It was raining, so the trio took shelter under an abandoned house. Jasmine still had a few objections about going to Tegan’s place, but she followed them anyway. The weather cleared, and there was even a rainbow. They continued walking until they reached a bridge, where a giant bulge is blocking the way…which turned out to be a real giant who somehow could only show one eye to the screen at a time.

They got into a fight (obviously), even though the giant claimed to be a reluctant slave of Tegan. Jasmine, from a side, said that they only wanted to get through, so no fight was needed. The giant agreed, and gave them a riddle to be answered before the hourglass finished its round. There were five blocks, they had to make it three. Rather quickly Jasmine re-arranged the blocks to the number 3.

The giant was not too pleased, but he let Jasmine pass anyway. Up next is Barda. He had to make five blocks into ten. Barda took a bit longer (and more frustrations), but hinted by a pool of water, he split each block to get ten. Finally, it was Lief’s time. He got the worst: listen to a song, solve its question. The song cited that there were thirteen children to begin with, a frog times them, two worms time them, and two flies time the worms. So 13 + 13 x 1 + 13 x 2 + 13 x 4 = 104. And then there’s the witch herself, so it’s 105. The giant struck, saying that there was a crow inside the witch’s stomach. Lief, feeling cheated, told him that the giant had just twisted the truth into a lie. Feeling challenged, the giant gave him one more riddle. If Lief chose lie, his neck would be cut off. If Lief chose truth, he would be throttled. After pleading to his belt, Lief chose getting his head cut off. If the giant did as he said, then he would be telling the truth, and he would have to throttle Lief. But if he didn’t do it, then Lief wouldn’t die. So instead of doing as was promised, the giant turned into a huge crow, broken from its curse. It pointed them to Tegan’s house.

The trio treaded through another thick jungle. So Lief asked if she still wanted to go to Tegan. Jasmine didn’t answer directly; she told Kree, who had suffered the same fate as her, to go back without her. Along the way, Jasmine told them a bit more about her past; about how she had used to have a happy life before Tegan destroyed it. They abruptly stopped, however, and climbed up to a tree, hiding under Lief’s Cloak of Invisibility. Directly under them was one of the Rara tribesmen, captured by a group of the Grey Guards. After waiting for night to fall, they rescued him and ran away, though not without the Guards noticing.

Thoughts:

At first I wondered why the giant only showed one eye at a time (I thought he was a cyclop…), but then it made sense. Birds only have an eye on each side of the head; this giant even had pointy nose that indeed turned into a beak.

The first two riddles are kind of easy, but the third one…why does Lief gets the short end of the stick of anything spelling trouble? Not only does the giant pulled the answer out of Pluto, he also got two riddles that are significantly harder than the two before. Though I do wonder if the belt actually helped during the second one or not. Probably it did.

Heh, I like how the story’s treating Jasmine. She didn’t immediately jump in and get into a fight; during the first quiz she kept her cool and eventually get the answer right; and even though she was used to be alone and whined a bit, she could actually tolerate and follow others.

For a moment, I thought the song (AKA Lief’s riddle) had a mathematical array value to it. Maybe it does…so the formula is 13 . (x), in which x = x_n-1 + x_n; starting from x = 0 and then x = 1 and somewhere beyond if it goes on and on. Ah well.

This episode did make me think a bit, partly because the sub was not clear at all, so I had to use my own mind. It’s actually not that hard to figure out, it’s just that I watch anime to de-stress myself, so I’d rather watching something that doesn’t quite require thinking (unless if I want it to). Though in this case it was more of the language barrier than anything.

My impression? Not much. I guess this is just one of those episodes that’s just sort of happened for the sake of plot advancement…or I was just too tired to be impressed. Heh. I’m actually wondering if reading the books are better than watching it animated. Each has their own charms, I suppose.

They wound up in an old couple’s house named Nij and Doj. They are apparently dangerous. An old fantasy trope of ‘landing in a house with hostile but initially receptive owner’. Let’s see how Deltora Quest approach it, especially when it was so blatantly obvious they would get tricked. And…is that Barda on the floor, again?

Summary:

Lief and Barda entered the Darkness within Darkness, only to encounter a gold knight, Gorl, standing in their way. Without really much conversations, the Gold Knight struck, and knocked Lief around with its telekinetic powers.

Lief and Barda tried to fight back and reason, but Gorl just kept swinging and blowing them away, all the while saying that he doesn’t know Adin. It apparently was trying to protect the Eternity, a flower containing the essence of life, just like how it and its brothers used to do. I’d give Lief and Barda thumbs up for sneaking closer while Gorl threw a lengthy monologue; they are probably one of the few who are smart enough to do it instead of listening. Unfortunately, Lief was easily deflected. Fortunately, Barda struck the spot…though he was…killed…quickly in retaliation. Lief, of course, struck back to no avail. He was saved once again by Jasmine who cut some vines, and voila, the sky fell down on Gorl. The darkness was banished, and the pesky guardian was vanquished.

Topaz, the objective was retrieved…oh, and Barda was revived using the flower’s essence. Jasmine grabbed the Topaz from Lief’s hands. She was taken to the all-vision-related-purpose blank white screen with no one but her mother’s ghost in it, who told her to go with Lief and Barda. The two men finally let her know about Deltora Belt, and off they went to Nameki Lake (where Jasmine’s parents died), where the next gem is. And so the trio was finally established, and started their march.

Thoughts:

I really like the let’s-ignore-the-villain’s-monologue part. Like I said, it’s apparently a standard for the protagonist to listen to the antagonist rambling about his dark/angsty/apparently-justifying-his-actions past. Granted, that is also actually when the protagonist will somehow fight back, but still…to just sit (or stand) there and listen?

Gorl also kept saying that he doesn’t know any Adin. Now, I wonder what this means. A mark of his one-mindedness? That he is fixated only on protecting the flower, and nothing else? He didn’t even realize the dark lord had hidden Topaz on his sword! The entry at the end of the episode does say that he wanted eternal life so much his spirit stayed. The Topaz supposedly shows anyone’s wish. Something about fantasy keeping one away from reality, then? Or is it too early to speculate nor is it actually relevant?

This is a kid show, as proven by Barda’s supposed death scene–which is not very convincing, by the way, I thought Gorl just knocked his head or something.

I don’t like the lengthy explanation about Deltora Belt, though. It’s almost identical to the one in episode one,and I doubt we really need to be reminded again about that.

Jasmine’s decision regarding Lief and Barda is heavily influenced by other sort of otherworldly sources. First a tree told her to help the two poor men, and then her ‘mother’ told her to accompany them. At least she saved them from Gorl on her free will. If I heard it right, she wasn’t that cruel in the books. At this point, she seems like the standard wild girl/thief girl. So are the two others, but you certainly can’t expect much from three plot heavy episodes.

So Lief can put the stone into the belt. Add this with the first episode, what do you get? An anvil of a spoiler dropped very early on. Not that I didn’t know it first anyway–wikipedia lists it.

Preview

Next episode has something to do with a cyclops, as well as the second stone. At this rate, I think it will be at least 26 episodes long, which is good, because I don’t like overly-drawn out series.

So far the series is still interesting, if only because I like that fantasy genre. Here’s hoping the subbers are quick, because I doubt I will want to watch a raw.

Is this creature the new comrade (a new traveling beast) for our heroes in their quest for the seven jewels of the magical Deltora belt?

Click here to find out

Episode summary

Our two heros, Lief and Barda had fallen to the Wenba as they lost consciousness, with the pack of Wen slowly creeping close. We saw the two heroes waking up as they lied down as they were immobilized. A green haired girl (Jasmine) came down to them as she stole her cloak. Lief tried to tell her that the cloak was made by his mother and Barda said that Jasmine was going to leave them behind to die. Jasmine then told them that the things that attacked them were Wen, which they would give fresh meat to the Wenba for its meal at night when it appeared.

As Jasmine escaped, the cloak was flying magically across the forest, as she was brought to this mystical tree. The tree started to talk, telling her that the two were not Shadow guards but good guys as she was shown the image of Lief’s mother making the cloaks. Later in the day, Jasmine came back to give the antidote as they thought it was poison as they felt strong pains. Jasmine then said that the trees had told her that they were not bad guys but stopped any conversation as the Wenba was coming.

As they climbed up the trees, Jasmine explained that the Wenba was huge but could not climb trees, which made it important for them to hide. Lief also used his cloak to keep himself from getting cold as he covered it among the three of them. The cloak was clearly magical as it cast them invisible. The Wenba then left as its prey had disappeared. Jasmine then told them that she knew all about them as the trees had told her but Lief was skeptical as trees could not speak. The pack of Wen that had attacked them appeared again, as Wen were scavengers who thought that the Wenba had killed them. However, the Wenba came again, devouring some of the Wen in the vicinity.

After the Wenba retreated to its lair, Barda said that they would go to the lair, despite Jasmine saying that it was just a smelly place. Barda thought that the Wenba was the guardian in the forest of silence but elicited an amused laugh from Jasmine. She explained that this was just the entrance of the forest and there was more dangerous places within it. Jasmine then brought them to her tree house as she gave them some food.

She also told them that the guardian that they were seeking lies beyond this place, in the darkness within the darkness. Lief asked why she was staying alone and she started by saying she was 16, the same age as Lief. She then explained that she was separated with her parents after her parents were waylaid by shadow soldiers as they never came back when they were near this forest.

Her parents had protected her by telling her to hide when the soldiers were here, as she said that she had built this house and found the trees protecting her. Jasmine then sensed that the Wenba did not have enough of a meal and came all the way here as they attempted to escape. However, Barda and Lief had other ideas as Barda told Lief to hide in the trees to wait for the attempt to attack the Wenba.

As Lief waited, he noticed a sticky substance on the tree as he slipped and fell down. The Wenba then appeared as he was just a fraction away from being the feed for the Wenba until Jasmine swung across the trees with a tree vine/rope to save him. Lief then used the tree vine to trap the Barda into a wedge between the trees as he stabbed the Wenba below its mouth. Barda also jumped majestically down as he attempted to disembowel the Wenba from the top, eventually repelling it.

Barda and Lief thanked Jasmine for her help but she said that she simply was protecting the cloak from getting consumed. Jasmine then led them to the dark place as she left them, saying that she had to protect the things in the forest. As they moved forth, Lief felt this warmth in the belt as it was an indication of them being nearer to the guardian. Barda asked whether Lief was scared and he denied it, with Barda saying it was all right to show fear. The leaves started to fly viciously across the air, as both Lief and Barda anticipated the appearance of the guardian, with the belt getting warmer as they got closer.

Thoughts

I like Jasmine quite a bit and it’s not because of the green hair (I swear). She has this slightly abrashed personality that I like since she seems to be actually more capable than the two main leads. How’s that for feminism? I actually like it when a female character is in fact stronger than the male leads, because it stops that annoying stereotype in female characters being the damsel in distress. KICK BUTT, JASMINE!

The whole Wenba thing seems to be really interesting, since I thought initially that they will have to go into the lair. They proved me wrong and it’s probably a good thing since if the Wenba is in fact the guardian, it feels like a really lame one. I am also glad that they did not destroy the Wenba, which will be a total exaggeration of the strength in the party, and I felt that Deltora quest did well in bringing a bit of realism in the story, with the aim being to repel the monster, rather than slaying it. I swear I will go “OVER 9 THOUSAND” and get pissed.

Glad it did not happen. I will cry foul and scream at the stupidity of shounen slipping into adventure. Ok, I apologize at my digs at shounen.

I found that what I like about the adventure genre is that the main leads are not like shounen that gets crazily explosive and destroys the whole landscape with one attack. They are generally weak and they usually depend on sheer luck, grit and strategy. That is probably why I like Deltora Quest because it keeps to this certain old school charm of mere swords. I will wish for some sorcery but it seems like that the three main characters of the series have appeared and Jasmine feels more like a huntress/ranger build rather than a sorcerer or wizard.

A tad disappointing but I guess there will definitely be some magic in this series sooner or later. Episode 2’s graphical quality has dropped slightly, as a few shots look to be rather blur and of low quality. Still, it seems that the anime never got much of a budget but it does have a compelling story line, albeit a bit simplistic and straight forward.

Next week seems to be the fight between the guardian and the two heroes.

Cheers!

Question: Do you think that we will get some hot magic or sorcery, probably from Lief, since Barda seems to be a old big swordsman type while Jasmine seems more like a huntress in the wild?

This is yet another time for the I.D analysis check up time due to the fact that I am getting a bit tied up with the re-watching of Manabi Straight until every single one of my clones die from an overdose of cuteness. This summary by the way is a very abridged version, since I am not really keen on blogging this series. Of course, if no one is interested in blogging the series, I will pick it up as usual, but I am sure this show will have its fans. I confess to be a really crazy AD&D tabletop player when I was young due to influences from my elder brother as well as friends who are interested in medieval settings. After that, I am always on the lookout for a good medieval fantasy series.

This looks like good stuff honestly on that line of thought, and I will start off with Deltora Quest, which is based on a series of fantasy books.

Summary

We started with the history of the invasion by the shadow lord. A strong blacksmith named Adin wearing the magical Belt of Deltora infused with the seven magical stones of Deltora, defeated the Shadow lord. However, the Shadow Lord waited and when the royals slowly forgot about the belt, the shadow lord took full advantage and destroyed the belt, as seven of his evil beasts carried the important magical jewels to seven places of evil. The king left the kingdom and was never heard again.

16 years later, we saw a kid mocking at the soldiers of the Shadow lord when they attempted to stop the villagers from reaping the labor of the apple trees there. As he teased them, he was chased to a dead end. However, a rope appeared as he was able to return back home.

Back at home, we realize that the name of the boy was Lief and his father was Jarred. Lief asked why everyone was always hiding behind in fear of the shadow lord when they could fight. Jarred said that the Shadow lord was not restrained by the power of the belt anymore as he took out a box, asking Lief to open it.

As Lief opened it, a beam of light appeared as it was the magical belt of Deltora. Jarred explained that he was the young companion of the former king and had retrieved the belt during the time of the invasion. It was broken before, but he had mended it and kept it in secret possession, awaiting for the next king to save Deltora from the shadow lord. He then entrusted Lief to wear the belt and save Deltora.

With that, he was given a fine sword by Jarred and a magical cloak by his sword as he set forth. Before he went, we were introduced to Barda, who looked like a rundown man until he got rid of his disguise as he showed himself to be an able man. He was in fact one of the guards who escaped during the invasion and was rescued back by Jarred. After that, he waited for the time to protect Lief and train him in order for the awakening of Lief to protect Deltora and find the seven gems

As they set forth to the nearest place, Lief was getting ahead of himself, rushing forward only to stumble onto a shadow guard. He started to panic in fear and was about to be cleaved when Barda rushed ahead to kill the man. As they moved forth, they were trapped by creatures with devilish red eyes while the environment immediately changed. Lief was getting nervous, as it became apparent that Lief was not used to actual fighting as he charged ahead recklessly, swinging his sword all around. Barda warned him about it as the creatures emit a high-pitch ultrawave sound that was starting to hurt them. Slowly, the noise caused Barda to be unconscious as the creatures with the devilish red eyes started to gather around the body of Barda.

What will happen to our warriors at such an early stage?

Thoughts

The starting of this episode has a very nice CG added to it, when the battle of the Deltora world came about. I personally like the slightly “boring” style of introduction with the world of Deltora, giving us the setting of where the series is situated. The battle scene also gives me the feeling of a great classic anime, Record of Lodoss War, which I consider to be one of the greatest medieval fantasy series ever produced.

The graphics are pretty decent, with a good mixture of CG and the use of simple graphics to illustrate it. To be honest, I like the fact that the hero knows from episode 1 that something is seriously wrong. He is also not a spoiled brat, which I really hate for a stereotype. I mean, we have Naruto in Naruto who is basically a brat (of course he’s matured slightly for now, but…), Ueki in Law of Ueki and well, if I must stretch it, Ichigo from Bleach. For once, there is a hero that knows what he wants right at the start and sets forth. I like this because it reeks of an adventure of a mature 16 year old kid, rather than a reluctant hero that eventually turns stronger and all that. It breaks the mold of a general shounen series, and turns it into a pure fantasy fest.

What else can a medieval loving anime fan ask for?

I have to admit that I like the old school sword fighting and hopefully, a bit of magic too. Most shounen series have way too much mega powers and all that rubbish that it becomes like just a leveling up rpg where you gain more and more skills. I am more akin to good old school Dungeons and Dragons style of summoning and conjuring. For now, they have a pure swordsman in Barda while the main protagonist looks a bit like an average hero, which I am fine with.

In all, I fully enjoyed this series and I hope it does not succumb to over-bearing stuff and sticks to old school magic and swashbuckling sword fighting. If they have that, this will be a great series to love, a good change from all the loli-infused series.

So, back to that big question. Why should you watch this?

1. Enjoyable first episode that starts off with a more serious tone than most other shounen, with a clear focus on adventure rather than comedy.

2. Seems to be old school sword fighting and magic, with mystical creatures that look pretty interesting from the synopsis for next week.

3. Compelling characters, and the main lead is not a fricking spoiled brat.

4. Nice use of CGs, with decent graphical level for the style of anime that it is portraying.

Is this your cup of tea? If so, I will await you in the world of Deltora.