In retrospect, Pumpkin Scissors is a very well-executed concept. Too bad the concept is blah.
If anything at all, the fact that I’m writing about it means that there’s at least something redeeming about the show. I think, to be fair, the show did well as a character-driven series. We really got to know the cast and even the little episodic stuff injected periodically interesting side characters. Loli Chiwa episode was a lot of fun, as with the Stekkin episode. Not sure if the penis jokes were all that effective, though.
Still, that is no excuse for turning the last 7 episodes into a huge DBZ-like affair, with a single scene lasting across 6 episodes.
I think there’s this very enjoyable irony between the work Alice does as a noble (which she slowly discovers across the series) and the work she does for the army (which is well-explained when she describes how “Pumpkin Scissors” came about). Well, figuring out what I mean by that is half the fun, so don’t let me ruin it for you.
The idealized concept of Alice, however, is what is truly enjoyable about this show. Shizuka Itou did a wonderful job. Her character design panders just right (which is to say, very little but a lot at key moments). It’s a very simple idealist position. She challenges the gray ethical and moral areas and come up with some convincing answers, at least enough that you can think about it. She doesn’t back down from a fight, but is also smart enough to know her place.
What’s scary is that I see how much I can identify with the way she thinks and the values she subscribes to. That can’t be a good thing…
March 22nd, 2007 at 11:15 pm
Nice shot of Alice’s tits. Pervert >:O
March 22nd, 2007 at 11:19 pm
It’s kinda sad that the story they laid down never really went anywhere, though, there could be a second season at some point, given how it ended, and more material avalible (Plus, it seemed relivily popular). I did come to really enjoy the cast (Espically Alice)as the series went on.
March 22nd, 2007 at 11:23 pm
Thanks to Alice, i have a reason besides the musical score, to marathon the show now its finished airing.
March 22nd, 2007 at 11:24 pm
Stekkin’s lunatic dance make the series for me. I love that.
I really wasn’t expecting an Alice centric story. I mean, they have this huge dude that kills tanks. What were they thinking?
Still, they need to give Stekkin her own OAV.
March 22nd, 2007 at 11:31 pm
Nice shot of Alice’s tits. Pervert
It’s like, the ONLY shot of her boobs. And what’s sad is that originally I took the screen shot just because I thought that was her most epic moment in the series. She does a lot of swaying back and forth with her martial arts in a few places, but there’s a pinch of desperation mixed with an air of resolve that makes that one moment more valiant and glorious than all others.
I really wasn’t expecting an Alice centric story. I mean, they have this huge dude that kills tanks. What were they thinking?
I know, right? WTH? So the way I figured it, you have this noble girl who comes from a respected family but lacking in political capital. She does all this hands-on work for war relief and catching corrupt government people. And then you got this big dork who kills tanks, but on the inside he’s just a boy emotionally. I think about half way through the series they went for that angle, where Alice becomes the unexpecting protector over Orlando, and Orlando learns that Alice is just a girl.