke's in trouble as the effects of Mio's charm - the Second Hand of Time - begin to take effect. This isn't a storyline that's going to be resolved in a hurry, and it seems Daisuke's going to need some help this time around - and that's assuming he even wants to be saved. After watching the first part of this disc, you'll be wondering if he wants that...21 - An Icy Voice Calling So at then end of the previous episode, Mio's curse kicked in as Rika and Daisuke exchanged the parts of her charm - the Second Hand of Time, as given to her by Hiwatari's father for the purpose of "terminating" Daisuke. So when the episode begins with everyone back at school continuing to practice for the class play, it's a little bit confusing - but all is not well. Daisuke's beginning to feel unwell, and while he's asleep he's been dreaming of a strange girl in snow. Hiwatari's strangely concerned for him, and warns Daisuke that something's begun to happen - he just doesn't know what. As the curse begins to take hold, Daisuke begins to lose control of himself, and the curse brings him to the girl he's been seeing in his dreams...   Inside the painting, Daisuke finally meets Freedert, the girl he's been dreaming of. Her aim is to make him forget about everything but her, and she seems to be getting her way. Meanwhile, the magic in Daisuke's painting draws Dark, Riku and Risa into the land of snow and ice that it depicts. Being there is their best chance of finding a way to bring Daisuke back to the real worl, but the painting sees them as foreign bodies to be removed, and reacts just as the body would to an infection. Even when Dark finally manages to confront Daisuke, there's still the matter of re-sealing Freedert and escaping from the picture again...   23 - Second Hand of Time When Dark retuns to the real world, he finds that he no longer has any contact with Daisuke - and his painting has turned an ominous deep black. In the world of the painting, Freedert revels her true form to Daisuke - like him, she's a person with two halves: the one seen in the world of ice and snow, and the "real" her, a warm & caring young girl who explains to Daisuke that it's his own power that is allowing her and her world to continue to exist - but that the time granted to them by the Second Hand of Time is running out. Daisuke has the power to extend the time they have left, if he's willing to help. Meanwhile, Daisuke's father has uncovered the book "Ice and Dark", telling the true story of Freedert - and giving clues to a way of retrieving Daisuke again...   There's a nice little comedy moment at the start of the disc, where Hiwatari apears for his role in the class play looking exactly like Dark - just the thing to upset Risa & raise a snigger with me. That's about it as far as comedy goes in these episodes, though. You need to pay attention to these episodes to really get a handle on what's happening, although it does eventually all fall into place quite well - Daisuke stands back from returning to the "real" world, wanting to find out what Freedert wants from him, so while Dark, Riku and Risa a returned home, Daisuke's left in the world of the painting. His free will is linked to the snow - if it's not falling he has his own mind and memories, but while the snow is falling he's under the control of the Second Hand of Time. While the snow's not falling he has the chance of escape, but his own desires to "save" Freedert could well end up being his downfall. The solution is the Wedge of Time, a sword that Freedert gave to her love Elliot before he went to war, and that was eventually the sword he killed himself with. Conveniently, the sword is in Hiwatari's care, although Daisuke's family don't know that just yet. Hiwatari seems to be on Daisuke's side rather than his father's, though, so this tale may yet have a happy ending - although you won't find out here, as the curse of the cliffhanger kicks in. This is one disc that really needed to be four episodes! For all that, I had a hard time turning away from these episodes - the whole disc was completely engrossing from beginning to end (another factor that made the cliffhanger all the more frustrating - I want to know what happens now, dammit!). The characters are quickly coming to know where they stand with regard to each other, and it's not perhaps where they saw themselves being at the beginning of the series. There's still a final showdown between Dark and Krad to come, I suspect, but that's not the only reason I can't wait for the final volume. DNAngel works well on so many levels, that it really is a must buy. |
