I just finished reading a manga that I won’t be reviewing here, but found myself immediately composing a review in my head anyway. In that review, I was quibbling about a single phrase that really annoyed the heck out of me. It showed not only insensitivity but also complete lack of cultural knowledge by the company that translated the book. It’s not important, really, except for the fact that I find myself doing that quite a bit here – quibbling about a small thing that’s quite irrelevant to a series that I see as some kind of “wtf” committed by the American production company. And I will do it again today.

But, let’s set this quibble aside for a moment and discuss the meat, if you will allow me to be so crude, of Red Garden, Volume 4.

Kate, Clare, Rachel and Rose realize that there is no escape from their fate as members of one side of an ages-long battle. What that actually means to them is still unclear, but they are as determined – more so than before, even – to retain what little of their “real” lives they have left to them. Each reacts in a different way. Rachel sheds her superficial skin going so far as to shed even her genuinely concerned and caring boyfriend, someone she needs but understands will not be able to handle the truth. Rose embarks upon a quest to find her father and bring him back into the fold of her family. Kate tries to date, with tragic consequences, and Clare is forced to confront her (perhaps unfair) anger and feelings of betrayal she has for her father.

Paula remains the epitome of “Grace,” even in the face of Jessica’s flaring jealousy and accusations that her interest in Kate has changed her. In return, Paula forces Jessica to become a partner to Kate. From watching her so closely, Jessica begins to develop a kind of bond with Kate – and ultimately begins to sympathize with her, even if its for the wrong reasons. To Kate’s shock, Jessica confesses her sympathy and offers her help – again, even though it’s for the all the wrong reasons, Jessica is no longer an enemy. And Paula has once again protected Kate.

As the entire series edges closer to climax and everyone deals with betrayal – Rachel as the betrayer, Rose as the reconciler, Claire as the confronter and Kate as the betrayed, they all find some strength within themselves to fight the fight they must fight.

And in a surprising moment, the first instance of loss on our side is from an entirely unexpected source.

Yuri? Not very. Paula’s interest has not waned, but has not become a burden as it does in the manga. Fabulous? Definitely.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Yuri – 1
Service – 1; Violence – 8

Overall – 8

So, here’s my quibble. On the DVD case for the last volume the reviewer’s quote said that this series was like Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This time the synopsis of the episode includes a line that describes this series as “sexy.” *Sexy*?? What part of this is sexy – the beast men ripping Rachel’s shoulder open or JC taking one for the team? Did they just add that in for spice or do they automatically describe anything with female leads as “sexy?” American companies – WTF?

Hey, look at that! The Large Hadron Collider started spinning particles around and, inexplicably, mini black holes did not suddenly split time and space open and destroy the world. I’m sure you’re as shocked as I am that the world refused to be destroyed yet *again*. It’s so irritating of the world, isn’t it? We get all our cans of food and ammunition and whatever else we think we need to survive the end of the world and, dammit, the world is still here. Gets on my nerves, and now what am I gonna do with all that bottled water and batteries?

In honor of the world not being destroyed once more, today’s review is of Kurau Phantom Memory 6, the final volume. Watching this volume of anime was a bit like waiting for the world to end….

Not really of course. It was more like waiting for the dentist to start drilling. Only this time, I guess I had a good dose of NovacaineTM in the form of the director’s liner notes for the series. Apparently I had it all wrong.

*I* thought this was a series about a powerful, competent woman, being chased by another competent woman. Instead, I was informed by the director that all that was just an aside to the real story, which was about utter and complete normality. Apparently the real moral of Kurau was that not being different is way better than being different.

…

So, let me get this straight – being able to fly, to leap across the Alps, to open a portal to a new world, to have incredible strength and to love deeply and permanently because a being is out there who complements you perfectly is *not* as good as marrying some guy or other (who never gets a name or a face, so you know he’s special) and having his kid? I’m just checking, ’cause nothing personal, that really doesn’t fly with a sci-fi/fantasy audience. It’s almost as irking as the crap at the end of Labyrinth with whatsherface “putting away all her childish things” and me hurting from gritting my teeth, until the sappy ending sort of belied the point. Ptooey. Surely flying and phasing through walls would be a small price to pay for having nebulous government organizations hounding you day and night?

While it didn’t make me want to chew nails this time, I still found the end of Kurau frustrating. I’m glad that Christmas finally finds her pair again, because otherwise this entire series would have been rendered into a tragedy.

Thankfully, it was not a tragedy, and Kurau was able to pass into the obscurity her non-Rynax self deserved, while Christmas was able to once again discover the finest thing about the human condition – love.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 6
Characters – 7
Music – 7
Yuri – 2
Service – 1

Overall – 7

The second best thing about the human condition is that no matter what the change in society or technological advance, *some* group of people will start screaming about the world ending. It’s nice to know that some things, other than particles, are universal.