|
Third, The ~Aoi Hitomi no Shojo ~
 |
|
|
Animation - 8.6 |
|
|
Sound - 8.0 |
|
|
Story - 7.5 |
|
|
Character - 8.6 |
|
|
Value - 7.7 |
|
|
Enjoyment - 8.5 |
|
|
Average - 8.2 |
|
|
|
| Average |
9.7 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| The Third, for me, is a very philosophical and poetic anime. And while I really don't want to say anything as corny as “It is a visual testament to the trials and endurance of the human spirit” It kinda really is just that. On the surface this may look like a regular shounen anime with swords, guns, and mecha granted the gift of speech by means of A.I., but really this show deals with some heavy hitting topics like: depression, rejection, abandonment and loneliness. That's what makes this anime so great, because it has layers like an onion, where you can enjoy the action, comedy, the art and mecha or you can look for some deeper meanings like the shows underlying theme of overcoming negativity, sadness and times of self-doubt.
|
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes /
No
|
|
|
nauXolo |
(2008-05-31 00:31:34) 2008-05-31 00:24:37 |
|
| Average |
7.5 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
6 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| It is really tough for me to review this anime. On the one hand, The Third consists of a wonderful adventure with a great heroine, Honoka, with a gentle spirit and strong soul. On the other, the series lacked much tension and overall feeling of goal/destination. While I was watching this series, I kind of expected more explanation behind all the mysteries - who are The Third? Where does the Space Eye come from? What exactly is Iks and Honoka? While we find out what Honoka and Iks are, we are revealed nothing about the rest of the mysteries. Instead, the final message "The Third" leaves us with is one about hope. It shows us the conclusion that humans are inherently good. At least, one is.
"The Third" captured my attention from the outset. My impression was that it carried the great potential of an amazing adventure with interesting action and story. Honoka's fighting abilities never failed to impress me, and I really loved all the action scenes interspersed throughout the series. Like many other series, the main character is strongly principled, and touches the hearts of all those she meets. Honoka is a wonderful character who carries the weight of this anime. With all the jobs she does, and the hardships she faces, one can't help but to admire her courage. Sadly, I can't say the same for the entire premise.
This whole post-apocalyptic story is one that deserves much scrutiny. With such great potential, I kept looking for clues about the background. Much like in Trigun, humanity lives in the desert with primitive cities, while observing them are The Third, who hold control over all the technology. Everything begins simply - Honoka's power level is low, and everything is kept within non-sci-fi realms. However, soon we are introduced to nanomachines, chi flow, Monster Troops, alternate dimensions, wormholes and the like. While Honoka maintains her charm, the story loses its steam. With each episode focused on revealing 1) Honoka's growth 2) Humanities condition and 3) Pre-war stories, there really isn't much room for plotline progression. As there isn't really any long term goal, the story does not carry much tension.
Again, I loved the characters - honoka, iks, bogie, sensei, millie, the mechanic, the doctor, everybody! It truly shows that humans still have hope even after destroying themselves. However, with a lot of mumbo-jumbo nanotechnology and chi flow that didn't smoothly fit in with everything, I'm not really convinced by the storyline. Furthermore, the ending is really... unfulfilling, to say the least. A very good mediocre anime, but not one that'll stay in your mind for long.
|
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes /
No
|
|
|
|
| Average |
7.0 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
6 |
| Story |
6 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| A mixed bag of action, adventure, sci-fi and fantasy saves this slightly confusing anime from a very confusing anime.
Honesty, The Third is a nice little anime, its definetely different but tries to go back to some standard anime conventions a bit too much while adding a layer of its own style onto it. Animation is ok, nothing outstanding with some tongue in cheek CG mixed in there, but strangely enough, the second portion of the show has a very different style of animation and art for some odd reason. But, i like it. Sound is forgettable aside form the EDs which are pretty good while BGM is a standard affair that mixes well with the theme of things.
There really isn't anything in The Third which isn't terrible.. or even amazing at that, It hits the right places, while also hitting the wrong places as well, right places include stuff like the characters, like Honoka being the tough lil chick she is, Milly being an interesting loli type with a nice moral question surrounding her, and even Bogie has a charming personality for a big tank (yeah, i know, doesn't make sense when i say it). Characters aside, the action is generally well done, though a bit inconsistent in terms of power levels and stuff but generally nothing-special but worth watching stuff.
Now, the miss hit, story, well.. in the case of this show, its hard for me to judge, the general plot does seem to involve mini-stories of the adventures of Honoka, BUT there was a bit too much emphasis on the Jouganki and The Third aspects, which leads me to believe that there was a much bigger plot involved, but didn't materialise. For example, a few stories DO involve The Third and Jouganki, however, there are a couple which DOESN'T involve them at all, filler stories? maybe, but its confusing and due to eratic pacing of each story, it got too punished for what it is.
Overall, The Third is an enjoyable watch, not in terms of story aspect but in terms of watching the characters grow and develop, which still latching onto the slither of half-baked stories it has there. psshh.. even the thought of Honoka wiping out a whole army with one slash sends me to the point where i either frown or smile on it...
7.5/10
Grade: B
|
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes /
No
|
|
|
|
| Average |
7.2 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
6 |
| Character |
6 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| So we have a sword girl, postapocalyptic setting, mechas, tons of fighting and explosions, thoughtful message, mysterious powers and even some girls' love. A sure winner, right?
Not. Despite all the elements above, The Third manages to remain so damn unimpressive. Every cell in my body is yelling I should love it to the bone but in reality I was quite hoping for it to end fast. The main point, I guess, was that I couldn't get any grip of the characters. They're all quite lovable but they feel really bland. I just didn't care what happened to them. The main character, Honoka, is luckily the most interesting of them. Her soft and tough character isn't anything to brag about but at least it works. Ikus, the mystery man, is just too nice and all the excitement about his origin is quickly buried under the smile. Milly is your average cute kid to gather some sympathy. Joganki is your average double agent that links our heroes to the other side. Paifu is your average... I don't know what. I couldn't figure any role for her; she just hung around. Bogie is your average talking tank AI that has ironic and practical attitude compared to humans. They all work together but there's just nothing that would make me care about them. They are just too bland.
The story goes on pretty slowly. The series takes it time to let the characters ponder stuff. Again this would be great if I liked the characters. Now I just wanted to kick people's butt to get them moving. On the other hand, the story introduces quite interesting and imaginitive elements that made it worth the wait. Mostly the series just feels like an aimless walk that doesn't know where to head and what to do next.
Production values are well in place. The Third looks pretty good with appealing character designs (again makes me wonder why I couldn't care for them). Even though one could imagine that desert scenery wouldn't be too interesting, the places Honoka & co visit offer enough variance to make up all the sand. The fight scenes are very fluid too. Soundtrack follows animation. Air is filled with good moody music for the silent parts and dramatic for action. Voice actors are nice too except for the narrator. Probably the worst narrator ever with an overly raspy and emotional voice.
I'm once again faced with situation where I can't find anything really wrong with the series but it still doesn't manage to excite me. It's happening more often than before. Maybe I've seen too much anime... what a scary thought. Well, anyway, I can at least recommend this to any sword girl loving person who has yet to saturate his brain with anime.
|
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes /
No
|
|
|
|
| Average |
8.8 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| In some of the earlier episodes, the quality isn't up to par with the with of the rest of the series. Otherwise, the animation quality is very good, even in the vehicle battles, among the best I have seen, with little to no obvious use of 3D-CG. Likewise, the character animation is very good. Sound and music is very good, though none of the music is particularly memorable. Story is a bit fragmented with several major arcs, each lasting multiple episodes, minor inconsistencies, but otherwise, still does the job. Certainly there is some character development as a result of the arcs, but it's mostly about relationships and discovery not characters actually changing. The subs themselves, in the version I watched, were not very good and often times a subtitle would not appear completely (all at once) making it hard to read without detracting from the animation. Enjoyment was very good, the series more than lives up to expectations.
|
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes /
No
|
|
|
|
| Average |
9.7 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| This is definitely one of the best that I have seen in the last few years and I eagerly awaited each episode as the fansubs appeared. Very few anime in recent years have had this complex a story that simultaneously came through so loud and clear. I would have watched the whole series just for the final episode which itself is worth it for the first 5 minutes. overall I found this to be one of the few must see anime around even though the post apocalyptic setting has appeared before.
|
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes /
No
|
|
|
Jing |
(2006-12-17 16:49:44) 2006-12-17 16:43:18 |
|
| Average |
6.2 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
5 |
| Character |
5 |
| Value |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
6 |
| I enjoyed this anime to an extent. I thought that the overall animation was well done apart from the odd episodes where it was kinda dodgy and didnt really look like any of the characters but overall good. The story was as people said very slow to start, then it kinda picked up in the middle and then i totally lost it at the end. I had no idea what was happening and why it ended the way it ended and what it meant! It just jumped from one thing to another without much explanation.
There wasnt really much character development in this, i thought, except maybe just honoka but Iks wasnt developed at all apart from the fact that we know that hes from another planet or something and has some kinda special powers of healing.
However, I thought that the music was very well done and every moment had its own little music piece that suited well to the situation. Personally, i wouldnt rewatch this anime as i found it slightly dull with the lack of plotline and character development, however to each their own, this is only my own opinion and as far as i know lots of people are enjoying this anime.
|
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes /
No
|
|
|
|
| Average |
9.2 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| I understand if ppl think this anime got a slow pace and no real thread at all.
but you dont allways need a series witch one big story arc that unfolds during all episodes.
its fun to watch how honoka struggles with daily life in the desert. how she gets the assignments and how she masters them. its not like she allways can chase after some mysterious story, she has to get money to buy food ^_-
imo the arc-like story telling fits the anime pretty well.
|
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes /
No
|
|
|
Kei |
(2006-10-18 13:35:13) 2006-10-18 12:55:33 |
|
| Average |
9.3 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| I love this anime! I love the characters that - most of them - possess a broad display of depth and diversity. I like the head character Honoka who is complex and shifts from being confident and a bad ass sword fighter to being plainly childish and vulnerable. I also like the well thoughout world this is taking place in.
|
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes /
No
|
|
|
|
| Average |
7.7 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| Like the previous review mentioned, The Third is actually a pretty good anime hindered by slow pacing. The premise is interesting and so are the characters. Unfortunately, due to the nature of dividing up the storylines into arcs, in which some had little to no connection to the overall main plot, makes it rather dull at times
The animationis great....well, mostly. There were two episodes in the series that were handled by a different studio in which the quality and art dropped tremendously. It was rather lazy for the animators to allow those 2 episodes to even air at all. it really ruined the overall nice image of the other episodes. Some battles were nicely animated, and although short, could be entertaining. Just don't expect too much action though, most of the time is spent in talking and interacting with others.
The sound is decent and worked good in situations. However, the Op theme felt a bit too.....slow to be the Op theme. In fact, I think they should have switched the Op and Ed theme. The Ed theme was a lot more upbeat and fitting to be the Op theme.
The characters are excellent. Honoka is a very dimensional character. Ikus is mysterious and seems to know a lot of things. Milly is absolutely cute in many situations, although she too, displays a wide range of emotions. All the characters' acting are convincing and feels realistic. Well done.
The main story is actually very interesting. But like I mentioned earlier, some story arcs were rather useless and didn't contribute to the main story at all, so it really took some enjoyment factors away.
Nonetheless, I recommend The Third to any Sci-Fi fans who don't mind the slow pacing.
|
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes /
No
|
|
|
huntah |
(2007-03-25 10:34:05) 2006-09-22 22:55:11 |
|
| Average |
7.5 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
6 |
| When I started watching this, despite its slow pace, I was immediately drawn to it and I was very entertained. However, around 10 episodes later as the story unfolds, it became much slower than at the beginning. The story is so interesting revolving around sci-fi/action/drama and seems to be developing in the right way, but the way it is developing is so... lacking of energy and dull at some point if you know what I mean. That is why I have started to lose interest.
On the other hand, the animation is great with well defined lines and matching colors and at some scenes it's beautiful just like a painting. The casting and character voice acting is also great. Honoka is a very interesting character who shows both her cool and strong side as well as her weak and sensitive side.
What a shame. It looked like it had so much potential. As the anime progresses, its pace just slows down further and that can affect the viewer in a negative way. I have so far watched up to episode 18 and have serious doubts whether to continue or stop watching it at all.
|
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes /
No
|
|
|
Site design by ecxol.net:
|
