Pumpkin Scissors ep.01

October 2, 2006 | 27 Comments

Opening Theme: 「蒼き炎」 (Aoki Flame) by 高橋洋子 (Takahashi Youko)
Download: AVI format (28.4MB) | AVI mirror (28.4MB) | PSP format (14.5MB)

This is a pretty good first episode. Animation-wise, this seems to be GONZO's better effort. The story itself is quite dark mostly because of the mysterious background that surrounds the main character, Randel Orland. People have been comparing this to Full Metal Panic but I think story-wise, it's a lot closer to Kenshin in the sense that the focus is on a character who tries to move on with his new life but his dark past continues to catch up with him. The Pumpkin Scissors group essentially functions as Orland's link to humanity which he occasionally loses. The opening theme itself is pretty good but then again I've always been a fan of Takahashi Youko's songs like Cruel Angel Thesis. The ending theme is rather humourous which feels kind of strange since this episode has a dark tone to it. Voice acting wise, Shizuka Itou (Himawari in xxxHOLiC) and Kenta Miyake did a god job as their respective characters, Alice and Oland.

In the middle of an army graduation, a soldier arrives with the news that the emperor has signed a cease-fire treaty. 5 days later in the village of imperial frontier district, the same cease-fire treaty was announced to the surprised masses. In the midst of the war-torned village, a tall man stands up wondering if it's that easy then why didn't the cease-fire come sooner. Cut to a shot to the devastated village around the man. After the credit, there is a narration saying that there was a long war between the imperial forces and the Frost Republic. The war causes a big scar in every single section of the empire. 3 years after a treaty known as 'thin ice', the empire suffers from starvation, pestilence, and soldier turning into bandits. Inside a forest, 3 soldiers are observing situation inside a dam, where a tank and other soldiers are spotted. One of the soldiers write a report and places it inside a tube on a dog's neck so the dog will deliver it to someone.

After the dog left, the group leader, who is the same girl shown during graduation, orders her comrades to prepare for siege and to get ready to crush them. This shocks the other two so one of them tells her that she's being unreasonable. The girl, however, tells the guy that the people in the dam caused disturbance to order so in essence, they are the bad guys. In order to calm their leader, the blonde hair guy suggests that they survey the damage around the village first. Inside a pub within the village, the owner brings an asparagus salad to a big hulking man who was seen earlier in the story. While the man gulping the salad, the owner asks him to see the dam located near the hills. She tells the guy that one year ago, an army group and a tank called GrauWolf came to the village and started to use the dam as their headquarters. Her explanation, however, comes to a halt when the guy hands out his bowl and asks for a second helping of the salad.

While the pub owner is away, the group of soldiers enters the eatery. When the girl passes the man eating his asparagus salad, however, she gets a bad premonition and proceeds to rub her neck. Strangely, when she turns around the man in question actually looks kind of goofy since he has a lettuce in his mouth. Before the girl can say anything else, the pub owner appears again, asking them if they are the imperial soldiers. The black hair man confirms this and introduces them as Division 3 of the Imperial Army Intelligence Bureau. As soon as he finishes saying this, a large quake can be felt inside the pub. The girl wonders what could that be so the big man tells her that it's probably a stray cannon, a 65mm type from a tank gun. The pub owner quickly asks the group to look from the window because a big tank has now make its way towards the village centre, destroying the nearby fountain. Some men are also seen trying to scare the Mayor of the village.

As it turns out the men are trying to extort some rations from the village. The Mayor, however, tells them that unfortunately they don't have any more rations to spare. One of the men tells the Mayor that they didn't ask him to spare the rations but to give it to them. Because of this, he asks the First Lieutenant if they should send one more shot. Instead of answering the question, the Liuetenant scolds his underling, telling him that he already said many times that he wants everyone to call him "Wolf". The leader of the 3rd division imperial army then appears and tells "Wolf" that he looks more like mountain ape instead of a wolf. She then introduces her group, Pumpkin Scissors and tells Wolf that he's excluded from the village for being a war aggravator. Upon hearing this Wolf smirks and returns to the tank, asking his underling to prepare K-3 warhead. The tank then points its gun into the sky and fire a black smoke into the air.

Before the captain of Pumpkin Scissors can react, however, the tank already runs away from the village. After the tank disappears, she wonders if the shot was just a blank shot since nothing since to be coming down from the sky. As she rubs her neck, she thinks to herself that this is the first time she has bad premonition twice in one day. The big tall man then approaches her, advising her that fighting a tank, is not what a normal person should do. Inside the forest, the GrauWolf ask their leader what they should do since they think reinforcement will come tomorrow. The captain, who wears 903 CTT badge on his arm sleeve assures his men that the imperial forces can't send any reinforcement. At the same time, inside the intelligence bureau office, the Pumpkin Scissors' Section Chief receives a report sent by his on-field group. He, however, thinks it's strange that they never noticed the group that Pumpkin Scissors reported.

Suddenly 1st division of Army Intelligent Chief barges the door open, looking for Pumpkin Scissors Chief, whose name turns out to be Hunks. He then asks Hunks if he sent people to the dam, telling him to lay off the GrauWolf case. That night inside the pub, Pumpkin Scissors group are enjoying their time inside the village. In another table, the big hulking man is thinking about 'War relief unit' when all of a sudden the girl appears in front of his face. The girl introduces herself as Second Lieutenant Alice L. Malvin and asks the guy for his name. Despite his shock, the guy tells Alice that his name is Randel Oland. Alice then sits next to him, guessing that he's probably a war veteran. The man grunts to confirm this and also tells Alice that his rank is Corporal. Alice assures Oland not to worry because she can see that he's not one of those GrauWolf. She also thinks that Oland's eyes reminds her of Piro, her horse.

Alice tells Oland that she is relieved after she saw his eyes because her neck felt chilly when she passed him earlier in the day. She explains that when her neck gives such signal, usually it means that there is something unusual happening. For example, when Piro was born and when she was promoted as Second Liutenant. Oland thinks that sounds like a good thing but Alice points out that's not always the case because she also felt it when her great grandfather passed away. In short, the sensation is usually more closely associated with bad things. Having said that, she thinks her meeting Oland is a good omen instead of a bad one. Alice then asks Oland from which unit did he come from but before Oland can answer the question, there is a loud noise coming from the bar. It turns out the pub owner has fallen unconscious and so are a few people in the bar. Alice runs out to get a doctor but she quickly realises that the same thing happens on the street.

Oland believes that this is volatile tactical poison Kirsche No.3 or better known as K-3 Chemistry warhead. Alice finally realises that the blank shot that GrauWolf shot earlier in the day contains this very poison. Back inside the Imperial Forces headquarter, 1st Division Chief explains that 'GrauWolf' is simply a known name of a group called 903 CTT (Chemical Tactics Troop). When a young soldier called Stekkin asks the two Chiefs about Kirsche No.3, Division 3 Chief tells her that it's basically a military arts in tactical dissemination of poison into air. Although the poison is ineffective on strong, healthy person, it affects those with weak body. Within 5 to 6 hours the poison can causes a person to fall unconscious and their body will cease to function. If the person doesn't receive the antidote, the person will die after 20 hours. The 1st Chief confirms this and also informs 3rd Chief that the use of the arm is a violation of the international treaty.

Unfortunately, the Imperial Forces has created a lot of these units and these units are known as 'Invisible 9'. Pumpkin Scissors chief realises that this means 903 CTT does not exists in official manner and they can't send reinforcement to the dam. Back inside the pub, Pumpkin Scissors are in the middle of helping the victims when all of a sudden one of them realies that GrauWolf surely have the antidote. Upon hearing this, his fellow soldier tells it not to say outloud because if their Captain hears this....well, it's too late for them because Alice heard it and plans on obtaining the antidote. Oland tries to stop her by saying that it's unreasonable and she will just die in vain. In return Alice asks Oland if he doesn't feel anything after seeing the suffering of the people around him and the evil-doing of GrauWolf. Because of this, the Pumpkin Scissors ask the villagers if they have the blueprint of the dam as well as light and torches that the group can use.

While Pumpkin Scissors are busy planning, Oland thinks to himself that this is the first time he heard about war relief unit. When Alice points out that their main problem is the tank, Oland tells Alice that he'll take care of the tank somehow. He explains how this dam is a double tub type and the headquarter of GrauWolf is located in the middle of the first and second dam. Oland believes that if they discharge the first dam and submerged the area, they can stop the motion of the tank with the mud. Upon hearing this, Alice asks Oland who was it that said a normal person should not be taking on a tank. Oland confirms her that a normal person should not do this and in this instant, Alice's instinct kicks off again, sensing Oland's dark personality. Alice, however, tries to ignore it and asks Oland about the name of his unit so Oland tells her that it's 901 ATT. Inside Grauwolf HQ, one of the soldiers tell Wolf that Pumpkin Scissors are sending reinforcements.

Wolf, however, thinks that the entire thing is just a bluff and orders his soldiers to 'tidy things up'. This means that the Grauwolf ends up in a stand off against the 2 man army of Pumpkin Scissors. One of the Pumpkin Scissors member, whose name turns out to be Oreld wonders how things turn out this way but his comrade, Machs, reminds him that he was the one who thought about this. While the fight continues, Alice and Oland are trying to cut the chain around the watergate. Eventually, however, Alice concludes that they can't cut the chain using the tools that they have. After examining the chain, Oland asks Alice to step aside. Oland then produces an unusual-looking gun and turns on the lantern that is attached to his uniform. Oland's face suddenly turns eerie as he asks Alice to look for the antidote and leave the watergate to him. When Alice asks him if he's going to be okay on his own, Oland simply tells Alice to hurry up and leave.

After Alice left, Oland uses his hand gun to shoot the chains before using his bare hands to turn the watergate's wheel. Meanwhile, Alice is running through the hallway thinking that he can't get the blue light out of her eyes somehow. She thinks the light feels cold and gloomy, reminding her of 「鬼火」 - Onibi (Jack O' Lantern). When Alice comes out of the tunnels, she notices that Oland has successfully opened the top dam. As a result, water are now making its way towards the headquarter of the GrauWolf. Wolf thinks the whole thing is interesting and asks his underling to prepare the tank while they can still move. After they left, Alice enters the headquarter through the window undetected by anyone. At the same time, the GrauWolf are having difficulty navigating the tank through the water-filled area, comparing the place to a dog's paddle. All of a sudden, one of them thinks he saw something that looks like 「人魂」 - Hitodama (Will of the Wisp).

Wolf is horrified upon seeing Oland's blue lantern and orders his underlings to prpeare strong acid cartridge. One of the underling thinks that Oland will melt down to his bone once he gets the acid bath. When the guy tries to look for Oland's location, however, the guy in question can't be seen around. All of a sudden, Oland appears in front of the tank with his gun pointed at the underling. Before the rest of the people can do anything else, blood already splatters inside the tank. Wolf is terrified to see this and orders his remaining underling to retreat and not to let Oland get any closer. He believes that Pumpkin Scissors have arrived with a blue fire demon, the kind that originates from 901 ATT (Anti Tank Trooper). These are basically soldiers who disregard their own life. Upon hearing this, the driver panics and can't get the tank to move anywhere. In an attempt to defend themselves, they decide to fire the acid cartridge point blank into Oland's body.

Unfortunately for them, Oland blocks the attack with his coat and proceeds to approach the tank. He then climbs into the tank and shoots the driver point blank in the face. Wolf quickly comes out of the tank and tells Oland that he's heard that 901 are the types who point-blank shoot without self-preservation. Because of this, Wolf dares Oland to shoot him but reminds him that the antidote will also fall with him. Wolf then starts shooting at Oland, saying that he does not believe in such thing as revival from war devastation. He believes that's just fabrication. All of a sudden, Alice appears and stabs Wolf's hand with her knife before grabbing the antidote in his hand. Oland then shoots Wolf in the chest, causing the entire tank to fall off the dam. In the aftermath, Alice asks Oland if he's okay and praises his war relief attempt. Oland smiles when he hears this and Alice tells him that she's going to give him another uniform in exchange of his torned one.

Impression:

I was kind of grinning when I first saw Alice' intuition because the way the animators illustrated it reminds me so much of Spiderman's 'spider-sense'. It's also funny because it works both ways. Come to think of it, that's a bit worrying because there is a likelihood she interprets a bad premonition as a good one. I really hope that her gut feeling tells her that Oland is a bringer of good omen instead of a bad one. Unfortunately, judging from the way he is drawn in those moments, I have to say the reverse is true. In general, Alice is a very likeable character. She is a bit hot-headed but she is capable of doing what she claims she wants to do. I like the fact that she was involved in helping Oland to retrieve the antidote. Admittedly, Oland did the majority of the hardwork and I'll get into that very soon. Having said that, if it wasn't for her, not only Oland would have died in Wolf's hand, he would have also failed to secure the antidote for the villagers.

Oland, on the other hand, is an entirely different enigma. I was most impressed with his dialogue about how if cease-fire treaty is that easy, then why couldn't it come sooner before any life is lost and before villages are destroyed. This episode, especially the opening, reveals that Oland was once involved in a group called 901 ATT (Anti Tank Trooper). Judging from his action against the GrauWolf tank, I'd say that his troop is some kind of Kamikaze (suicide attack) troop. I don't think that he'll purposedly kill himself in a battle but he clearly doesn't value his own life and willing to attack his enemy in any way possible. The most mysterious part about Oland is the blue lantern that is attached to his uniform. From this episode alone, I assume that turning that light on will allow Oland to be stronger or make him unable to feel pain.

When the device is activated, Oland seems to turn into this Hulk-like persona, devoid of the kindness and warthm that he generally shows sto Alice. Interestingly enough, Alice actually refers to him as 「鬼火」- Onibi. This literally translated to fire demon but is also known as Jack O' Lantern or Will of the Wisp. I supposed this is where the 'Pumpkin' in title comes from (apart from the name of the group that Alice belongs to). The rest of the story are basically standard post-war scenario with war-torned villages and greedy Liuetenants trying to profit from poor people. It remains to be seen if as a group, Pumpkin Scissors can really revive the villages from war devastation or if the entire thing is just propaganda for the Imperial Forces. It's obvious right from the beginning that there are secrets that the Imperial Forces try to keep hidden. Even if Pumpkin Scissors themselves have noble intention, they would probably encounter problems from their supervisors.

Ending Theme: 「マーキュリー☆GO」(Mercury☆Go) by ステッキンと愉快な仲間たち (Stekkin & Happy friends)
Download: AVI format (11.9MB) | PSP format (9.9MB)

I don't like the ending theme as much as the opening theme. But then again some parts of the show are quite light-hearted so the ending is a good representation of those moments. Overall the first episode was quite. The strength of the series are its character design, animation, and characters' background story. To be honest, however, I'm not as much invested in the war-torned part of the story. But then again I have never been a big fan of war-based storyline. Suffice to say, the first episode impressed me quite a bit so I will give this series a couple more episodes before I figure out if I want to include it in my regular schedule or not. Let me know what you think about it though after you watch the episode yourself. What part of the series do you think is interesting and if you think it's the kind of series that you will follow in the long run. At the moment I have no idea about the number of episodes and Shoboi's site only lists the first 8 episodes.

Preview

On next week's episode: Alice is turned into hostage by a bunch of maids.

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