Shinigami no Ballad ep.1

March 3, 2006 | 22 Comments

Yes, I realised that I haven't even completed Hantsuki and I will review the last 2 episodes soon. But to be honest, I am kind of losing interest with that series. My main intention right from the start was only to follow Shinigami no Ballad. However, I stupidly thought there will be some sort of crossover between Hantsuki and this one and decided to follow Hantsuki as well. When I realised that there wouldn't be any, I ended up being disappointed. It was mostly my mistake but it also didn't help that I didn't like the characters from that series. Anyway, what's past is past and judging from the first episode, I think I would like the storyline and the characters on this one better than the ones on Hantsuki. If you're interested, Matthew has a comparison between the novel and the anime. It looks like several scenes were excluded from the anime.

Opening theme: No One by KoY (10.1MB, for PSP/Quicktime)
Ending theme: White Messenger by KoY (9.5MB, for PSP/Quicktime)

The episode begins with a bunch of boys teasing their classmate called Kouta about the fact that he's always going home with a girl called Mai. They then joke around and ask Kouta where he and Mai are going on a date now. Outside the class, Kouta asks Mai not to pay attention to the jokes of the other classmates. Mai smiles and tells Kouta it's okay but once they got out of school, she tells him that he doesn't always have to go home with her. Kouta doesn't seem to mind so the two go home together. Before they leave, however, the two found a little cat underneath a park bench. Mai immediately wants to take care of the cat on the grounds that she feels similar to the cat. Because they can't take it anywhere else, the two decide to bring it to a nearby Shrine. Before they depart, however, Mai hears the sound of a bell, however, she can't identify where it comes from. The next day, Kouta and Mai go to the shrine to take care of the cat and bring some cat foods for it.

Kouta complains about the fact that they can't just give it breafast leftover but Mai tells him that human's foods are not good for cats because it has too much salt. Mai decides to name the cat 'Blue', similar to its eyes and the bright sky. Kouta doesn't care either way, prompting Mai to ask him to be more enthusiastic because now he's the father. Kouta immediately protest and asks why he has to be the father. So Mai answer because she's the mother and Blue is their child. The next day, Kouta upsets his friend when he refuses his invitation to go elsewhere. As a result, his friend rudely tells him that he and Mai should just get married already. Mai happens to overhear this conversation but she pretends that she didn't and leave quietly. Later on, however, Mai apologises for getting in Kouta's way due to her sickness. All of a sudden, however, Mai shows sign of having difficulty of breathing.

Kouta quickly gives Mai her asthma breathing medicine. It turns out Mai didn't take her medicine this morning so Kouta advises her to not do this again next time. Mai then thanks Kouta and takes his hand so the two can go home together. Kouta is embarassed about this but Mai tells him that no one is around. She also points out that they are Blue's 'parent's when Kouta tries to weasel out using the cat as an excuse. As the two leave the shrine, however, an overhead shot reveals that Momo, the Shinigami, and her cat, Daniel, have been watching the two from the rooftop. As she and Kouta leave the shrine, Mai once again hears the sound of the bell. The next day, Kouta promises to take care of Blue on his own so Mai can go home earlier. He, however, panics when Blue goes missing. Thankfully, not long after this he spots the cat wandering nearby. The next day at school, however, Kouta realises that he forgot to do his homework.

He, however, is surprised when the friend who had a fight with him the other day lend his homework. Because of this, he doesn't have the heart to refuse the guy when he invites Kouta to play soccer. As a result, Mai has to take care of Blue on her own today. She doesn't seem to mind since Kouta did the same the day before. However, that day happens to be a rainy day so Mai ends up making her asthma worse by taking care of the cat in the middle of the rain. She, however, manages to leave her handkerchief to shelter the cat from the rain before leaving home. Later on, however, Kouta gets a phone call from Mai's mother who doesn't know the whereabouts of her daughter. Because of this, Kouta goes to the shrine to look for her. Kouta doesn't find her in the shrine even though he finds her handkerchief on top of the cat. On his way home, however, he notices an ambulance in the middle of the street. As the ambulance departs, Kouta gets to hear the sound of a bell.

The next day at school, it is revealed that Mai has passed away. Kouta is angry about the loss and blames the cat for what happened to Mai. He decides to leave the cat on top of the bench with nothing but a cover on top of it. He, however, is quickly confronted by Momo, the Shinigami. She asks him what would happened to the cat if the rain continues to fall like this. Daniel, Momo's cat, on the other hand, has less patience and immediately points out that the cat will die and tells Momo that he feels like killing Kouta. Kouta thinks that Momo and Daniel are ghosts but Daniel immediately corrects him that Momo is a Shinigami. Momo immediately produces her Shinigami card to prove her credence and introduces herself as Momo. Momo asks Daniel if it's okay if she takes Blue's life. Kouta pretends to not care about it but at the last minute, decides to save Blue from Momo's scythe. Upon seeing this, Momo asks Kouta not to forget what he just felt now.

Momo also asks Kouta to take care of Blue for Mai. Kouta is surprised to hear this and wonders how Momo knows about Mai. Daniel, of course, can't help but stating the obvious because Momo is a Shinigami. Regardless, Momo continues and tells Kouta that if he forsakes Blue, Mai won't be able to go to heaven. Kouta is about to say that he can't possibly do this on his own when all of a sudden he is surrounded by white sparks and he can hear Mai's voice telling him that of course he can do it. Kouta suddenly sees an image of Mai standing in front of him. She tells Kouta that he can do it because Kouta saved that cat. Because she can't be there anymore, she asks Kouta to take care of Blue for her. Kouta can't help himself from crying as Mai disappears with the sparks. In her place, Momo appears to confront Kouta and tells him to do his best as 'Father'. Momo then disappears and is seen crying from on top of a tree. She tells Daniel that she's crying in exchange of the dead ones who can't do so.

Impression:

This is definetely a lot better than Hantsuki at least in my opinion. The animation itself is almost similar to Hantsuki but I think I like the character design in this series better. It also helps that Shinigami no Ballad has richer, more interesting color pallete in comparison to Hantsuki. The story about Kouta and Mai really moved me and I was surprised that Kouta actually blamed the cat instead of himself. It was good that Momo appeared to confront him about his attitude because otherwise he'll definitely leave that cat under the rain. I did think it was strange that Mai died so easily from rain but I guess she has a rather bad case of asthma. Moving on to other things, I really like the soft, almost melancholy opening with its entirely English lyric. The ending is also nice in that J-Pop kind of way. Anyway, below is what I managed to jot down from the opening song's lyric. Let me know if there is any mistake:

No One
Performed by KoY

How can I tell you this?
How can I tell you this?
I can not touch you
The lie can't kill you

I'm so sorry to say to you
But don't put your face so close to me
Now I hear you say my name
So I cross the light to be with you

© memento 2003