She let the Mana people figure things out for themselves, because they wouldn\'t quit acting toxic towards her. One of them was even about to shoot her in episode 23 before she shot him instead! After everything they had to put up with, they didn\'t owe them diddly.
To azul120:
First off, the Mana people were explicitly described as being brainwashed by Embryo, and their prejudice was genetically programmed. Yet, despite knowing this, Ange shows No Sympathy. So the argument DOES hold.
Second, even if the Mana people were wholly to blame, the sheer fact that the show is attempting to give an anti-prejudice moral while also portraying the Mana people as Always Chaotic Evil and deserving of suffering and ruin indeed makes it a MASSIVE Broken Aesop.
One of these days, all of you will accept me as your supreme overlord.Leave a Comment:
A Very Entertaining Turd
Cross Ange is... complicated. On the one hand, there's a lot going for it. It has a strong, bisexual heroine in Ange, who grows from a well meaning yet naive princess into a hardened, kickass warrior. The other characters are pretty likeable too, if not always given a lot of attention or as fleshed out as they could be. The action is well animated, well choreographed, and just plain kickass, and makes the show a joy to watch. The soundtrack is for the most part pretty darn good, even flirting with true greatness on occasion. And the story is, on paper, a compelling, original, and fascinating one, with the foundation being that an otherwise peaceful and prosperous society is nothing but a sham if built on the backs and misery and suffering of others. It's a theme that's been told again and again, but Cross Ange tells it in an interesting way.
Or at least it does up until the very end.
The sad thing is, for just about everything the show has going in its' favor, there's something that serves to directly undermine it. The strong bisexual heroine is done a disservice by blatant fanservice and a ridiculous amount of skeeviness that runs rampant throughout the story, with far too many instances to count. And every now and then, a plothole or an asinine plot development rears it's ugly head which makes you wonder what the writers were smoking. (Tusk and Momoka staving off the Grim Reaper anyone?)
And then there's the ending. Without giving too much away, it shoot its' own themes and ideas in the foot by in a sense having the heroine proclaim to do what her oppressors throughout the show have done; ignore the plight of a now troubled and suffering people and leave them to rot. By claiming to build a peaceful kingdom for all, but not actually building a peaceful kingdom for all, she turns herself into a damned hypocrite and smashes the series' own message straight into its' face. It's the opposite of conducive storytelling, and just leaves you with a rather sour feeling in your mouth.
With all of that said, at the end of the day, what matters is if this show is entertaining, and the answer is, it is helluva entertaining. If you're down for plenty of good moments and some kickass action, then this is definitively a show to check out. But if you want something that has more to offer, that comes together as a cohesive whole and doesn't become bogged down in its' own hubris, then you're better off looking elsewhere. The sad thing is, this show could have been great, but it just couldn't hack it. In the end, it falls flat on its' own face and ultimately defeats itself. But that doesn't mean there still isn't something of worth.