Ep 22 - Phantom recap

[Andy00]

Wow, this is late. Sorry about that, got distracted. <g>

In which we finally we get answers, continued.....

Episode 22 - Phantom

Bear, Mimiru and Subaru are meeting. Bear notes that BT's apparently not coming. (They were waiting for her.) She's actually behind a tree, listening. They warp away. "He's right, It's too late" she notes. Ah, double meanings.

She's walking away, and Sora observes/follows. (To PK her again? Or just spy?)

Edit: I have been informed this wasn't Sora following BT, but Balmung following Bear and crew. _That's_ how he found them.

Bear, Subaru and Mimiru are in a dungeon. Subaru's taking Tsukasa's place as the quiet one. Bear mentions that this is the place told to him by Helba, where they have to go. Helba also confirmed that Harald Hyueck wrote the beta of The World, and somehow apparently put himself into it as a "compressed thought program." One that is everywhere and nowhere in The World. But what does that mean? Bear doesn't know, but fortunately Helba can help them interact. A monster attacks. (Normal one, but this is like the cat that always surprises you in horror movies. Nice shot of Subaru looking fierce though.)

Sora is walking with SilverKnight. He's probing SilverKnight's psyche, and egging him on about the loss of the Crimson Knights. (...I guess SK's "forces" that he talked about in previous eps fell through.)

But...if they could fight the Invicible Monster (I'm just calling it the DataBug from now on) they could be considered among the elite. Such as Balmung of the Azure Sky and Orca of the Azure Sea! SilverKnight is very tempted.

Bear and crew are still walking. Mimiru flashesback to her first meeting with Tsukasa. Apparently, it was at this exact same dungeon! (Occording to the .hack//mutation game, this dungeon is at keywords "Rejecting Oblivious Wavemaster")

Mimiru wonders if Helba mentioned anything about Tsukasa, but Bear states that Helba never brought him up. Just that she'll help if asked.

Speaking of, in the Secret Place, Tsukasa, in his attempt to regain his senses, has taken off the eyes of the Teddy Bear, and proceeds to dig into the stuffing of it's chest. (Much thanks to Kotetsu from .hack//INFO from noting that Tsukasa is attempting to find it's eyes and heart, and compares this scene to one from the book "The Miracle Worker" about Helen Keller.)

Cut to the Dark Sanctum of The Voice. Dark Aura music plays, and the sleeping girl hangs upside down by her feet. Maha is fiddling with his blade of grass given to him by Tsukasa while he was mindless. The Voice comments on the girl, Aura. Can someone tell me what she says? Ack, the reverb.

Meanwhile, Bear and crew are attacked again, and this time it's the real deal. A monstrous...thing with one eye, that resembles a worm. It's saliva actually eats away at the programming of the dungeon around it. Mimiru notes that she doesn't think this was _ever_ a monster in the game. (as opposed to just a buggy one.) Bear notes that it cannot be defeated, and they should run, NOW. Subaru is distracted, and hesitates. She collects herself, but trips over a rock. She braces herself for an attack, as the Thing (This isn't a DataBug monster, so unlike the critter Crim fought, it's attack just might send you into a coma) sends a glowing wad of stuff at her.

...luckily, Captain Fantastic shows up for a cameo! Bishounen, Long flowing silver hair, wings, the works. Those who've played the games or seen "DUSK" know exactly who this is. Yep, it's Balmung of the Azure Sky. Was he everything you hoped for, Rhyste? Unlike the first two games, he's actually _useful_ and leaps in front of Subaru and disperses the attack.

He was worried about Subaru when he heard the Crimson Knights broke up, but it looks like she's doing okay. He's going to hold off Big Nasty and let them get away. Mimiru and Subaru worry about him, but he's "Balmung of the Azure Sky" remember? He'll be fine, now get out of there!

(Random Note: They're lucky this isn't like the PS2 games, where if you are attacked in a dungeon, force fields appear at the doors until you win.)

Sora and SilverKnight are still walking. Seems BT never showed. (I wonder if this was intentional, or if she were encouraged by Sora) SilverKnight harrumphs. They hear a scream!

Seems a party of three are being attacked by the DataBug! Seems to be the same type that fought Crim, though it's red. It's already killed the Wavemaster of the group (Similar to Tsukasa, it seems. I wonder if that was intentional.) Sora jumps into the fray, and as the two suriving members of the party thank him, he PK's them both. (Well, at least they aren't in coma's. I wonder if the third fellow is? Probably not, I think Crim would of mentioned that.)

SilverKnight thinks he's crazy, but Sora just tells him to pay attention as the DataBug attacks.

A _green_ Chaos Gate appears before Bear and crew. This is the gate Helba created to take them to The Broken Man. (Notice the gate that was generated by the Twilight Eye was red.)

"Let's meet the ghost" However, they all hesitate. Subaru's the first to steel her resolve to warp into the Gate, and Mimiru and Bear follow.

It's the Broken Man in the funky crystal room. To Mimiru's verbal displeasure, he's just saying the same stuff he did before. However, when she demands that he tell them about the girl, he reacts, and asks if they know of Aura.) Ah, she tripped a flag.

:commercial:

Sora and SilverKnight are fighting the DataBug, but all damage inflicted instantly heals. Sora: Oh, I don't like the looks of that. (Interesting note, I think this is the only time we've ever seen him be serious.) This quickly passes, and with a grin and his goofy music, he tells SilverKnight to have fun, and he gets out of there. The monster closes in on a shocked SilverKnight.

Back at the Broken Man, the crew determine that Aura is the girl that Tsukasa talked about. The Broken Man refers to her as "our" daughter Aura. (He doesn't say who he other person is. You have to wait for the games to find that out.) Aura was to be their daughter, but the Broken Man made a mistake, and now a "Being" is trying to warp their Aura.

Back at the Dark Sanctum, Maha is fiddling with his grass. Suddenly, the Voice declares that "It cannot be!"

Cut to SilverKnight, who's running away. He trips and looks behind him in fear. The DataBug is gone. However, Crim sees him, and wonders if SilverKnight is "playing tag."

Back at the Broken Man, he tells Bear and company that the "Being" is taking their Aura away.

BM: Aura is no longer what "She" and I wanted.

It's the Broken Man's fault, because he _created_ the "Being" that is corrupting Aura. In fact, the "Being" was supposed to wake her up.

We see an outline of a flame? (It's probably Aura) backlit in the darkness. Aura was supposed to be their hope, but now she's changed by the evil Being, and will awaken no hope and only despair. Aura must NOT wake up the way she is now. But there's still time to do it right.

The Broken Man reveals that Tsukasa is the tool that the Being is using to corrupt Aura.

Cut to the Dark Sactum. The Voice declares to Harald that she will NOT let him get in the way of her mind. Her displeasure is such that it corrupts the grass that Maha is holding, and she throws it away and runs before it is deleted.

Back in the Crystal place, the Broken Man starts undergoing an attack, space itself around him fills with holes. Bear tells the others to RUN. The Broken Man closes his eyes as the Voice deletes him.

(Game note: In .hack//Mutation, we hear a line that in order to talk to "Morganna" Harald had to give up his flesh and blood, and that he did this for Aura's sake. It would seem that the Broken Man is the result of that conversarion. For those who have bought .hack//SIGN DVDs, notice that in the ending credits, the name of the Voice is "Morganna.")

Back at Mac Anu, Crim is wondering what SilverKnight is thinking these days. He's like a zombie, bereft of the pride he once had, the essence of who he is. He's still alive, he still has his character, doesn't he? Why does he play the game?

He told Subaru the same thing. What are you here to do? (SilverKnight: What I want do.) Crim: Or what he should do. The World is a game. He must search his soul for what's precious to him, and what he needs to protect.

A tear falls across SilverKnight's cheek as he listens to Crim's words.

Bear is voice-ing over what The Broken Man.....what Harald told them. We again see the Flame in Darkness that is probably Aura, but even rewinding the tape over and over, I can't recognize it. The Soul of Harald Hyueck tried to give birth to the girl Aura in The World. But someone is using Tsukasa to corrupt her, maybe give birth to a "Black Aura."

Back to the crew. So in order to fight this Enemy, they have to stop this corrupting. "Time to take on the Final Boss!" Mimiru is pleased. Though Bear cautions her. Since Harald was a being everywhere and nowhere, their Enemy probably is too. "Another ghost." Mimiru grumps.

So how to they fight it? Subaru has the answer. Tsukasa. Since Tsukasa was the one being used to corrupt Aura, he must have the power to give birth to her correctly.

Though there's the little problem of them not knowing where Tsukasa is, but Subaru is sure he'll be with them soon. "Yeah, I have faith" Mimiru says. Subaru looks out into the sunset, and calls Tsukasa's name.

Tsukasa, meanwhile, has given up on ripping the Teddy Bear. However, as his hands clench the ground, we hear Subaru's call. "Who's that? .....is...someone...calling me?"

[Kotetsu]

....... wow thats a very in depth review.... i felt bad [spoiler] when harald died though... i sniffled[/spoiler] but the end was all spooky

[Gray]

You forgot Sora finding his way into Morgana's realm.

[Andy00]

GAH! I so did! Sorry!

Yes, after the scene with Tsukasa, we see Sora lounging around. He's high on a hill, and looking down, notices Maha, who's floating around. (Avoiding the wrath of The Voice.) She starts to phase away, and Sora leaps on her, stating he wants to come along too.

They both phase into the Dark Domain, with Sora holding Maha, who's tiny compared to him. (She's kinda cute.) He lets her go, who silently snarls something at him. (Bet that was a naughty word.)

He then looks up and see's the dark Aura, suspended from the ceiling. "Well, well, lookee what I found."

[Rhyste]

I missed it. T_T Now I have to wait longer for DVD's. T_T Baaaaah. *cuddles Tom Riddle Plushie* T_T

[Its Not a Game]

yeah you missed Balmung. Well now if you watch it on DVD youll see him in the highest quality

[FireDraconian]

He then looks up and see's the dark Aura, suspended from the ceiling. "Well, well, lookee what I found."

Lookee what I found? O.o They actually dubbed that? Gah. That completely screws the seriousness of the moment...

[sephiroth887]

who is balmung anyway, i know that he is a lengendary player but what role does he really play? a friend of mine says he is in the games, but seeing that I am an Xbox owner the closest i get to it is naming my Everquest characters after people from the series . i think that Balmung is by far the coolest looking character in this series, possibly because he reminds me alot of Sephiroth from Final Fantasy 7.

[FireDraconian]

He plays a more important role in the games. He has cameo appearances in Vol. 1 and 2, just brief snips, but supposedly he has a bigger part in 3 & 4.

[Guynietoren]

because he reminds me alot of Sephiroth from Final Fantasy 7.

You have a point, he's got wings. You can't beat Sephiroth's sword though. The old 6 foot-curved-katana is the way to go. But his moves aren't quite that technical. <chop, stab, toss a meteor/comet here and there>

[YashaOokami]

They both phase into the Dark Domain, with Sora holding Maha, who's tiny compared to him. (She's kinda cute.) He lets her go, who silently snarls something at him. (Bet that was a naughty word.)

Lol,she looks like a stuffed toy in that scene.She probably said "F^ck you!!>/ "

I also noticed that in the dubbed version,way towards the end when you hear that faint voice of Subaru calling Tsukasa's name.In the subbed version,they did not add that in there.It was just silence,and Tsukasa waking up,wondering who is calling him.[/quote]

[Andy00]

Re: Originally, we don't hear Subaru's voice when seeing Tsukasa respond to her.

Ah, the "Dubbers assume viewers are morons" effect.

[FireDraconian]

Apparently. And the insane need to fill in any silence at all.

[Its Not a Game]

Mabye since the dubbed version was made for Cartoon Network they assumed that it would be a younger audience since they did not put it into Adult Swim and added that effect so they would have a better chance of understanding what was happening. So yeah i guess you could say the dubbers think were morons

[Sora]

Mabye since the dubbed version was made for Cartoon Network they assumed that it would be a younger audience since they did not put it into Adult Swim and added that effect so they would have a better chance of understanding what was happening. So yeah i guess you could say the dubbers think were morons :wink:

The dubbers tend to be right.

Honestly, think about this from a logical standpoint. The majority of viewers will be casual watchers. People who don't really care, but the TV is on, and it's vaguely interesting, so they'll watch, and then, since the dub is easy to understand, they find themselves interested and will thus tune in every week, and maybe buy some merchandise.

And so, .hack//SIGN has served its purpose.

Also, keep in mind, in America, 'cartoons are for kids'. This is a widespread opinion, and so you aim it towards kids. Because kids will watch. And you will get more money.

And so once again, .hack//SIGN has served its purpose.

This isn't to say, though, that 'kids' means little kids. No, Cartoon Network thought that at first, which is why you found it airing at 3:00 PM on Saturday. Then they saw more episodes and realized that this isn't a show for little kids, and they moved it to a later time.

But there isn't so much violence or disturbing (and possibly traumatizing) imagery for them to move it to Adult Swim (not to mention, I doubt Bandai feels like paying that much money for them to air it then), and so, in this other timeslot, they're required to have a level of translation suitable for the expected audience, which is adolescents and teens, for the most part.

Opinions aside, that's just how things are run. Agree with it, disagree, but I doubt anyone's going to care enough to change it.

I should know.