09.28.09
Phantom – Requiem for the Phantom review
A lot of fans seem to dislike Bee Train and the kind of anime series they produce. But I personally find the suspense, eerie atmosphere, and thought-provoking struggles of the characters in their shows very enjoyable. Since I liked two of Bee Train’s other series, Noir and El Cazador, I decided to watch Phantom…
Although I’ve never seen Bee Train’s one other main series, Madlax, Phantom shares many of the same qualities as its predecessors Noir and El Cazador; the plot revolves around two central protagonists, at least one who is an assassin and at least one who has amnesia. Throughout the series, the troubled duo are being corrupted and pursued by shady characters from deadly underground organizations.
Phantom is a little different from the aforementioned Bee Train titles because its plot changes throughout the 26 episodes. The first 11 episodes deal with an amnesiac Zwei/Reiji as he reluctantly becomes an assassin for the mysterious Inferno and he slowly grows close to Ein/Elen, their top assassin who is known as Phantom. Six months later in episodes 12 through 19, Reiji and Elen are separated under tragic circumstances, with Elen and her “creator” Scythe Master betraying Inferno. Reiji, who has now become Phantom, takes it upon himself to care for an orphan girl named Cal. And finally, two years later in episodes 20 through 26, history repeats itself as Reiji is tragically separated from Cal but is reunited with Elen. While the two try to escape the grips of Inferno by hiding in Japan, they soon find out that Cal has now become Inferno’s Phantom and is filled with hatred and bitterness towards Reiji. In summary, the series can be separated into three story arcs – the first focuses on Zwei/Reiji and Ein/Elen while Ein is Phantom, the second focuses on Reiji and Cal while Reiji is Phantom, and the third focuses on all three of them while Cal (now called Drei) is Phantom. Each Phantom’s codename is a German number – “ein” is “one,” “zwei” is “two,” and “drei” is “three.”
The first 11 episodes of Phantom were brilliant. The action and suspense of Ein and Zwei’s assassin missions made me very reminiscent of Noir. The inner conflicts and self questioning that the two are constantly confronted with, their slowly growing bond, as well as the gradual corruption of Inferno and the schemes of McCunnen and Scythe Master, were all blended together well. The painful scene were Zwei has to pull a bullet out of Ein, and their eventual confrontation with Scythe Master, won’t soon be forgotten.
Cal’s introduction in the second story arc was surprising to me. I really was not expecting a third central character to be introduced midway, especially a cute little loli in such a serious, dramatic show XD After I was looking forward to more Zwei+Ein, having Cal suddenly take the spotlight along with Reiji threw me off. But once I saw that Ein would indeed come back, I got used to Reiji+Cal for a while. Through Cal, we were able to see that even becoming Phantom himself did not change Reiji’s natural care and gentleness.
The third arc of the series is when things get shaky. I felt that Reiji and Elen’s sudden reunion, reconciliation, and departure to Japan was kind of rushed. But mostly, Cal’s transformation from sweet little loli to brutal, bitter, big-breasted bitch in just two years was shocking XP The whole concept of her revenge on Reiji was a bit flawed too; I can understand her being upset when she found out he was alive but did not come to get her and instead ran off with Elen. But he didn’t go looking for her because he thought she was dead, and when they meet again two years later and he sees she’s alive, he does not bare her any ill will. I really didn’t see any reason for the two of them to have a confrontation that ended in Cal’s death; it’s not like Cal was extremely loyal to Inferno and Reiji definitely still had feelings for her. But while Cal’s complete personality change was a bit unfounded, the rest of this final arc was good. Though it started off strangely like a high school slice-of-life series, with Reiji receiving a love confession at the beginning of episode 20, it’s not long before the darkness of the show creeps back in. With the exception of Mio and her struggle against Cal, the rest of Reiji and Elen’s brief high school friends were kind of pointless.
Phantom almost had a perfect ending. A few months after their intense showdown with Scythe Master, Reiji and Elen manage to find Elen’s homeland in the beautiful fields of Mongolia. Up until the last minute or two of the series, with Reiji vowing to keep his promise to Elen and Elen being grateful to Reiji, it seemed like the two of them would more or less live “happily ever after.” But just as I was thinking to myself “what a pleasant ending this is for such a gloomy show,” a hidden assassin from a passing wagon shoots and kills Reiji. The way this scene was done however, showed that it was not supposed to be a tragic ending; after Reiji falls down dead, all we see is a couple more scenes of Elen smiling and looking relaxed as she stretches out on the fields. I can sort of understand why they decided to end it this way. The last thing Elen says is that now that she has the identity Reiji gave her, which is “Elen” and not “Ein,” she will be able to live fully with that identity. So basically she didn’t need Reiji anymore, though I’m sure she wanted him to be with her. It wasn’t the worst ending, since it stays true to the inevitability of never escaping the mafia, but I wish Phantom would have ended more like Noir and El Cazador, with both protagonists together having a good ending.
In summary, if you can stand the gloom and depression that often permeates Bee Train series, Phantom is a great show with a well constructed storyline and gripping, gun-slinging action, suspense, and drama. Though Phantom was not blessed with music by Yuki Kajiura like its Bee Train predecessors, it had some awesome songs by Ali Project and Kokia. Its animation and character designs are not too shabby either. In short, it’s definitely one of the better series of its genre.
hashi said,
September 28, 2009 at 5:02 pm
Good review. I differ only slightly. From the time Cal appeared, the way Sawashiro Miyuki was voicing her made me feel there was something a bit amiss with her. And when Reiji left and the dangerously crafty Scythe Master appeared, she was vulnerable to his serpent’s tongue. So her personality change didn’t bother me as much as her bodily change did. KOKIA’s OP1 and ED2 were outstanding, I thought. Anyway, an excellent show.