Hello one and all,
today I would like to sit down and talk about one of my recent favourite little
gems that I’ve discovered, the loveable Pumpkin scissors. I came across this
anime when I was looking for steam punk anime series, which sadly there aren’t many
of. The thing that really attracted me to it was the small array of
characters and how they interact with each other, keeping secrets and hidden back-story
but keeping the audience guessing all the while to whom the characters actually
are.
Okay, so the premise of the anime is this; a devastating war has just ended,
with Corporal Randal Oland left to wander the land he fought for as it lies in
post war poverty, including pestilence, and banditry running rampant. He meets
2nd lieutenant Alice L. Melvin the ranking officer of the imperial army section
III, who are in charge of a war relief appeal to help people
rather than kill them, however the Corporal has a dark secret in the form of a
blue lantern which is able to turn him in to a tank killer.
Other than the way the characters interact with each other, the other main
reason why I absolutely love this series is because of the main themes that get
relayed to the audience, these include how society copes with the stress of war
relief, which is mirrored on the events and circumstance after the two great
wars that have occurred in the last century. The other main theme is the idea
of a class war between the aristocracy and the people, with Alice being a
bridge between the classes.
The other main emphasis
that it gives, which is seen later towards the middle of the series, is the
introduction to Orland’s extensive psychological tear down, in that when his
lantern's light is turned on, he cannot feel pain, and he only has a single goal, which
is reminiscent of soviet programs during the cold war.
So, after all is said
and done, the anime is amazing and is a nice relaxing anime where there isn’t a
whole heap of stuff to take in, and there isn’t excessive violence (I'm looking at
you Berserk) but just enough to keep you entertained, also I recommend watching
the English dub over the subbed version as the voice acting team got the
emotions just right, but their Japanese counterparts didn’t quite have the
subtlety to get any underlying messages behind.
