Fractale Episode 10: To the Temple

The penultimate episode of the series is filled with battle, deception, and desperation as the forces of the Lost Millennium rebels attack the Temple. But will Phryne’s attempt to broker a peace produce results or make things worse? Fractale: Reiterated continues with new HD screen captures and revised text.

With the previous episode being more introspective and structured as a setup, it was guaranteed this one would be packed with action and so it is. Jumping straight into a pitched battle warns us there won’t be any of the prior humor present. In fact, this is a deadly serious episode.

To the Temple opens with a colossal air battle between the airships of Lost Millennium and the Temple. It is a kinetic and frenetic battle that looks spectacular. Both sides land blows and it gives a real sense of war also while being reminiscent of Studio Ghibli films. The quality of the production only falters once when a CGI stacked squadron of Temple ships attack and that was a minor thing, in my opinion. The Blu-ray/DVD release made that particular moment look a little better, but not much.

In the midst of this aerial chaos, Clain and Nessa arrive in the little airship. Threading through the flak, they manage to dock with The Danan to inform the Granites of Phryne’s running off to attempt negotiations. Cue the opening title sequence and the roller coaster ride that follows.

While the battle rages on outside, Phryne enters the Temple with a purposeful stride. That composure gets shaken a bit when she finds Sir Barrot waiting for her with a smirk on his lecherous face. But the surprise is on him when Grand Priestess Moeran dismisses him.

That came as a surprise to me, too. From the previous episodes, I had the impression Barrot had some control over her. He flounces out of the throne room leaving the two women to face each other; the young and the old. Here Phryne’s acts of rebellion reach their apex as she confronts the leader of the Temple.

On The Danan, Clain is having his own confrontation with leadership. After trying to explain what Phryne is up to the boy gets into a confrontation with Sunda and then calls the Granites murderers.  That earns him an unsurprising fist to the face. 

Clain’s ability to put his foot in his mouth hasn’t completely gone away that’s for sure. But his explanation of his own conflicted emotions about viewing the terrorists as friends anyway is well written and in character. Having read fan forums when this was airing, I can say many had split feelings about the Granites and this scene directly addresses those emotions perfectly.

Clain’s impassioned plea to rescue Phryne doesn’t go unnoticed since it turns out Dias has bugged the ship. Having overheard the entire thing, he offers his support to assist in the rescue out of “love.” Sunda manages not to gag hearing that, but begrudgingly goes along with it to keep things from getting worse.

Poor Nessa wants to go along but Clain won’t let her because the Temple wants her to complete the Key. So Sunda and Clain set out in the little airship to infiltrate the Temple. There is only one thing on the younger man’s mind and that is the girl he loves.

Speaking of her, things aren’t going well between Moeran and Phryne. As they argue, the renegade priestess puts her own dagger to her throat to reinforce how serious she is. She will go through anything but she wants Nessa spared.  Ever willing to die, Phryne speaks with great passion about knowing what she most wants to protect in a nice cut to another place.

The older woman is unmoved. Restarting the Fractale system requires both girls to form the Key. Besides that, too many people will die without Fractale, including Phryne’s friends. So assured is Moeran’s speech that it begins to weaken Phryne’s resolve.

That gulf between the two is amplified by the physical distance they maintain in the scene. It’s a nice piece of directing.

Another discussion is going on in the little airship, one between Sunda and Clain during another spectacular look at the air battle. The two accuse each of other of having changed for the better in the way that only guys can. Having come to a kind of understanding, they storm the Temple.

It’s a very different situation in the Temple. The verbal battle continues with Moeran pushing her advantage by showing the people of the world under Fractale. Using clips from previous episodes to make her point, the Grand Priestess illustrates how utterly dependent and selfish the people are. They aren’t even able to think without Fractale and won’t survive if it vanishes.

Phryne tries one last appeal, that of sisterhood and the shared bond of being copies of the same girl.  That elicits a sinister smile from the Grand Priestess. I found the close ups of Moeran’s face added greatly to these scenes. In another part of the Temple, Clain and Sunda are briefly followed by a mysterious blob in another ominous turn of events.

Pleading and upset, Phryne points out even if Fractale is rebooted it will fail again and more girls will die and be “defiled.” It is a highly emotional moment and the revelation that Moeran was abused as well comes forth. The cycle of death and abuse needs to be ended. A tear running down her face, Moeran beckons Phryne to come to her and the younger girl put her head in the older woman’s lap.

And then everything goes horribly, horribly wrong.

Thoughts

Episode 10 of Fractale goes by very quickly despite quiet a bit of exposition. The spectacular aerial battles are interspersed with the rest of the events and keep things moving briskly. With so much drama going on, the soundtrack shines in support of the moods.

I feel like I haven’t mentioned just how great the soundtrack is in the series. It is at the level of a feature film, not a TV series and really adds to the show. No matter the mood, whether it be playful, ominous, or adventurous, the orchestral score delivers. It is an excellent work in its own right.

While never completely in the background, the social commentary takes center stage in this episode. The argument between Moeran and Phryne is a scathing commentary on our modern welfare society and it brings up a very valid question: Can people be taken off of such a system without descending into violence and self destruction? Here in the real world, I fear we are soon going to find out the answer to this.

If the riots in Greece and strikes in the U.K. are any kind of indication, things are going to get very ugly indeed. When I first wrote this, President Obama was threatening to not send Social Security checks unless Congress raised the debt ceiling. Politically, things have only deteriorated since and economic conditions are not improving worldwide either.

Frighteningly topical, this anime is. These are hard questions being asked and the kind people want to avoid at all costs. Kicking the can down the road only works for so long and leads to desperate measures before all is said and done.  But there is a penalty to be paid for broaching such a deep subject and I suspect this is part of why Fractale wasn’t a financial success.

BEWARE! SPOILERS BE AHEAD!!!

 

 

 

 

The heart of this episode is the argument between Phryne and Moeran. It lays out the issues around restarting Fractale and has a hefty amount of social commentary. It also is a showcase of how two people raised the same way can turn out very differently when the appeal to sisterhood backfires severely.

Moeran is insane, that much is made very clear. Not merely crazy, she is utterly vengeful against the world she was born in and wants everyone else to suffer as she has.  The irrational jealousy of Phryne shows just how screwed up she is. What a life Phryne must have had being raised by this woman and Sir Barrot, the pervert.

Phryne shows how very brave and frightened she is in a tour de force effort of trying to make things right. But she is young and in way over her head, so it goes badly. Her biting Moeran on the ankle to escape was classic. Near the end, when she is wounded and running, the animation conveys her weariness beautifully and it seems she is nearly done. Then she hears Nessa singing the Day Star song and regains some energy.

She isn’t the only one re-energized by the tune. Nessa singing the Day Star song stabilizes her and Clain’s realization the song dates back to the creation of Fractale is a fascinating clue to the mystery around the Key. The cyberexorcism was a nasty surprise, but it figures that the Temple had a way to put the genie back in the bottle.  Nessa’s fading out seems to be a sign the Fractale system is on the cusp of final failure.

Clain finally manning up and firing an assault rifle to save Nessa was a welcome moment. But his shooting form is pathetic and aim worse. Oh well, at least he tried. The boy shows more guts than brains, so it is fortunate he has others to help him.

Sunda gets some some excellent moments in this episode. Between his punching outs of Clain and Dias, we got a glimpse of a more complicated young man than previously indicated. Dias zinging him about having fallen for Phryne was nicely placed, since there were some subtle signs of interest there. Sadly the English dub omitted that jibe.

Dias is an annoying character. Finding out he was put in the story simply to accommodate one of the writers didn’t help one whit. Japanese gals so love evil men in their anime.

Enri again gets some nice moments, this time with Nessa. They has a very big sister kind of vibe and I liked it. She was the character I disliked the most due to shouting “ecchi” over and over – again the fault of that specific writer. But in the end, I liked the blonde tsundere a great deal despite her more stereotypical aspects.

Oh that awful final scene, so perfectly executed to upset the audience. Having Sir Barrot come and molest Phryne in front of the two who love her was skin crawling. Cutting to their faces while hearing his hands move across her dress was far worse than seeing it.

Clain’s determination to save Phryne really gets tested by this and the look of shock on his face is understandable. While we, the viewers, know about Phryne’s abuse, Clain and Nessa don’t. Given his age, this is very traumatic.

Nessa’s stunned and uncomprehending expression as Barrot gropes Phryne shows how innocent she is. The kids have just found out more than they can handle. I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to kill a fictional character as much as I did Barrot, so kudos to the Fractale team for provoking that reaction.

This is the last time we’ll see Nessa fall off the rock in the end credits. Just one episode left.