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ローゼンメイデン 
In comparison to last week's episode, this one is not as exciting or fun. Having said that, this is just the first of a two parter so hopefully the second half will be far more interesting. On that note, I think this is one of the episodes which would have benefited from a complete showing of the two-parter since the first half feels a bit slow. Having said that, I did find the whole "Kishin who's closest to us" interesting so hopefully that will be explored in depth in the upcoming episodes. As for this episode, for some reason seeing this makes me want to see Pirates of the Carribean again. I don't usually like pirate-type stories but for some reason that particular film made Pirate story seems kind of fun. It's probably becauase the story is mixed with supernatural elements just like this particular episode.
A guy is seen warning fellow townfolks that Kokuryuu is coming when a large Christmas-tree like figure appears in front of him. A few days later, Patty and Liz are seen rowing a boat heading towards the area while someone who looks like Shinigami-sama is leading them. As it turns out Shinigami-sama is just Kid wearing Shinigami mask. He basically wants to investigate the Baruto coastal town since a few days ago, something swallowed the town and its people. When they get there, the three spot a pirate ghost ship, Nidhogg, floating nearby. They decide to climb aboard because Kid senses a lot of souls inside the ship. Unknown to them, their presence awaken the pirate captain Nidhogg, who wants to offer souls to Kishin. Kid and the sisters are then attacked by Nidhogg, causing Liz to fall onto the lower deck. Meanwhile, Nidhogg explains that he offers the soul to humans who wish to have power. This is the Kishin that he was referring to.
At the same time, Liz is being a wuss inside the lower deck. She also recalls how she first got recruited by Kid because she tried to mug him. Thankfully for her, there's a nice girl ghost who wants to help her find a way back. Liz, however, doesn't trust her so the girl ghost gets pissy. At the same time, Kid and Nidhogg are having argument about ideal world. Kid doesn't actually care if somene does a bad thing as long as there's an equilibrium between the good and the bad. However, as a Shinigami, he will not give others the freedom to kill. Eventually Liz is reunited by Kid and Patty but before they can fight Nidhogg, the latter has been killed by Ragnarok, who now appears together with the cover model for gender ambiguity, Chrona. Ragnarok then absorbs all of the soul on the ship, killing everything including the ghosts who helped Liz. Kid realizes that while the ship was called Kokuryuu, Chrona and Ragnarok have now turned into Shinkokuryuu
Impression
What started out as a simple battle between Nidhogg and Kid turns out to be something more. As far as the battle was concerned, it was pretty good but not exciting enough since the two barely had any kind of fight before Chrona steps into the game. Speaking of Chrona, I actually thought that he/she/it will be freed from Ragnarok but it seems this looney has fused with that sword even more that I now wonder if it's a lost cause. It's also interesting to see Kid and the Sisters failing to save the ghosts that got eaten by Ragnarok. I thought that by the end of the episode, they would somehow save the ghosts but that didn't happen at all. It's a surprising twist that makes the series a bit darker than other shounen series. As a side note, I really thought that Kid was Shinigami-sama when he first was shown wearing that Shinigami mask. Does this mean that Shinigami-sama is also just a technician wearing a mask?
On the point of Shinigami....I'm going to put this under a spoiler cut.
On the other hand...there is quite a bit of canonical evidence to suggest that Shinigami himself isn't exactly human, based on images that turn up a few chapters from the point of this episode in manga, and flashbacks much later on.
Also, Kid is described as and calls himself, matter of factly, a 'shinigami'; the suggestion being that he and his father are not human. That they differ not just in ability but in, for want of a better term, species.
Personally, I don't think Shinigami and his son are human or normal Techs with massive abilities. But that's just my opinion.
At this stage in the anime it could still go either way when it comes to what SE's own Death actually is.
I agree that this is the most boring one so far. Next week should be good though. It will also answer so many questions from previous episodes.
I always see Shinigami like Ichigo in Bleach where he has that Shinigami mask when he fights. But normally he's a human. Or maybe becoming a Shinigami basically transforms a person?
I definitely agree with you. Decent episode, but just not as good as the previous two episodes. About Shinigami-sama, he is definitely wearing a mask
Kid is funny as always but you're right. This one should have been merged with the other half of the story. It's weak on its own.
Death the kid is a better opponent for Chrona than Maka could ever be!!
@EVO: If you only knew how you will eat those words later on XD
This episode was ok not the greatest not the worst, I liked how they included a bit of how Kid and the Sisters met
muhootsaver - Not exactly true about depending on weapons:
In the manga, Kid can also out-manoeuvre an opponent *really* fast and is ridiculously strong on his own even in terms of SE characters, though we haven't seen that in a real fight yet. He was just, uh, proving a point to Black Star.
I do kind of wish they'd combined this and the next chapter into one episode. It does divide the two scenarios neatly enough, but I don't think there's enough material in the Chrona fight for a whole episode, entertaining though it is.
But one particular fact makes this arc more worth while...
anna-w ichigo does not wear a mask when he's a shinigami. It's a hollow/vizard mask. duhh play attention
"anna-w ichigo does not wear a mask when he's a shinigami. It's a hollow/vizard mask."
Uh, that sentence is a bit contradictory, don't you think? I haven't watched Bleach for a long time but Ichigo is a Shinigami, no? Then at times he somehow gets that hollow mask. That's what I was talking about.
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