Pumpkin Scissors ep.03

October 17, 2006 | 9 Comments

The episodes looks a bit bad but I suppose this is to be expected. I kind of wish that every animation studio know how to divide their budget like Kyoto Animation or at least find a trick that makes the series look good in general. Thankfully this is not as bas as say, episode 3 of Welcome to NHK!. I think the real problem with this episode, however, is the story, which was written specifically to show that Alice believes in the war relief program. However, I think the viewers already know about this right from the start. What I really want to know is what her supervisor thinks about these jobs. Do they see it as another paper to shove? Where it doesn't matter whether or not Pumpkin Scissors can solve the problem or not.

The episode begins with Oland waking up underneath a bridge, where he's been spending the night on top of a sleeping bag. In contrast, Alice wakes up on top of a large, comfortable bed inside her own room. She then salutes her mother's photo and greets her with "Good Morning". When she goes down to the dining room, Alice is surprised to see her sisters having breakfast with her father. One of the sisters tells her that they have something they want to talk about with her. The other one, however, is more straightforward and criticises her clothes. The first sister immediately supports this, asking Alice what would her fiancée think if he sees her in those clothes. As if that's not enough, her father asks her until when she is planning to continue playing soldier. Alice argues that it's expected for a family with military standing such as Malvin to be a soldier. When her sister points out that the war is over, Alice tells her that the real fight begins from now on.

Her father, however, disapproves her words, saying that she should stop talking about that 'festive' unit. He believes that there is a more appropriate post for an aristocrat such as herself. In reply, Alice tells him that she's proud of division 3's 'war devastation relief' attempts. She also believes that as aristocrat, they should be leading people. Her father, on the other hand, thinks that she can come up with such an easy thought because she has bread to eat everyday despite the poverty that happens within the country. Back in Pumpkin Scissors HQ, Oreld is relieved because he manages to arrive before Alice and thinks that if he knew, he would have taken his time. Machs reminds Oreld that either way, he better clean up the kiss mark across his chest, causing Stekkin's face to turn red. After dressing up properly, Oreld is surprised to see Alice late and wonders if something happened. Stekkin is worried because Alice usually never comes later than Oreld.

Oreld is annoyed to hear this and proceeds to bully Stekkin for saying those words. Eventually Alice arrives at the HQ looking tired because she ran from her house to the HQ. Her reason is because commoners don't use a pick-up carriage. When Stekkin offers her a glass of water, Alice asks Stekkin if the people in town drink water. Stekkin is confused to hear this and tells of course they drink water. Alice then reports to Hunks, who give her their next assignment. This requires them to travel to South where SU13 Tunnel is located. The Tunnel collapsed during war and therefore their task is to restore it. Alice immediately sees this as an opportunity for them to work with the commoners. She believes by they can gain mutual understanding with the commoners by doing this. Her enthusiasm, however, comes to a halt when her stomach is grumbling. Oland wonders if she hasn't had any breakfast but Alice denies this, claiming that she has eaten a little bit.

When they arrive at the location, the group realises that the tunnel is about to collapse. They also capture a boy who is stealing foods meant for construction workers. Alice, however, allows the boy, whose name is Peter, to eat the bread in exchange of taking them to the village because she wants to place a construction request. Unfortunately, Peter’s father rejects Alice’s request. Peter is surprised to hear this since harvest has been bad this year and his father once said that he wants to get a job. His father then explains that 5 years ago, this neighbourhood also becomes a battlefield. Because of this war, the tunnel collapsed and the villagers were contracted to repair it. Back then the villagers happily worked on it since the amount of money on offer would be enough for the villagers to last for a year. However, once the construction is over, they didn't get paid. The money that they've been offered has instead been replaced with 'Exemptions from military draft'.

Because of this, instead of dying from bullets, 12 people ended up dead due to hunger. Back then the only baby who managed to survive the condition was Peter. Peter tries to convince his father that Alice is not that kind of person but his father does not believe him. The father tells Alice that the tunnel collapsed again before the end of the war but now it's no longer their business. Machs trying to convince the guy that this time it's going to be okay since the labours will certainly be paid. However, when the father finds out that the process will take a month after some groundwork, he tells them that he can't trust their promise. Alice wonders if they can't be trusted and offers her team to work with the villagers, eating the same foods, working the same hours, etc. The father, however, points out that if it's just saying pretty words then even his little boy can do it. He then ends the conversation by asking Pumpkin Scissors to return to their HQ.

In the aftermath of the refusal, Alice decides to do the work herself. Oreld and Machs try to tell her that doing it on her own is impossible but this only causes her to order them to help her too. Before she can carry out any work, however, she bumps into Oland who is carrying some meals for her. Alice refuses the meal even though her stomach clearly disagrees with her opinion. She explains that these past 18 years, she has been indulging herself while other people were starving. Before Oland can give her the meal, they are distracted by the sound of Peter climbing on top of the drill vehicle. After giving Peter a look inside the vehicle and her meal, Alice realises that to Peter's father, she is as untrustworthy as the empire. Because of this, she decides to dig at the tunnel on her own. While doing this, Alice tries to convince herself that she's just a half-aristocrat because she doesn't know the suffering of those around her.

However, because Alice hasn't had proper meal before doing the work, she quickly runs out of energy and passed out in the tunnel. In her dream, she remembers how she once asked her grandfather if he's not feeling lonely living in a big mansion. Back then her grandfather told her that he's not lonely because Alice was there. In addition to this, as aristocrats, they are lonely by nature. In the present time, Alice wakes up with her left arm clutching Oland's right arm. When she realises this, she slaps Oland and claims that she's unsure why she did it. Despite this Oland goes over and brings dinner for her. Alice refuses it as usual so Oland asks her if she'd like to collapse again. Oland also tells her that this country is in awful condition. Due to 'war devastation' everyone is either sick or having difficult time. Upon hearing this, Alice tells Oland that if 'war devastation' is a disease and its people are the patients, then she thinks the 3rd division position is that of a doctor.

Upon hearing this Oland tells her that he thinks patients simply wants the doctor to suffer from the same illness that they suffer. They don't want the doctor to understand their pain and sadness nor do they want the doctor to be their friends. Their only wish is for the doctor to save them. Upon hearing this, Alice immediately changes her mind about dinner. The next day, Alice returns to Peter's father and jams her knife into the table, causing Peter's father to think that she's about to use force. However, she instead opens her sword grip and reveals the emblem inside of it. Alice then introduces herself as one of the 13th aristocrats, Malvin and takes an oath based on the emblem that the military will pay off their work 5 years ago and this time as well. Even if it means that her mansion will have to be auctioned on the market. Peter's father is not exactly pleased with her display of power but admits that in comparison to yesterday, he trust her a lot more today.

Before they can talk more about the reconstruction of the tunnel, however, Oreld barges in and tells them that Peter has used the drill vehicle on his own and is now trapped inside the tunnel. Without hesitation, Alice immediately climbs up the rocks and enters the tunnel through a small opening. Peter's father wants to come in as well because he's the boy's father but Alice insists that this is a job for Pumpkin Scissors. Upon seeing this, the villagers are impressed at Alice's determination despite the fact that she's an aristocrat. Meanwhile, Oland entertains the idea of using the blue light to save everyone after he sees Peter's father following Alice as well. Inside the tunnel, Alice and Peter's father manage to find Peter inside the vehicle but the boy is too afraid to make a move. At the same time, Peter's father notices a rock about to hit Alice so he pushes her aside to protect her. In return, Alice climbs up into the vehicle to stop its operation.

Peter apologises and explains that he just wants to be strong like her but Alice tells him not to worry. Unfortunately by the time everything stops moving, the opening to the outside world has been completely enclosed. Alice, however, is confident that her unit will save them. Peter's father points out that Alice sure has great confidence. In addition to this, he thinks Alice is foolish for sacrificing her social status to save the boy's life. He reveals that back then, similar accident happened but the aristocrats abandoned the village. This is why he hates aristocrat. Having said that, he thinks Alice is not an aristocrat for doing such a foolish thing. All of a sudden, however, they feel another tremor inside the tunnel. Peter's father wonder if those outside will be able to save them in time. Alice, however, is confident that her unit will definitely come. As she climbs into the drill vehicle, however, Alice has one of her premonition.

Because of this, she instinctively pushes Peter and her father's aside. This, however, leaves her vulnerable to a big rock that is heading towards her. Thankfully before the rock crushes her, someone has shot it into pieces. That person turns out to be Oland who is now using his blue light to open the tunnel. In the aftermath of the accident, Alice, Peter, and his father are all saved and the villagers begin to rebuild the tunnel. Oland, Oreld, and Machs are seen having their breakfast but Alice tells them to help the villagers once they finish with their food. It appears she fulfils her promise to the villagers to assign her unit to help the village. Oreld tries to weasel his way out of the work by saying that they're only meant to direct the villagers to do the repair. Unfortunately for him, Alice disagrees with him and orders them to hurry up with their meal. As she watches over everyone in the village working hard, Alice promises to save the country from the war devastation.

Impression:

I'm not particularly impressed with this episode but one of the highlights of the episode is the conversation between Oland and Alice. The scene underscores the closeness between the two. For some reason, Alice has the tendency to follow Oland's advice despite being stubborn most of the time. I also like the fact that she becomes embarrassed easily in front of Oland and ends up losing some of her cool. I really like them as a pairing and hope that fiancée of hers turns out to be a major antagonist for the series. The most interesting part of that scene, however, is the talk about people just wanting to be saved from their situation. I think this is especially true during upheaval time and when the majority of people are suffering. In such time, people don't care why the economy collapsed or why pain and sadness happen to them. All they want is for someone to take away those pain and sadness and to correct the situations to the time when it was better.

Essentially, they want the situation to change right away. This is the reason why in such upheaval time the leader of a country often changes as quickly as they come into power. The reason is because those who suffer want immediate results. Although they know this is impossible, they don't care and will sacrifice anyone who can't give them such result. The problem is, economic and social recovery take a long time and it's hard to know if a leader will bring such result if they are not given enough time to settle in their position. Anyway, back to the actual series, there are some interesting contrast between the world of the poor and the aristocrat. The poor often assume that the rich always live happily. They often don't realise that being rich or in power isolates that person from everyone else because everyone is too envious of their position. It's sad to see how Alice's grandfather resigns to the fact that he'll be living a lonely life since he's an aristocrat.

Preview

On next week's episode: OLAND: You don't want to make me angry. You wouldn't like it when I'm angry!!

© memento 2003