hontou ni Stripey Insists Sisters Cry Oniichan Now

Tears Fall Down and the Seeds of Love and Hurting

No no, no no no no, no no no no, no no theres no limit!

I've finally gotten round to watching Eps 10-13 of Asura Cryin' and I pronounce myself well pleased with these 13 episodes and am very much looking forward to the next season. I suspect that my mileage on this series was quite good because I watched it in arcs / chunks rather than episode by episode, week by week.

Knowing that there's going to be a second season also made me more forgiving of the gaps, of what we haven't been told yet, of unresolved plot lines and unfinished business thusfar. And watching it several episodes at a time, even the point of fillerish episodes became much clearer.

My spoiler-lite summary of the series follows:

The first arc (Eps 1-3) gave us the basic setup whereby Tomoharu, a Handler, acquires and learns how to control his Asura Machina, Kurogane with the help of Misao whom we learn is no mere ghost but a Projection Being from the Burial Doll inside Kurogane. The lines are drawn between the two main factions of the First Student Council (Men in White) and the Third Student Council (Hawt Girl in Black), with Tomoharu being affiliated with the latter via the machinations of his elder brother Naotaka.

The second arc (Eps 4-7) delve into the nature of the contracting relationship between a human and an Akuma. It also reinforces the tragedy of Burial Dolls, often being people on the verge of death who have been put there by their loved one to forestall that final farewell but who, as a result, become trapped within the Asura Machina. Additional factions in the form of the mercenary Second Student Council and police-type Guardian Dragoons are introduced, with the latter reminding us of the apocalyptic nature of the Asura Machina and their related infrastructure.

The third arc (Eps 8-10) introduces the last major character, Ania Fortuna, which builds on the human-akuma contract and if a Handler makes such a contract, becomes an Asura Cryin' - a forbidden being of enormous power but I suppose other Handlers are just jealous of THREESOME and Love Triangle. One of whom turns up right on cue. But this great baddie seems to be doin' it for the love of the one sealed in the Asura Machina and the akuma girl is doing it out of love for the one she has contracted with (sealed by sleeping with him), even to the extent of being willing to sacrifice herself.

I hold you up, you hold me up.

The final arc (Ep 11-13) has a new piece of the puzzle, the Igniter, turn up and the struggle for it threatens to repeat the plane crash that Tomoharu, Misao, Shuri, Yukari and Susugihara were caught up in. The three Student Councils join forces and manage to avert the disaster but at a terrible cost to two of the characters and Tomoharu makes a horrifying discovery (more horrifying even than Fuyou Kaede's empty pot) which, along with Takatsuki Kanade's failing body, may force him become an Asura Cryin' himself. Beyond personal tragedy, in the depths of Terminal Dogma, lie the possible end of the world.

Super spoilerish discussion starts from here.

I pronounced myself well satisfied for several reasons. First, some of my Big Questions were answered. Such as, why was Reishirou so against Tomoharu BEING FRIENDLY with Kanade? The answer came with the definition of what the title of this series actually meant. Though, other than the taboo element, I'm looking forward to learning more about if there's any possible blowback, for the users and mankind at large, of the energy circulation that super-charges an Asura Cryin'

Not green but, still, sparkles are not a good sign.

This series has surprised me a lot with its plot twists. And I liked the way I was surprised: 'Oh, I should have seen it coming! If I had thought about that detail a bit more!' One nice surprise was how even the super-fillerish Ep 11 turned out to be less fillerish than I initially thought. Aroduc had good grounds to cry Why now? against the indignities of Major Armstrongish phallic sculpture. But looking back, in the tail winds of a mini-marathon, that episode was preparing to up the emotional quotient of Reishirou x Aine's farewell.

Also surprising was how there I was thinking that there's no chance in hell that Tomoharu will become an Asura Cryin' because he'll have to sleep with Kanade first. Not that she's unwilling or that he's a wimp but that he seems to hold Misao first and dearest to his and that would be being unfaithful to her. Besides she'll probably do all manner of annoying and distracting things while they're at it. But now it seems that he might have to do it to save both girls - to lessen the burden on Misao while gaining more strength to fight his opponents as well as to stop Kanade's deterioration from her using demonic magic without a contractor.

No tonight honey, I have a headache.

Another surprise involved why was Kanade so deadset against Tomoharu using his Asura Machina? Even if he needed it to save all their skins, including hers, from time to time. She had said that it would hurt Misao whom Tomoharu obviously cares a lot for and, given the setup, appears to be his Promised Girl.

I had assumed that what she meant the risk of Misao being KIA during Asura Machina battles like the way Aine nearly was in Ep 3, a battle that also ruled out the possibility of sympathetic damage to the Burial Doll via the Asura Machina. I'm just kicking myself that I didn't pick up on the early hints about Aine's happy persona and her more recent Ayanami Rei-like state. I had just assumed that anyone trapped in a giant test tube would become less cheerful over time but only in the final episode was it brought home that continued deployment of the Asura Machina actually drains the Burial doll's emotions and, by extension, her very existence. And a certain someone, whose appearance I've been looking forward to since the OP first aired, had already suffered that loss earlier.

And speaking of the awesomeness of Third Student Council President and ex-Kurogane Handler, Kitsutaka Touru:

Cool and slightly gruff. I just loved how Shuri described her as a serious person. Presidents Reishirou and Rika also showed respect for her abilities and judgment, more than they do for Shuri anyway.

Knight in shining armour with big sword and resistance to Asura Machina abilities. Doesn't that just remind me of another slightly unsociable Onee-type Knight that I love so much?

And she looks smokin' in that great uniform - so glad I made that animated gif of her from the OP.

Related posts:

1. Asura Cryin EX017
2. Asura Cryin EX014
3. Asura Cryin EX016