I just talked about taking the leap (in the context of Revenger), but I’m just not ready to do that with Hikari no Ou.  I guess I can use the fact that this series is an episode behind that one as an excuse – that and the fact that the episode count here is unknown (I’m leaning towards two cours for several reasons).  But I’m probably not going to want to put this off past next week, so I hope the fifth ep gives me a firm reason to decide.  And even more, that it’s in a positive direction.

In a curious sort of way, what started out as a big positive – reminding me so much of Seirei no Moribito and Shin Sekai Yori – may be morphing into a drag.  The reason is simply that when I see those similarities now what I’m mostly struck by is how much better those series are.  It’s not only the visuals, though those are certainly a factor – SSY certainly was made on the cheap.  It’s also the storytelling, which is considerably less subtle and natural, and the fact that the core premise isn’t quite on that elite level.  It’s still this show’s strength, but not on a par with those masterpieces.

For me visuals are rarely so much of an issue that they make the difference on whether I drop or follow a series.  Still, they do really grate on me here.  It’s still somewhat unclear just how much of what we’re seeing is stylistic choice by Nishimura Junji and how much is abject budgetary poverty – my growing impression is that it’s a mix.  Some of the stuff with stills and weird fades seems to be intentional but it just isn’t working for me, nor is the janky CGI.  What’s even more vexing is the bar-napkin scribble lack of detail on the characters at times, and the jerky movement even in the drawn animation.  Is Nishimura executing an aesthetic here, or is the production just skint?  Either way, it detracts from a series that could so obviously thrive with a conventionally beautiful treatment.

And that’s really a shame, because while this isn’t Tolstoy or anything, Hikari no Ou has a very interesting high fantasy premise.  The twin narratives more or less get equal time this week.  On the flame train, the white dragon – it turns out to be the guardian of Kaho’s village – is making mincemeat out of the hardware and its operators.  So much so in fact that it looks as if only Touko, Kaho (who didn’t even want to), and Shouzou survive.  Well, and Kanata, who leaves his post at the fire hunter’s side in order to carry Touko to safety.

Why did this guardian turn on those it was apparently supposed to protect?  Hard to say but according to the tree folk, who come to the aid of the surviving quarter, a Goddess has something to do with that.  It may be that the Spiders engineered this, which really sets Shouzou off.  Innate hatred of the Spiders is obviously deeply bred into these people, which makes me very suspicious of their version of events.  Judging by the preview we’re going to get a deeper look into the Phantom Troupe next week, probably even meeting a few of them.

As for Koushi in the big city, he continues his research as Yusoichi (maybe try a cream?) solicitously aids his investigations any way he can.  As he does so Koushi thinks back on the words of former teacher Hitou-sensei (Watanuki Ryuunosuke) and his late father (Miki Shin’ichirou, who never failed to improve a show with his presence).  The big event of the moment is the festival surrounding the departure of ships which will sail to an island which marks the outer limits of where humans can still travel.  Ostensibly this is to search for news about the rest of the world, but there never is any, leading to the impression that the real reason for the journey is to foster the illusion that the ones sending the ship aren’t effectively prisoners in their closed world.

The one element of Koushi’s research (he meets Hitou-sensei in the archive) which stands out is the mention of the “Millennial Comet”, clearly some sort of satellite or weapon, which may be central either to humanity’s downfall or its revival (or both).  Like every seemingly nice person in Koushi’s thread Hitou is suspicious, obviously by design.  I’m still waiting for the other shoe to drop with Yusoichi and his family.  It’s really only a question of whether all of them are rotters or just some of them.  Kira seems legit but I don’t fully trust someone that nice (especially as she couldn’t be more forcefully seducing Koushi if she tried – assuming she isn’t).  My money is on the surly one, Mom (who’s playing dress-up with Hinako) actually being the keeper.