Divinaaquis:

divinaaquis:

Get back and fight? Don’t worry, he was.

With his long-range set of skills, he wasn’t exactly the best at close-hand combat like Lunarre. He had to think fast, and try to use little techniques to deceive him, create some distance, and make it a fair fight.

The ability was rather useful, however, it required quite a level of mana to perform. Mikleo was a water seraph and should be more than capable of pulling this off, sure, but each arte would take some toll. All he wants is to get this fox off his tail.  He stops when he hears the quick padding of his feet, and picks up a small rock, tossing it to rustle some grass further away from him.  He then ducked behind a body of trees. It took some convincing with himself, but he scales a tree, and hides in one of its sturdier limbs. 

He aims another freeze lancer then, hoping to make the fox to take a hit to the foot. If he could slow him down, he might have a chance. His luck was giving out now, as the barrier around him - that which made his body seem as clear as water and invisible to one’s eyes-  was fading into nothing again.

Lunarre’s ears pricked up as a rustling sound reached them. He stopped, eyes narrowed, gaze locked on the direction from which it had come - a clump of bushes. He smiled.

Did the brat really think he could hide from him?

He crouched low, then pounced.

But Lunarre’s sharp nails did not grab flesh, as expected. Instead, they seized nothing but shrubbery and earth. 

The seraph was not here. He’d been tricked.

Lunarre barely had time to react before an arrow of ice came hissing down from above and struck his foot, encasing it in ice. Lunarre clenched his teeth as the cold sank its teeth into his skin..

“Shit!”

Snarling in anger, Lunarre gripped the trapped foot and conjured flame from his palm, melting the ice enough to yank it free.

Blue flames crackled around his livid form as he searched the trees for the seraph. Nevermind eating him - Lunarre would make sure there would be nothing left but ash.

With ferocious energy, the hellion threw volley after volley of blue fireballs in the direction of where the arrow had come.

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...

thetraitordemon:

“Well that’s a difficult question.” Kimuri huffed before soon thinking more on it. “Maybe a small amount of miasma? It’s a mix of that and just a heavy feeling. Not really comfortable if you think on it.”

Taking a moment to pull on his shirt collar to more prove the fact he soon asked his own question, having his own curiosities.

“But now what about you Lunarre? Why aren’t you attempting to attack me? I know most hellions seem to lose their old will yet you still seem to hold onto is in some way.” Folding his arms he tilted his head curiously.

“I know there’s the Lord of Calamity but still…I think it’s more or less a rare thing. But I won’t complain on that too much. I rather not fight in fear on losing track on just where I’m heading.”

Lunarre shrugged, beaming from ear to ear.

“Dunno. I guess I’m just special.” He snickered. 

There was the possibility he was correct, or partially so, but Lunarre was only joking. He hadn’t a clue what made him different from the other hellions he had encountered, but it didn’t really matter. 

“I’ve never met a guy like you before,” he added. “You interest me. Besides...” Lunarre stood up, looking into the forest stretched out thick and dark behind them. “I’m tailing someone. I can’t waste too much time dawdling.”

My Re-Write of Lunarre’s Entire Anime Experience

Read this, and see how it differs from the nonsensical crap we got, separated into parts for convenience. Hell, it might be better. At least, I think so. I have succeeded if I can make you give a crap when you get to the end anyway!

Tell me what you think! ;)

The Man

In the prologue, we see the Scattered Bones preparing to ambush the princess Alisha and her bodyguards. One assassin, however, is restless, distracted. He is Lunarre, distinctly similar looking to the hellion he later becomes.

He is dutiful and obedient to Rose, but she can tell something is bothering him. In his mind there is turmoil, a conflict Lunarre stubbornly refuses to talk about.

Lunarre takes her comments the wrong way, and his anger grows. He recalls past words that only enhance his negative feelings.

Before the situation can escalate, the princess and her bodyguards are spotted.

The Monster

The ambush is launched, and in the ensuing fight Lunarre loses his mask and is ordered to retreat by Rose. When he refuses, he is told he is no match for the princess.

This sends Lunarre over the edge, and he transforms.

On becoming a hellion, Lunarre reacts. He finds himself filled with incredible power, power he never thought possible to wield. And he has it, right there in the palms of his hands. He doesn’t know exactly what happened to him, but it doesn’t matter.

Drunk on power, Lunarre attempts to finish what he started and attacks Alisha. Rose can see Lunarre for what he has become, and orders The Scattered Bones to attack him in response. Lunarre lunges at Rose, but seeing her face and hearing his name called out, stops.

He still retains a respect and fear for the woman he calls boss. He is still attached to both her and his guild, as joining them saved him from his previous life as a thief. He comes back to himself.

Shaken, he declares his time with the Scattered Bones is done, and he leaves before anyone can stop him

The Princess

The negative emotions that have created this form and given him the extraordinary powers he wields, chips slowly away at his sanity and he struggles to hold on. He is haunted by his confrontation with his guild, and repeated flashbacks of other bad times in his life, the former seemingly triggered by the latter. His newfound hellion form is fast becoming more of a curse than a boon.

He has no home to go back to, no family to speak of, no allies. He needs a distraction, and fast.

To this end he pursues Alisha, but finds himself unable to kill her after his confrontation with Symonne. His mind is confused, scattered, and her grief touches a sensitive, deeply buried part of Lunarre’s humanity, bringing back bad memories once again. Disturbed and frustrated, he leaves the princess to her sorrow.

Elysia

Unable to stay alone with his thoughts for long, Lunarre once again finds the princess’s trail and follows her to Elysia. His presence triggers the alarm among the seraphs, and he is confronted by the seraph Mason, whom he quickly defeats. Suddenly he is overwhelmed by the desire to consume his enemy in order to grow stronger.

Before madness can take over, however, Mikleo and Sorey arrive on the scene and interrupt him. An unstable Lunarre readily attacks the duo, channeling his bloodlust into the ensuing fight.

He has Sorey helpless, and is about to deliver the finishing blow when the fear in the young man’s eyes makes him remember the fear in Rose’s during their last encounter when Lunarre lost control. 

Lunarre hesitates, and this allows Gramps to intervene and confront the hellion.

Lunarre retreats.

Ladylake

He once more tails Alisha, telling himself that he means to finish what he started, as this will finally quell the bad thoughts inside him, when he knows full well he has no stomach for it. He knows killing Alisha will only make things worse, not better.

What Alisha is is an excuse to follow the path to Ladylake; if not his home town, then it a place with emotional significance to him. He seeks peace of mind, a purpose, a drive, and a grip on himself that he feels is slowly slipping away. He hopes returning to the city could help him find that.

Once in Ladylake, Lunarre visits his old home, or a similar place, where he finds that his instability only becomes worse. He remembers his childhood days, his time as a petty thief, the boring, listless days merely surviving day-to-day while being the bane of the city folk.

Feeling worse than before, Lunarre quickly leaves, only to be spotted by Sorey and Mikleo - fearing the hellion is targeting Alisha - in the crowds. They pursue him, not over the rooftops like idiots, but through the back alleys Lunarre knows very well. Lunarre is cornered and confronted about his intentions.

Here Lunarre admits he has no intention of hunting Alisha, but he dodges the question on why he really came to Ladylake. Sorey and Mikleo notice the hellion is depressed, and they have no idea how to deal with it. Before Lunarre was a highly dangerous, bloodthirsty monster, an enemy to defeat. Now he looks anything but.

Mikleo suggests they leave, but Sorey is compelled to stay. He wants to help, even though he doesn’t know how. He offers an ear to listen, but Lunarre stubbornly refuses and leaves.

The Shepherd

Later, at the ceremony of the Sacred Blade, Lunarre watches on from the shadows. He noticed the presence of Rose and Dezel earlier, but he wants to avoid them. He is intrigued by Sorey and Mikleo, however, and wants to see what will happen at the ceremony.

As expected, chaos erupts, and in the mayhem Sorey becomes the Shepherd and defeats the hellionised audience members. Lunarre is enraptured, excited, and desperate to see more.

The Journey

From this point on Lunarre decides to tail Sorey and his group. As he watches, be begins to grow attached to them and their struggles. He particularly focuses on Rose as her internal struggle.

Rose has blood on her hands, just as he does, has done terrible things in the name of her beliefs, and now finds herself questioning herself and her entire worldview, just as Lunarre does. For Lunarre, his boss has come to represent him and his own struggles more than the others. He is uncertain, however, and feels guilt over how be attacked her before, so he stays in the shadows.

Seeing her come out the other side is a great shock for Lunarre. He thinks, ‘holy shit, if she can do it maybe I...’

Game Changer

The turning point comes when the group first purifies a dragon, be that Ladylake or elsewhere. Lunarre finds himself overwhelmed by his desire to be part of their journey. Witnessing this feat, and all the good they have accomplished prior, have quelled the darkness within Lunarre and persuaded him that he is not lost. He realises, or rather remembers, the desire to do good, to belong, to matter, that caused him to join the Scattered Bones.

So, with some hesitation, Lunarre approaches the main group directly, and offers his assistance. He has no idea if he’s doing the right thing, but he’s willing to chance it. After all, what has he to lose?

Reluctant Hero

There is some wariness at first, especially from Dezel, Mikleo and Rose, but Sorey assures them that everything will be fine. Dezel reminds the hellion that if he steps out of line even once, he will pay. Lunarre accepts, glad to be accepted at all.

Lunarre then takes the opportunity to apologise to Alisha in a public display of humility that shocks everyone.

From this point on, Lunarre assists the group in their travels in whatever way he can, slowly gaining the trust of his more wary comrades in the process. He shares a heart-to-heart with his former boss and they make peace.

Despite his change of heart, Lunarre finds himself occasionally plagued by uncertainty, self-doubt and anger. He suffers from nightmares and flashbacks from his past. Sorey, Rose, Alisha and even Zaveid serve as helpful support in these times. 

Lunarre even begins to feel romantic affection towards Alisha, although he tries to hide it. Zaveid sees all, however, and badgers him to confess.

The End

The final battle arrives. After much reflection and preparation, our heroes ride into battle. Lunarre and Alisha, along with others, are the first wave of attack designed to clear the hellions blocking their path to the Lord of Calamity. There are thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands, too many for their small number to destroy. Not even the additional help of Sorey and the others can alleviate the hoard.

Sorey orders the remaining fighters to retreat, but Lunarre refuses. He knows a way.

Rose screams for him to stop, but Lunarre has made up his mind. Using every last bit of power he has, Lunarre draws all the remaining hellions to him and destroys them, killing himself in the process.

He dies smiling, at peace. He thanks everyone for everything they did for him in his final thoughts.

Alisha finds his body first, and the others arrive shortly after. They are genuinely, honestly grieved. Rose is the first to point out that Lunarre has returned to his human form at last.

Later, they bury him, and have a moment’s silence out of respect for their fallen friend. 

A Hellion with No Purpose

I swear making Lunarre an aimless, wise-cracking Observer of All was the worst thing they could have done for his character. Even in the games he had a drive, while not particularly explored or examined, he at the very least had one. Namely, vengeance.

The anime, on the other hand, stripped Lunarre of his loyalty to, betrayal of, and ultimately his desire for vengeance against, the Scattered Bones and his former boss Rose. It stripped him, also, of his desire to pursue Alisha for longer than the plot would allow. Three episodes in and suddenly Lunarre is more interested in sightseeing along with Alisha than having her for dinner.

In so doing, Lunarre becomes little more than a stand-in for the audience. An observer with little to no influence on the plot unless the plot or, more specifically, Alisha focus, demands. He even outright declares himself an observer, and has little ambition to move from his solitary perch overlooking the plot at all unless pushed.

The rest of the time Lunarre is content with muttering to himself about what he sees and how excited he is, like a good audience-stand-in. As the Observer of All he adds precious little to nothing to the flow of the plot nor to his own character as the story progresses. It makes his sudden attempt at redemption at the end utterly baffling.

Lunarre also has a strange and utterly baffling habit of constantly questioning his own motives for being in whatever location he planted himself in, as if self-aware that his actions, as a fictional character, are controlled by the gods that are the Writers and so forth.

Unfortunately, it seems that Lunarre’s constant questioning of himself, even manifesting as rhetorical questions when asked directly who he is and what he is doing in such-and-such a place.

Example: In episode 20 of Season 2, Maltran asks Lunarre who he is. Lunarre’s response is quite literally ‘I wonder?’ It doesn’t occur to him to simply answer with his name.

From my perspective, there are two main problems with his anime portrayal.

Problem #1: His Brief Appearance as a Human

We are shown Lunarre as a human, working under Rose’s leadership as a member of the Scattered Bones. If the game is anything to go on, then like in the game Lunarre will have by this point been with the guild for two years.

This alone completely fucks with Lunarre’s identity crisis, as it appears.

He is onscreen as a human 54 seconds. I know, I timed it, including the time in which he was masked, fighting Alisha. 

From what we saw, Lunarre was loyal to Rose and a keen fighter, though unable to match Alisha. 

That, coupled with the fact that he is a member of an assassin’s guild and has likely been such for two years straight, calls into question how he could be anything but serious in his belief that he belongs to the Scattered Bones, that he is part of it. 

You don’t join something like an assassin’s guild for the luls, and you certainly don’t stay there two years when you’re not sure if it’s really the job you see yourself doing long-term. Rose certainly wouldn’t have tolerated someone like that in her guild. Game!Lunarre certainly considered himself a member until his behaviour got him kicked out.

So why does he leave? And why does he suddenly become the most uncertain man in the entire Zestiria universe?

Lunarre, as in the game, never removes his assassin uniform. He keeps his tie to the guild despite so abruptly and nonsensically leaving it, and he bears no grudge or ill will towards it or Rose. Neither what little we saw of his human life nor his transformation into a hellion give the audience any indication that he transformed and went rogue other than because he’s batshit crazy. 

Yes, there was a slight indication that Rose’s comment could have set him off, but it’s one comment, with no history of similar comments or treatment that might have made this particular comment mean anything. It certainly doesn’t give the weight necessary to give credence to the fact that LUNARRE BECAME A HELLION because of it!

If we had been given more insight into what could have been a mind steadily disillusioned with the assassin lifestyle, a man realising he is, for whatever reason (let’s say skill) the black sheep of the organisation. We could have seen how he feels belittled by Rose, perhaps, or underappreciated, or lacking in fulfillment. It would have gone a long way to explaining why Lunarre became a hellion after Rose told him he was ‘no match’ for Alisha.

Perhaps that is what they were going for, but it is so poorly conveyed it goes unnoticed under the maniacal cackling from the newly-transformed fox hellion.

Problem #2: No Time, No Effort, No Shits Given (Until it’s Too Late)

The identity crisis could have been a very interesting. it could have been a rare, intimate insight into a more in-control hellion’s mind. 

Lack of time and focus on him, even through other characters, who by and large forgot his existence until they discovered his dead body near the end of season 2, meant that his entire ‘arc’ was botched practically from the start. 

The smatterings of appearance he made only raised eyebrows from confused viewers, wondering what he’s still doing here. He either comments on what the audience can already see, or acts like a deranged lunatic simply content to watch cool shit go down. Only as the series draws close to its finale do the writers suddenly realise Lunarre exists and has had no resolution yet. 

Unfortunately, it falls flat on its face (much like Lunarre does as he dies) because there has been no build-up, no tension, no time or effort given to invest in his character before. Why should the audience give a shit now, when they have never been given a reason to prior?

When there has been no build-up, there cannot be any pay-off. At all. Only confusion, disbelief, and annoyance.

Thus, as the main cast inexplicably take time out to have a minute’s silence over Lunarre’s dead body, the viewer can only sigh and mutter “Can we just get on with it? Who the fuck is this guy anyway?”