I am expecting lots and lots of ‘fanart’ :p
You’ve probably heard it more than enough times from other blogs or indeed your very own opinion as well but I still have to say it to release some stress; Luke is still a bitch and is only getting worse. There, I’ve said it.
Thoughts: And one more for the road, Luke…YOU SUCK! 😀
*Cough* getting back on track, I would first like to say that the fight scene in this episode was absolutely gorgeous! Especially the part where Sync was fighting with Guy head on…using his bear hands against a sword! Not to mention how good the action and animation was, as expected from Sunrise (muhahahaha). Though it is a shame that the length of the fight wasn’t enough for me, though that is just me. The way the God Generals retreated was also quite anticlimatic but I guess they had to end the fight somewhere. Surprisingly, it was Sync who slapped Asch back to reality otherwise he would have revealed a very big secret…
…a big secret I wanted to know :p
But the fight itself revealed a few interesting facts. Firstly with Asch’s moves being similar to Luke’s. And why is that? Guess you guys can guess by now that Van is the big mastermind behind it all otherwise why would Asch know moves which are from Van and is also taught to Luke? I smell a big pimp and Van isn’t satisfied with just one spoilt brat in his ‘harem’.
Secondly, Asch was going to scream out something emotionally before Sync stopped him…so what is the big secret then? I would have laughed if Asch suddenly sputtered out the phrase “I am your brother” but since the previous episode, all three options are valid.
Then we have Guy being cursed by Sync with a “curse slot”. As bad as the name sounds, this curse really does seem to be some heavy duty poison to Guy…maybe more so than touching females. Come to think, I still have no ideas what these “slot” things are but I am guessing that it may be a way of grouping different power categories like the elements (blind guess lol).
Poor Guy though…hope he isn’t going to be tortured too much. Though another interesting fact, Ion notes that only fon masters can use Daathic fonic artes so it seems like Guy’s curse came from someone just like Ion…and since we know that there are only one fon master in the world, err…who the heck is Sync!? Come to think…he is a similar age to Ion right?
And last but not least, it seems like Largo has some connection with Natalia. Unfortunately I was already spoiled on this matter but I will keep it zipped. Still an interesting thing to ponder over :p
The rest of the episode was pretty much the group traveling to the next location with Luke bumping into Ion’s Kidnappers and them mistaking him to be Asch before pulling a ninja smoke bomb disappearing act that made Luke look like he was going crazy in front of the gang…maybe he is? I certainly hope so 
The rest of the episode ends with Luke being a bitch (deja vu?) and an amazingly funny scene where Anise said “anta baka”. Seriously though whenever Luke says something like he is the leader so everyone must listen to him I am left to think…”just who died an made him king?”. I think that will still hold true for a couple more episodes before he turns…suicidal?
Ion is still weak as heck but I do pity him that he needs to push himself to walk at the pace of Luke. But I do wonder why Anise just doesn’t give him a piggyback on her giant doll like thing?
Then at the end of the episode we have Legretta firing upon the gang and running off after leaving a word to Tear and pissing Jade off…hang on…she managed to piss off Jade!? Now that must have been the biggest revelation for the entire episode. For Jade to lose his temper and to scream at the enemy is nothing short of a miricle as far as I know. Though the reason behind it may be very significant to the story. Ion telling Jade to not dig any further was also quite dramatic. But it was just hilarious to watch Jade regain his coolness just as quickly as he lost it. Amazing.
Then there is Tear and a glimpse of her past. Shame the episode then had to end on a sour note because Luke continues to be a bitch. Cry more you crybaby!
Screen caps and “wise guy” comments:
Does that kill off a theory I wonder?
Though it doesn’t seem like Jade will give them a chance to ponder over it, even if he may know the answer
Mieu is as fricking dumb as Luke
Seal destroyed but what is that all about anyway?
Great, I hope you won’t die easily ^^
Kickass fight is kickass
BAKAAAAAA
And that felt like a tonne of bricks on his side XD
Natalia uses her bow backwards? Wow…that is some awesome strength she has there
Curse slot…uhoh
Somehow, I don’t like the look of Sync getting hit by Luke
Shock/horror
HAHAHA! Well said Asch, well said 😀
Largo and Natalia…just what relationship do they share?
Wow man…as if you could sprout so much shit so suddenly O.O
He was born that way ^^
Kidnappers? where? you must be going mad, Luke
Sounds like that nasty curse will come back to haunt Guy’s traumatic past…
Is that a bet?
You are too late Tear, much too late
Luke should just leave the group already to go jumping into Van’s bulging chest
WHYYYYYYYY indeed. Van must be spinning in his grave
Cute Tear, though I like long hair covering eyes better ^^
But it seems like Legretta was a great teacher to Tear
WTFBBQ Jade? O.o…(but Anise looks hilarious XD)
And the way he changes back is awesome…I love you Jade XD
Because…he is a ***** to your *** and wants to **** you
Cue dramatic BGM
When Anime Past Meets Present 
That was fun. Natalia shot her bow so hard it flipped backwards. Just had to rewatch that scene a few times and laugh. I don’t see why Luke should be surprised about Asch knowing that sword style, aside from him being an idiot. Since clearly his bad memory missed when it was mentioned Van was in charge of the God Generals. Sure he says they are moving on their own, but why should it be a surprise that someone in the group has been trained by the guy in charge of them?
Well the brother theory isn’t thrown out the window. Doubt they’d even tell Natalia about a child they put aside so not to cause controversy with the royals. Plus with a prophecy they probably don’t want to cause confusion.
In terms of the Natalia/Tear moment I would have gone with the picture that came after Natalia turned and smiled at Tear. So good when taken out of context :). Too bad about being spoiled regarding the Largo and Natalia connection. Though suppose could still speculate on why Asch is curious about it.
Agree that terminology like Fon Slots etc can be tough to figure out. Think something I read could help out with that though, “Every single object, biotic and abiotic alike, have points where fonons tend to concentrate in great number. Fon slots are innumerable, but every single thing has ten major fon slots.” So a Fon Slot Seal like Jade has would prevent him from manipulating fonons to a great degree and thus limit his Fonic Artes. Don’t know if the series will delve deeply into terminology or not.
Lot of curious connections being brought up in this series. Asch to Luke and Natalia, Largo to Natalia, etc. Plenty of mystery surrounding Sync and why he can use Daathic Artes like that. Still have to thank Sync a bit for that Curse Slot since it made the guy shove Luke who deserved that and more. But at the same time feel for Guy since he doesn’t deserve that being put on him.
Honestly I’d love Luke to run to Van and leave the party. Causing them and the viewers headaches. What a pain to deal with.
Fight was pretty good I thought. Maybe they could have extended it since Tear really didn’t do much other than save Natalia. But still the fight of Sync vs Guy was pretty good. Hopefully they do a good job with future major battles.
Luke gets much much MUCH worse
I should’ve mentioned this last week, but you said that you’re disappointed that Tear doesn’t do much, right? Well, if you think of it this was, Tear…well…I’m not sure if this is a good analogy, but she’s like the Horatio of Tales of the Abyss. Though she has her own personal baggage, but it’s never as big and never a huge revelation outside of one part of the game, which I think could’ve been taken out without ruining the plot. Her development and overall character are really based on how she handles each situation or her own personal judgements about a character, especially Luke. Although everyone becomes equally important to Luke, there are three people in his life that he can fall back on: Guy, Ion, and Tear. We don’t see this now, but we will probably see this in the not so distant future (Maybe even as early next episode). As for her fear of ghosts, that was pretty much in the game, though it was part of the extra skits. There’s a point where Jade tells everyone a ghost story and everyone runs except for Tear and that’s only because she fainted… XD
Yeah, I said it in the earlier episodes, but I told you it was going to happen. His whole “I’M THE FREAKIN’ AMBASSADOR” stunt is honestly him at his worst. Even after playing through the whole game, this still gets me every time.
Did someone seriously spoil the whole Largo/Natalia connection? Geez…that sucks! But I’m pretty sure you were suprised by the whole thing.
As for Anise not giving him the chance to, my assumption will always be that Ion never really asks for anything other than peace. He really knows no selfishness and Anise probably knows that even if she did offer it, Ion would refuse because he’s that nice. Doesn’t mean she doesn’t take care of him (One skit has everyone joking about her and Ion from being brother and sister to mom and son to even lovers).
As for the connection between Asch and Luke, I think you will be getting your answer as early as next episode, because this is the one to DEFINITELY watch out for. If not, maybe even the episode after that. The next episode or two will be the episode where everything changes and when we finally get our first real answer.
They say that sometimes you have to hit rock bottom before you can start to turn your life around.
Ach, Kaio beat me to that comment…
Like the economy, we have no idea when Luke bottoms out, or how far we are from there. I’ve never seen anyone in more need of a slapping. I held my breath when I thought Tear was going for it. But Tear, you didn’t. Stop breaking my heart.
@Kaio: Couldn’t have said it better.
He gets much worse huh…
Well we will just have to see how much more he is going to humiluate by rolling around in the mud before realising that he is a pathetic excuse for a human and then begin to turn his life around.
But he isn’t quite there yet…I can think of a few things more he can do to lower himself further
My apologies for not commenting more here. I blame having to reformat. -_-“”
As the others have said — it takes a big WHAMMO to make someone realize he’s been wrong all along. And since we’re only 7 episodes in, there’s a lot of time to get that done.
Jade’s sudden burst of emotion and return to normalcy is definitely more startling than in the game thanks to the faces being more animated and Jade’s anger being well conveyed. I see Anise’s cuteness is a foil for him in that scene. XD:;
Also, Luke’s lines can come off as “NO DUH SHERLOCK” a lot of the time. I guess that’s where Mieu gets his intelligence. Still, in all honesty, you have to give him some slack for not getting how the world really works. *cough* “People die when they’re killed”
As for Guy getting the Curse Slot — it’s better played out than in the game, where Sync just kinda charged at Guy and hit him along the way.