Speed Grapher ep.03

May 10, 2005 | 8 Comments

Since Mentar is quite busy at the moment, I'm going to try to review this episode in his place. I'll just start by saying that I really like this series. So much so that lately I've been trying to find some promotional materials about this series everytime I go to an anime shop here in Japan. It's unfortunate that I don't have access to a scanner so the best that I can do to show these images is to take a snapshot of it with my camera. So if you're interested, here are: a small poster for the DVD release, the back side of the poster, and Gonzo Press brochure. I also managed to buy Gao Magazine where this series is serialized as manga. I only have one issue, but from what I've seen so far, the story seems to follow the anime quite closely. Here's the snapshot of the: magazine front cover, 2 page spread, sample pages.

Continuing from episode 2, this one opens with Saiga being sliced and diced like a piece of tuna at a sushi restaurant. However, Kagura's kiss seems to have a revitalizing effect on him. Because of this, not only Saiga recovers from his wounds, he also possesses a supernatural power that allows him to kill people with his camera. I have to say that I'm relieved when this supernatural angle kicked in. Part of the reason why I was attracted to this series was because the premise reminded me of Fatal Frame. I think that I would not be as interested had the supernatural angle didn't come into the story. Anyway, Saiga quickly realises his ability and begins to use it to defend himself from his attackers. Thanks to his new ability, he manages to escape with Kagura.

Unfortunately, the two are soon intercepted by Suitengu, who tries his best to convince Kagura that what she just saw back then was just a nightmare. Kagura refuses to believe Suitengu's lame excuse and decides to jump into the canal. Saiga, who tries to safe her, ends up falling together with her and the two are eventually carried off by the torrent to a nearby river. Saiga and Kagura then manages to have a short conversation where Kagura asks Saiga to help her escape. Before Saiga can do anything, however, Suitengu manages to catch Kagura and shoot Saiga. Saiga survives the encounter but eventually pass out once he arrived at Ginza's house.

The next day, Suitengu tries his best to damage control last night's incident. Shinsen also has to play her part because some of the people who got killed on last night's incident work for the government. It's interesting to note that these public officers actually know Shinsen privately, suggesting that they probably are aware of her private club one way or the other. Meanwhile Kagura awakes only to find herself confined inside a cell. Once again Suitengu tries to convince her that she just had a nightmare. A quick investigation through the help of her maid, however, convinces Kagura that Saiga is indeed real. At the same time, Saiga is seen looking determined to set Kagura free from the confine of her 'prison'.

Impression:

I can't exactly pinpoint what I like about this episode. I suspect that most of it is because I like the chemistry between Saiga and Kagura. I don't have a clear idea of where the writers are planning to go with this particular relationship. Having said that, it's possible that the writers will be aiming for that Leon: the Professional kind of relationship between the two characters. Unfortunately, the animation is not equally good in this episode. There are times when Saiga's eyes look red in one frame and look normal in the others. However, I suspect this is actually intentional on the part of the animators. Maybe the power is only apparent to us, the viewers, and not to anyone else within the series.

© memento 2003