Snickering-kitsune - What A Tasty Morsel You'll Make!

ufotable + skies

Lunarre at Ladylake (the X version, and its problems)

There are many odd things about this scene - and there are many - in which Sorey and Mikleo meet Lunarre again at Ladylake. All changes on Ufotable’s part I might add. 

Let’s do this. 

The Moment: Sorey and Mikleo look into the crowds and spot Lunarre, who is just standing there. He smiles when they notice him.

The Change:  In the game, the duo come across Lunarre by chance, thanks to a barking dog. Here Lunarre was literally waiting for them to spot him and give chase, which they do.

The Problem: This further confuses Lunarre’s reason for being at Ladylake in the first place. 

Was he banking on Sorey and Mikleo following him to the city? No - Lunarre was surprised when Sorey accused him of hunting Alisha to Ladylake, so he couldn’t have thought they were there for that reason.

Did he spot them from afar and decide to fuck with them? Most probably, though we never see it happen. Lunarre was clearly standing out in the open where he would be seen. But that opens up even more questions than it answers.

He wanted the two youngsters to chase him, and they do. It would make sense that Lunarre would want a rematch, their previous battle having been interrupted by Zenrus (Gramps). At Ladylake they could get lost in the back alleys and fight uninterrupted (as in the game, until the Scattered Bones show up).

That brings us nicely to the next bit.

The Moment: Lunarre jumps onto the rooftops of some houses and goes parkour on their arses.

The Change: Lunarre doesn’t take them through the alleys, but jumps absurd heights over rooftops like he's been doing it all his life. Hell, maybe when he was human and living as a thief (in Ladylake or elsewhere) he did - less absurdly, but he did. Would have been a much needed nugget of character-building.

The Problem: This nugget of character-building doesn’t happen. Neither does this change serve any purpose, especially since there is no payoff for Lunarre’s antics (e.g.: a fight - the rematch - or the appearance of the Scattered Bones). 

You’d think it would be in Lunarre’s character to want to roundly beat the two kids to finish what he started, not just show off his parkour prowess and see if they were stupid enough to actually try and copy him (Sorey). If Lunarre would have laughed his fox arse off as Sorey ploughs face-first into the roof of the opposite house, I think I would have taken the absurdity of the whole thing much better.

I think the entire scene was written in as a way for Ufotable to show off their animation skill. Hell, that might just be Lunarre’s entire purpose.

All he does instead, however, is look confused as Sorey actually does the stupid jump (no reaction when Sorey hits the roof either - inexcusable!!) and look more confused when Sorey starts accusing him of hunting Alisha. Understandably. In short the whole chase thing ends with a terrible anti-climax. No fight. No Scattered Bones either. Just a shouted chat over rooftops with none of the tension or atmosphere that was gotten from the alleyway scene in the game.

You’d think it would make sense to have Rose and the Scattered Bones get ahold of Lunarre here, as in the game. Thanks to the prologue of the anime, Rose has witnessed first hand a horrible change in her comrade and has reason to believe he’s dangerous and unstable. Yet after he abruptly leaves she literally forgets he exists. In the X, she wanders around Ladylake totally oblivious to Lunarre’s presence in the city.

Onto the next bit.

The Moment: Sorey accuses Lunarre of coming to Ladylake to hunt Alisha. Lunarre is confused, and denies it, saying he is no longer interested in hunting the princess. Mikleo asks him, naturally, what he’s doing in the city then if not to get Alisha. Lunarre responds that he simply has taking a liking to the princess, and wants to keep watching her from a distance to see interesting things. He reminds the boys that just because he has stopped hunting her, it doesn’t mean others will stop too, as there is a bounty on her head.

The Change: Shouting on rooftops instead of talking in an alleyway. No fight. Lunarre (off-screen) having decided to stop hunting Alisha and instead... stalk her, in order to see interesting things. Lunarre warns the boys about other assassins who will try to kill Alisha, rather than the Scattered Bones appearing on the scene, but is deliberately vague.

The Problem: Oh Christ, where to begin?

First of all: SHOUTING THE ENTIRE EXCHANGE FROM ROOFTOPS. SHOUTING ABOUT ASSASSINATING THE PRINCESS FROM ROOFTOPS. NOT QUITE THE BEST PLACE FOR IT.

Second: Why is Lunarre confused that Sorey and Mikleo think what they think about him being here? Surely he remembers how he referred to Alisha as his ‘main dish’ in their last encounter? Come on, he’s not the smartest guy in the world but he’s not that dumb!

Third: There’s practically zero tension in this scene. In the game, the scene turns dark as Lunarre’s presence looms upon the boys, trapped in an alleyway, before the fight breaks out. Here, they’re standing in entirely different points far away on rooftops shouting in broad daylight. Lunarre doesn’t want to fight, even though Sorey expected one. You just know nothing’s going to happen here except talking.

Yes, the music helps bring some gravity to the idea that Alisha is still in danger, but why rooftops, why no fight - whether Lunarre is hunting Alisha or not - and why is Lunarre being pointlessly vague about the situation? Surely it would be in his interest to help keep Alisha safe from said assassins (Rose) who still want to kill her.

Yes, he at least tells Sorey and Mikleo Alisha is in danger from others, but he knows who they are. He also knows they are in the city, after Alisha. You would think he would be more specific and give details that would be of more help. He wants to watch over Alisha, doesn’t he? He can’t do that if she’s dead. He can’t seriously think they’re a match for Rose as they are at this stage.

So then it would seem Lunarre doesn’t particularly give a shit about Alisha? He just wants to see how things play out and just be a spectator? He seemed ready to jump in and help out later on in his conversation with a captured Maltran, and he was none too pleased that Alisha was on the brink of death during the war, and seemed ready to do something if not for the malevolence that were, in his words, too much even for him. He also seems to like chatting to her. The dub even seems to suggest he might have a thing for her.

Why the inconsistencies? 

Why waste time fucking with Sorey and Mikleo if he wants to watch over Alisha? Hell, for all he knows Alisha could have had her throat slit by Rose and he wouldn’t have a clue. 

Why fuck with the kids if not to try and kick their arses like he was going to last time before Gramps intervened? 

So many questions, so few answers...

divinaaquis:

Well, it appeared the fox went for the bait. If not for the danger that would soon come, then perhaps Mikleo would have been amused, and maybe sighed in relief. This one was a hellion, a beast, and all he wanted to do was wreak havoc and gobble up human and seraphim as he so pleased. He couldn’t let that happen. As much as being near the other froze his breath in his throat, he had to swallow his fear back and try to keep Lunarre back. Especially when he was after Alisha. Sorey and the others would arrive soon. They had to. 

A fireball soon hit a branch he was perched on before he could make his jump, and it was quickly engulfed in fierce, blue flame. The water seraph had to grit his teeth as he pushed himself up from where he had stumbled, feeling a pain shoot through his body. Dammit. He hadn’t landed too well there. 

“Unless you would prefer entire body a frozen statue, I suggest you back off now.” He threatens, leaning on his staff a slight. “I’m not playing these games of chase with you. It won’t be just your foot alone next time.”

Lunarre laughed. It was shrill and wild. Somewhere in his mind there was the memory of a different laugh, echoing from a different life. Lunarre pushed it further back into the dark. 

This was his life now. Here he was alone, but powerful. Alone, but happy. Singing, laughing, tap-dancing happy.

But devouring the little seraph brat would make him that little bit happier.

Blazing balls of blue fire erupted into existence and burned in the palm of his hands as he faced his enemy down. The little magic trick had worn off, and the seraph was now in plain sight.

“I agree,” Lunarre said, grinning. “Playtime’s over. But your ice won’t touch me again.”

Lunarre had been taught to spot weakness in others for as long as he could remember. Weakness that would equal an easy target that would equal a job well done. It had served him well in his thieving days, and his time with the Scattered Bones, and so it continued.

The seraph had not got off without injury from his fall. He favoured one foot over the other, and his staff was doubling as support. There was a weakness, and any weakness could be readily exploited.

One as alone in the world as Lunarre could rely on that universal truth alone.

Seizing his moment, Lunarre lunged forward, using his superior speed to catch the seraph off-balance. With a sweep of his arm, he unleashed an arc of flame that fanned out low across the grass, singeing the green blades black. No matter where the serph went, left or right, the weak spot should be hit. Such was the hellion’s thinking.