Chrome Shelled Regios #24 — Surfsword

June 21st, 2009

 

God, why?

Impressions:

So, instead of Leerin, Saya sends Layfon his original sword to just bounce Savaris into the Aurora, and THEN Leerin arrives with the deus ex machina sword after the fact… which of course leads into Layfon surfing on the two of them to save the day with a cry of "I HAVE THE POWER". I wish I was making this up. The deus ex machina sword was out-deus ex machina’d… and then surfed on. Unfortunately, the action through this episode was all really lame. Layfon attacked all of three times, once to deflect Savaris’ blast at Nina-Goat, once to defeat Savaris, and once to slap the filth monster letting the Prism Rangers Heaven Blades turn into a rainbow of prettiness resulting in nothing but a big explosion. Savaris would have been more convincing as a villain if he had fought Layfon and lost previously, or Layfon ate his baby or something, but all the build up to the fight was just "I want to fight Layfon," without even any kind of shoehorned in eleventh hour development like Haiaiaiaiaiaiaiaia got.

Unfortunately, that’s really all there was to the episode. Savaris just wanted to fight Layfon for giggles, it took Felli and Leerin all of about a minute to talk Layfon into using swords again, and we got some surprise love love talk between Gorneo and Shante for reasons I don’t even want to contemplate. "I want to protect Zuellni more than Grendan because Shante’s there." Did anybody really think we needed a Gorneo x Shante moment in the finale? Really? Couldn’t they have spent some time on Saya or the Aurora, or going a little more in depth to Queeny’s sudden declaration of motherhood?

Don’t let the sarcasm get you too down though, it wasn’t that bad of a finale. I was expecting to be underwhelmed, and I was. It wasn’t painful by any means, but this definitely wasn’t even close to the high point of the series, and aside from the surfsword and the fact that it was the last episode, I’d rank it somewhere below the pool episode in general memorability. We all could have probably done without the surfsword, or Leerin’s stupid sword not even being used for anything except a mode of transport, but at least everything ended with a sharp kick to the shin. Felli never fails to be an absolute delight when she gets the chance. What really surprised me about the finale was how lame the music was, especially since they did a really good job on it up to here.

Final thoughts at the bottom.

     

Final Thoughts:

Well, let’s get the bad out of the way first. The story meandered around nonsensically, never had a real villain or any kind of compelling threat to anybody, and nothing ever even came close to being a real threat to Layfon for anything more than maybe 10-15 seconds tops. It got particularly painful in the later going as certain things were painfully dragged out for no real reason other than plot convenience (and then ended up just being one half of a surfboard), and as the focus shifted away from the characters and onto the rather mediocre and fairly nonexistent story, the show did feel like it lost a lot of its focus on Felli charm.

However, those characters are what made the show so much fun to watch for a long time… at least up to the point when we all realized that it was ending and there wasn’t a real plot to speak of, and even then they still more than made up for what the show lacked in plot or direction. Layfon was a stoic hero without becoming overly moody, Felli’s proclivity for violence is a wonderful twist on the normal "silent loli" archetype, and with the exception of Nina, the rest of the cast remained upbeat, likeable sorts that faced everything head on instead of drowning themselves in their own self-pity. Zexcs helped this along very well with the stylistic changes during the more humorous portions, although I don’t think I’m ever going to get used to the way they shaded character noses. Production was better than average through the entire run, and while I really did like the music, I do realize that it’s very much of an acquired taste. It fit the very RPG-ish overtones very well. Man… I’d play the hell out of a Regios RPG.

Anyway, I’ll certainly miss the show, although we do still have about 20 minutes worth of Legend of Regios left to be released on the DVDs. Zexcs has really come into their own lately and I’m (probably) expecting good things from their next show, Sea Story, starting in half a week.

Posted in Chrome Regios | 35 Comments »

35 Shouts From the Peanut Gallery

  • Anon999 says:
    June 21, 2009 at 12:23 am

    Meh. It wasn’t that bad of a series. Just some moments that made want to cringe.

  • Irie says:
    June 21, 2009 at 12:39 am

    It was a pretty good series and something I looked forward to every weekend. Sad its over. It’s a bit unfortunate the writers couldn’t simplify the show and focus on a single plot element. Many action moments could have been stretched or at the very least given adequate buildup. IF there is another season, I hope the production company learns a bit from what seems the univeral criticisms of the series. For all it’s faults, Chrome Shelled Regios was good fun.

  • tabs05 says:
    June 21, 2009 at 2:05 am

    It was fun to watch but it felt like an anime original ending.I can’t tell since I haven’t read much of the novels but it looked that way.The final ep just left an “Ehh…that was it?” impression on me.Here’s to hoping the rest of the novels get translated so I can understand what was going on.

  • bloodedge says:
    June 21, 2009 at 3:13 am

    It was an entertaining show that I really enjoyed that’s for sure. Unfortunately Layfon (aka author’s pet or “self-insertion”) didn’t make it to save himself from that superfluous archetype but is not a surprise; you need a really talented writter to save a mary sue of that level without starting the character from cero. Still other charas (like Nina, Haia and Savaris) were worked quite good, at least for me.

    In general it was indeed an “above avarage” show that got the same common flaws that we are used to see in this kind of shonen shows, so that’s why I can’t blame the author that much, maybe he can get better with time, one never knows :P

    • bloodedge says:
      June 21, 2009 at 5:33 pm

      Yeah maybe I’m a hard critic :p
      Still that means that I really liked the show and maybe hoped too much of it.
      A second season may be the solution for this haha

      • MooMinCow says:
        June 22, 2009 at 11:11 am

        Will there be a second season? I expected more from the anime, but the mangas and the novels are really good.

  • epy says:
    June 21, 2009 at 3:32 am

    Bah, I won’t delude myself into thinking I’m some kind of critic. I’ll just post my final honest thoughts.

    Regios. Had fun. Good show. Want a sequel (or novels translated) now. Surfsword, awesome. Layfon, cool. Felli, more awesome than surfboard. Will miss it.

    Bai.

    • bloodedge says:
      June 21, 2009 at 5:34 pm

      We are all critics in the end, thats a reality :P
      I’m not gonna lie to myself saying that I didn’t like the show, but also I’m not gonna ignore the details that I didn’t like.
      I’m being critical because Regios used the same main formula that is used over and over again so that makes me more demanding to the show.
      Still again it was an entertaining anime with a lovable cast and world, and I hope they decide for a second season, I’ll look for it :)

  • Dark says:
    June 21, 2009 at 3:43 am

    its so lame

  • Diradem says:
    June 21, 2009 at 5:28 am

    Oh… *sigh* i was a really big fan of the show,
    and i think i t would have deserved a better ending.
    Yesterdy evening after watching the raw ( did not understand one word) i rushed here with goosebumps of horror. You know with the: That was it? Can´t be…they started really good.

    It would have deserved a second season, it would have deserved a appropriate release for all the build up and loose ends.

    But yeah, i will miss it too. It were fun while it lasts.

  • Nanaya says:
    June 21, 2009 at 5:32 am

    Too many subplots, not enough time.

    Personal take: The beginning – middle segment of the show was great to good, but at the end they seriously needed to slow things down and drop some subplots. With some pacing, a good amount of the last 1/3 of the series could have been part of a second season (sticking to source-chronology be damned)…

    …
    …….

    And am I the only one who gets the distinct feeling that the director (or whoever is responsible) got to the last arc, realized that he had already been paid, and threw his hands up and said “whatever, screw it, throw it all in?” >_>

  • Yue says:
    June 21, 2009 at 9:35 am

    FELLI~FONFON FOREVER!!!

    Oh yeah, hands~down to Arudoc for covering Chromed Shelled Regios. It’s a thrilling ride of unpredictable reviews every episode.

    Although ZEXCS can’t top their Macademi Wasshoi with CSR in regards to quality, still, this is worth the shelfspace value. ^_^

    • sora says:
      June 21, 2009 at 12:22 pm

      oh, there are so many question left unanswer too

      • NitWit005 says:
        June 22, 2009 at 11:51 pm

        I don’t think you want those questions answered if they involve things like merging swords together and then riding them like a surfboard.

  • sora says:
    June 21, 2009 at 11:44 am

    . . .
    first let me say . . . LAYFON X LEERIN team won this . . . the edvience was there, she kissed him, he kissed her on cheek, and finally he held her before he went surfing in the air . . . so yea, im sticking to that . . . (it made my day)

    Overall, i ADORE this show and it saddens me to see it go in the manner that it did.

    I really wanted a more concerte foundation of a storyplot instead of crappy ideas thrown into a pot of more crappy ideas and useless amount of water to create a half-assed jambalaya.

    It would have also been cool if they had work on their idea of character development by, i don’t know, actually developing characters. I mean, come on, i really think that Haia and Savaris were villain-material.

    Felli, as always, the blazing glory in this show with her kick of doom and pleasure (that made my day)

    What could have prevented all this? If they had just sticked to one concerte storyplot, taken their time, developing ideas and characters, and not limiting theirselves to 24 episodes. This could have been a REALLY GREAT and ORIGINAL show that could have been up their with the memoriables (i would have been rooting), but hey what can we do.

    Layfon, for some idk reason, has become one of my favorite characters and will be going in to book, just like CSR will be too . . . I still rooting for a 2nd round!!!

    That’s all i got to say and that’s it
    peace out, Sora out.

  • sora says:
    June 21, 2009 at 11:45 am

    oh, did Meishen’s Layton doll freak anyone else out?! O.O

  • force2 says:
    June 21, 2009 at 12:18 pm

    Did he kept the Heaven Blade now it has fly to him?

  • manhunt0r says:
    June 21, 2009 at 12:28 pm

    good jayeses, this was by far the worst episode of the entire series. its like they switched to basara mode for this ep.
    the surfsword, the powerrangers rainbow, the last second substitute final boss, the horrible dialogue with random angst/stupidity insertions and most importantly lack of any coherent explanations to the saya plot and the >9k subplots, it all amounts to a disastrous ending and a horrible aftertaste from what actually was a very decent anime.

    compared to this the toradora and birdie s2 final episodes could be considered decent.

  • sora says:
    June 21, 2009 at 4:15 pm

    if you watch the epsiode in sub though, there are hints to another season . . . i think

    • MooMinCow says:
      June 22, 2009 at 11:24 am

      you mean when “dick” says “this is just the beginning” ?

      • sora says:
        June 22, 2009 at 6:28 pm

        yea that, the queen, and the thing with Saya, and other things. no one understands what even happen and they will be a bunch of fools to leave it just like that.

  • The Phantom says:
    June 21, 2009 at 8:58 pm

    Noooooo… is over?, meh!, Well it was good while it lasted, I would have loved to watch a bit more of the badmouthed witch with the gun heavens blade and a bit more of harem love here ^_^, but well it was entertaining all around so no point in complaining anymore, thank you regios for all the entertaiment provided ^_^.

    This is on my top 3 of this season, harem + Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction FTW!!! xD

  • evarms says:
    June 21, 2009 at 9:28 pm

    its over???? wtf… icant really accept that at all.. none of the characters were completely explained…. where is the second season i mean, at least complete the story, it didnt feel over at all….. damn…

  • SurfSword-Layfon-lulz? says:
    June 22, 2009 at 3:06 am

    Although everything you’ve said about it is completely true (Especially the surfsword) for some reason I can’t throw Chrome Shelled Regios out of my top 3 favourite anime of all time! Maybe it’s something to do with the characters *cough* Felli *cough*.
    Definitely could’ve done with a few more episodes just so the finale wasn’t such a story-cram fest. It’s almost like the budget got cut and they had to squeeze four episodes into one. Something I can’t figure out though is if all the loose ends at the end of this episode will lead on to another season (here’s hoping).

    Bottom line is, MOAR SHARNID PLZ!

  • Dark says:
    June 22, 2009 at 5:43 am

    wtf!!!!
    that’s all?
    at first it was really interesting (this was my favorite anime)and then by and by it became odd…….
    my favorite character is Nina so I am very very disappointed with the ending
    THIS IS THE WORST ANIME I HAD EVER WATCHED

    I NEED THE SECOND SEASON WITH NINA AS THE MAIN CHARACTER!!!!!!!!

  • eemaks says:
    June 22, 2009 at 6:21 am

    GREAT ANIME, but ended WAY too abruptly… >_<… up till ep.23 it was a pretty smooth ride but ep. 24 just don't cut it. I feel somehow betrayed by the creators, it was as if they were replaced by a random group of artists/newbies just for the final episode.

    I suppose there will be a second season (sure hope so), but even then, they (authors) did a pretty bad job to announce a S2. They should have simply ended it with Nina being saved or taken into Grendan by/from Savaris or anything (i don't care as long as it isn't a patched up rushed last minute work) on that level and then announce that the rest will come in S2. It would have stayed on a smooth track and nobody would have been so frustrated (maybe I am the only one), even better: everyone would be happily expecting S2 (even if it comes years laters, like Darker than Black).

    But hey, even Bleach producer had some common sense in keeping a good sensible pace and even taking the time to explain the 9th season "Syūsuke Amagai arc" middle way rip of the "Hueco Mundo arc".

    Anyways, for comparisons, "Hero Tales" started with lots of great possibilities but ended with a somehow sour taste; it just ended too quickly but AT LEAST it wasn't a butt-on-fire-rushed-job. "Chrome Shelled Regios" had even greater potential and storyline, but ep. 24 ended it with a train wreck (too much in too little time).

    Heck, if it ends like this and there is no S2/OVA/Film or whatsoever sequel, I deeply regret having watched and loved it.

  • Littletony says:
    June 22, 2009 at 10:52 am

    The ending was too open to leave it to an end like this… I can’t wait for the Second season to tie the strings that this semi-confusing plot was created in the first season..

    I’d like to know more about Layfon’s past in Grendan, and how he actually achieved the Heaven’s Blade.

  • SDS says:
    June 22, 2009 at 11:33 am

    If there’s no second season the first season isn’t much in the end. Or they just want to advertise the light novels.

    CSR was a new setting and a good build up, which went downhill after halfway, especially this last episode which turned up more holes than the previous 5 combined. That’s sad considering I really enjoyed it from the beginning.

  • Dkoi says:
    June 23, 2009 at 12:06 am

    I really enjoyed the series with its interesting characters and setting. The ending could have been better though but at least it gives a hint for season 2 in terms of unresolved stuff like Saya and stuff.

    • Yue says:
      June 23, 2009 at 2:01 am

      Hmmm, I think no ever really bothered with unresolved stuffs. But you are DEFINITELY right about interesting characters and settings.

      [WAVES THE FELLI~FONFON BANNER!]

  • kamina121 says:
    June 23, 2009 at 10:34 pm

    yeah, not really impressed with it in the end. Also, loved the disgaea reference.

  • sora says:
    June 29, 2009 at 8:58 pm

    i would have been more impress if they had made Gahard Vallen was the villain and that he so happen to get his hand on the goat-thingy while he was a filth monster so he could get his revenge on Layfon… THAT would have been epic.

  • DidsomebodysayFelli? says:
    July 3, 2009 at 3:55 am

    Did somebody say Felli?

  • zxc says:
    July 26, 2009 at 8:41 am

    i hoped the series would end with felli x layfon for some reason but either way i hope this anime will have a season 2 to tie up the loose knots or it would seem as if this season just left us on a cliff hanger… one which we will never stop hanging on.

  • Ymarsakar says:
    November 28, 2010 at 2:57 am

    I preferred the light novel over the anime adaptation. The adaptation has some serious issues.

    For one thing, they kind of inverted plot events and made what should have happened at the ending, what went on in the beginning. After a couple of that, they almost had to change the canon ending. That was not the canon ending. At least, not anything close to it.

    For those interested in reading more about Layfon and all the details the anime got wrong or just skipped, go read some of the English translation at baka tsuki.

    The way Leerin was shuffling the package around on the battlefield? Didn’t happen in the novel. That stuff was all taken care of in non-combat dialogue moments.

    Chrome feels far too much like a romantic comedy at times when you watch the anime. There’s too much color and too much emphasis on, well, crazy stuff happening that may or may not make sense. They also skipped a lot of the character development for the core cast during the inter-platoon games. That stuff was as complicated as cross Game’s baseball tournament games but they just kind of glossed over things and skipped to romance.

    While there are elements of harem romance in the light novel, it’s used more as a backdrop for the darker themes and more serious post-apocalypse setting.

    Xebec or JC staff would have been my preferred studio for making an anime of it. I also got a bad expectation hype because I had read ZX as being Xebec, so was expecting something like a Pandora Hearts series composition and consistency. Well, that obviously didn’t happen.

    To take one example, remember the restaurant scene with Felli? This is what really happened. The restaurant was getting good business with the Otaku cultural maid costume thing but then other students started copying them, since there was no copyright. The thing is, the other students put their restaurants in almost the exact spot so everybody was running into bankruptcy issues until the economic watchdog council interceded and said that for the period of one week, the restaurant with the highest number of clientele will be given sole copyright ownership of the maid outfit chain. This happened like around the middle of the first volume-series. Felli ended up getting the job just as you saw it in the anime. And Layfon and Sharnid were, of course, concealed on the rooftop. And I mean concealed, not openly visible from where Felli was.

    So as Felli was working things and practicing her smile (she’s got a thing about that since she wants out of military arts), you have someone bump into Felli and she drops her tray of food unto a client. This client was in military arts (high status) and kept talking up a storm about Felli being at fault. All the time, you see Felli bowing her head and keep repeating Gomen nasai, gomen nasai.

    You see it and Layfon also sees it. Then Layfon sees the MA student walk out, after having been compensated by the owner for his troubles, and Layfon then sees the MA student meet with a waitress from the same place he just left. And guess what, the MA student talked to the waitress about being paid for his work and the waitress talked about how if she can get rid of Felli, the other restaurant chain, that paid her, was going to benefit. Isn’t that interesting. Some economic sabotage in a post-apocalyptic world?

    Que a silent and angry Layfon, introduced by Sharnid. The rest, you’re going to have to find out by reading it.

    That’s how it really happened. I simply find the novel series much more exciting and better developed than the anime. The director isn’t bad, he presented a pretty tight and consistent first few episodes with Legendary X 2. So I tend to think it was the guy who did the series composition and decided how many episodes of this would focus on that.

    Personally, I would have devoted the first 8 to 10 episodes solely on the inter-platoon matches and treat them as sports. The next 2 would have been mostly about Layfon’s past and Leerin. Then you have another 12 episodes available for developing the Nina semi-arc, which isn’t really connected to the rest of the story yet so doesn’t need much development given you can just do flashbacks later on. And on this schedule, you can see what happens when a big beam of light goes up and destroys a filth beast that Savarin plus Layfon couldn’t destroy because neither had their Heaven’s Blades.

    You saw it in the opening of the anime but they never got to it. Obvious reasons why. They ended up changing the entire ending due to the bad series composition and internal logic.