This episode was the first one that mostly disappointed me. Not saying I hated it, but it was weird and didn’t feel like it knew what it was trying to do with Zakuro.
First and foremost, Zakuro is now primarily a singer, like in the dub of the original anime, instead of being primarily a model/actress which is fine, but I almost feel like they made this decision purely for OST purposes. I say this because that song she sang during the auditions could not have felt more out of place and commercial. It literally was edited to look like an end credits sequence in an anime. Why would she just break out into song like that?
In the original series, she got up on stage to show the girls, who were dancing, dance moves as an example or inspiration, and she did it on request of the other judges. But their role in this version was to act in a scene, not sing. Zakuro comes in of her own accord, does part of the scene and then breaks out into a long song number. I was so confused when she started doing this. It came off so much more like she was just showing off (and somehow had the proper musical accompaniment on standby) than setting an example for the girls (even if they told her later that her performance allowed them to continue their scene.)
Second, did they completely remove the religious aspect of her character? There was absolutely no hint of it in this episode. She didn’t even wear her cross. Her weapon is a still a cross, but did they just keep it that way because it’s the way the weapon was originally designed?
Third, Zakuro’s actual debut was a little weird as well. A wolf, that was somehow howling on top of a nearby building, is what triggered her transformation? Excuse me? What is that about? I get that she was in danger either way, and that triggers transformation, but they purposefully framed it to make it seem like hearing the wolf put her over the edge.
Speaking of her transformation, it was ridiculously short. Is that all there is to it? It can’t be…..right? It’s not a bad transformation, I just felt like it was super short and like she didn’t get to finish it.
As for her new design…………….I….don’t…..like it. When she’s not transformed, she looks perfectly fine. She barely looks any different from the way she used to look. Transformed, now that’s a different story. I honestly can’t pinpoint anything I really like about her new look, which is pretty damn weird for the model.
Technically, they didn’t change much. She still has basically the same outfit – the tube top, the shorts, the long boots. However. Her shorts in this version seem like they’re way too short. Like they would come off if she actually did run on all fours like she does sometimes. Not that she ever could run like that in those platform boots. Her old boots had a heel to them too, but not a high full platform. Honestly, the running comment is being a bit generous. They pretty much look like they require censorship if she moved the wrong way even slightly.
And why does she get to keep her shorts but Pudding doesn’t?
But what really kills it for me is her hair. Who the hell approved her hair? It is WAY too long and does not, in any manner, convey “wolf.” Granted, her old hairstyle didn’t convey that either, but her hair unreasonably long. It shouldn’t cover the floor when she kneels down. It very nearly touches the floor when she’s standing. That’s so ridiculously non-conducive to battle situations it makes me a little upset. Actually, forget battle situations. That looks like it’d be annoying to deal with just walking around.
I agree that her hair being in a ponytail is a good decision, but that practical decision is ruined 100x over by giving her ten feet of hair.
I don’t even particularly care for the ribbon in her hair. The one on her neck is fine, but the one in her hair just seems unfitting
And to cap it all off, her flute looks weird, too. I guess it looks more like a flute of some kind, but the end of it looks too wide. Unless that was just the animation for this episode making it look particularly awkward.
Kisshu’s attack was pretty pathetic. He comes out of nowhere and attacked with a bunch of Chimera Crows. It was just a bunch of more-or-less regular crows that were controlled. They weren’t particularly monstrous.
Pudding was annoying in this episode too. I get that her ruining the audition was in the manga and the original anime, but that doesn’t make it less annoying. And then they have her ruining Mint’s attack during the battle and acting like it was a good thing. I usually love Pudding, but she was irritating today.
As before, Zakuro’s debut is a two-parter, so maybe the second part will make up for this episode, but as a whole it just disappointed and confused me.
Next time, Mint deals with being rejected by Zakuro.
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The Anime Madhouse 