The Tower of Druaga ~the Sword of Uruk~ - 01 January 9
OP Sequence
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OP: 「Questions?」 by 中村優 (Nakamura Yuu)
Watch the OP! Mirror 1, Mirror 2, Streaming
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Summary:
It’s been half a year since Druaga was defeated, and the tower has been renamed the Tower of Gilgamesh. The monsters are gone, and Fatina is now acting as a tour guide and souvenir seller. She and Jil have been living above a tavern owned by Kelb who quit the military after it was decided by the higher ups that Gilgamesh would take credit for Druaga’s defeat. Jil, however, still hasn’t fully mentally recovered from Neeba and Kaaya’s betrayal and from the disappearance of the Mythical Tower, and Fatina has to take care of him. On this night, she decides that they should go out and have some fun, but the play they initially attend involves two pairs of lovers’ betrayals, so they end up heading to a wrestling match instead. Because of what they saw at the play, Fatina asks Jil about still being bothered about Kaaya, but he doesn’t answer and instead questions her back about Neeba. Fatina claims that she already forgot about Neeba, and to prove it, she takes Jil’s hand and places it on her leg. She wants to start all over and rests her head on his shoulder, but their moment together is interrupted by a little girl grabbing both their legs from under the seat.
As the two try to figure out who the little girl is, a large group of knights approach them to try to take the girl. Jil and Fatina thus make their way with the girl into the center of the wrestling ring where they’re helped out by one of the fighters, and in the ensuing chaos, the group of four escapes. Some more knights take the pursuit outside, but they are held off by a mysterious archer from a distance, and this allows Jil and company to hide themselves. It turns out that the wrestler who helped them was none other than Utu, and as for the little girl, she claims that she’s Ki, Gilgamesh’s queen and first priestess of Ishtar. What’s more, she shows Jil a vision of Kaaya impaled into the side of some ruins and explains that if Jil wants to stop this from happening, then he should take her to the top of the tower.
ED Sequence
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ED: 「魔法使いですけど。」 (Mahoutsukai Desu Kedo) by 折笠富美子 (Orisaka Fumiko)
Watch the ED!: Mirror 1, Mirror 2, Streaming
It’s good to see that the OP and its animation is as alternate-universe energetic as those of the first series, though I think I like Swinging slightly more. As for the ED, the song is okay, but the images that went with it were a bit odd, as if this were a temporary thing that they change every week or every few weeks.
I thought this first episode did a pretty good job reintroducing the characters and bringing up the new conflicts. Nothing huge happened, but there were a lot of hints of things to come and plenty of still-unanswered questions, like why Gilgamesh is acting so weird lately (speaking of which, I guess now that the tower is named after him instead of Druaga, then that might ultimately make him the final boss). They’re moving just fast enough to keep things from getting boring, and it’s fortunately not just a redux of climbing the tower like I feared it might be. I also didn’t really have any complaints about the production quality or voice acting.
One of the more interesting questions coming into this season was who Jil would be paired with, and since Kaaya wasn’t in this episode much but Fatina was, I felt compelled to root for JilXFatina the entire time. The two of them would make a nice couple with Ki as their very cute kid. However, given that Jil is still motivated to go after Kaaya and seems destined to be paired with her, I’d be surprised if he doesn’t end up with her. I wouldn’t be against that as long as Fatina gets a decent amount of character development as well. Speaking of which, who was that red-haired woman looking at Kaaya at the beginning? The only person I could think of with that color hair is Ahmey, but I really don’t want them to magically revive her character.
In any case, I enjoyed this first episode enough to keep watching and probably blogging. As I said in my winter preview, I’m pretty invested in the characters and want to see the story to the end. Hopefully the Gonzo crew won’t disappoint.
KokWeng at 2:02 am on January 9th, 2009
o-o 1st ..
Lelouch at 2:05 am on January 9th, 2009
Wewt! Been waiting.
Megas at 2:11 am on January 9th, 2009
I really thought that the first series was good up until episode 7 or 8 then it turned to garbage. This episode was pretty darn good, but it has me wondering will they repeat the last mess leading up to the ending for this series as well.
Brizzle at 2:13 am on January 9th, 2009
I’m glad I’m not the only who was looking forward to seeing what happens next. I was late picking up the first series, but I’ll be along for the ride this time.
Chicle at 2:24 am on January 9th, 2009
The long awaited series after the rage that arrupted from the cliffhanger before. Woot.
Also the play was hilarious.
Tim at 2:58 am on January 9th, 2009
Wow. Thank you for blogging the second season. I truly appreciate your dedication to the anime blogging community. If you didn’t blog ‘The Tower of Druga,’ it would’ve been disappointing. I’m glad you’re on the same wavelength as your frequent guests. Now all we need you to do is to take a big leap into the adult world of HENTAI. Come on, there’s no hurting, join the bandwagon and experience the joy of 2D characters in a heartwrenching tale of love-relationships, ranging from the siscon to the overly endowed childhood enigma. Join us to fight the forces of darkness! (-(-(-_-)-)-)
All that’s been said, I just want to add my prediction. I believe that this season will leave some of the fans of both heroines disappointed. Let’s just hope the main character won’t lost against his step brother. Saying it like that sounds really disgusting. Bottom line is, I can not picture an ending where the male lead ends up having nothing at the end. It’s morally displeasing.
banzemanga at 3:01 am on January 9th, 2009
This episode was a little disappointing for me; maybe because it was a long wait. I guess it returned to the “not very interesting or not very boring” kind of episode for the mean time.
Talking about who will Jil will end up with, i don’t want him to be with Kaaya for whatever reason. I don’t mind an ending with Ahmey but i don’t think it will happen at all since they don’t have anything in common and Ahmey already has someone she likes. Fatina has changed a lot, i used to hate her but i guess i feel it is ok to be with her now. The last option is to end up with Kai. It would not be that bad since she helped Jil from the very beginning. But it is kinda awkward.
:) at 3:26 am on January 9th, 2009
this episode got me rooting for fatina*jil ^^ hope we get a good ending for this season (no more cliffhangers woot!)
Xavier at 3:36 am on January 9th, 2009
woa finally..i been wating for this sooo long.. -.-
Dearka at 4:00 am on January 9th, 2009
i just can’t wait till the subbed episode is out!!!
winglessbaka at 4:35 am on January 9th, 2009
considering that ahmey was in the OP, i’d say the chances of her being magically revived is fairly high. but judging from her 1 second OP time, she either plays a minor role or appears through flashbacks.
Squanto at 4:41 am on January 9th, 2009
Oddly enough, I found myself wanting to draw a few pictures of Jil and Fatina together. I think they’d make a cute pair also with Kai. I think Kai is automatically my favorite character now. In her kid form only though. My sheesh~! When the gang had hidden themselves from the guards, and Fatina turned to Kai to ask if she was okay. The way Kai was on the bags.. chillin’… being all… chill. She just stole me away then and there. I like her as much I as I did Pino from Ergo Proxy. And I foresee a lot of comedy coming from her too.
I feel like it’s to soon to say this but I can’t wait for the next episode. xD
Kensei at 4:41 am on January 9th, 2009
Kai is too cute…
frubam at 4:43 am on January 9th, 2009
This episode was pretty good as a reintroduction to the chars, as Omni said. I also feel that Fatina brings alot more energy and fun to the show that Kaaya(most of the time) lacked. I’m actually hoping Jil and Fatina will develop into something before he reaches Kaaya again.
X at 4:49 am on January 9th, 2009
Jil should just stick with Fatina. I mean at first, I was rooting for Kaaya since she and him were a good combination, a support and a fighter, plus they got along well and she was the reason why he was able to form a good team and was able to climb the tower. I didn’t like Fatina at first due to her attitude of treating Jill just because they thought he was weak, due to their first encounter. However, the moment of betrayal made me switch to Fatina instead, unless they really show a dam good reason, I mean a very dam good reason for Kaaya to betray Jill (whom was hoping to revive Ahmey).
phiyo at 4:53 am on January 9th, 2009
lol the pillow in the opening.
Blue_Master at 5:24 am on January 9th, 2009
wow i havent even watched the first one yet.
v1cious at 5:43 am on January 9th, 2009
the girl in the opening scene is definitely Ahmey. look at her bangs. i think the second tower isn’t based in reality, i think she’s able to exist because the second half of the tower isn’t based in reality, hence why everything looked totally different.
furinyue at 5:45 am on January 9th, 2009
well izzit me or something , wat happen to toaru no majustu index and abyss, as i heard they change the time slot but this whole week no news about them, it seem they (japan )focus on new show
boznia at 6:38 am on January 9th, 2009
Lol at the fork in home plate in the OP. (For those not familiar with baseball, a forkball is a type of baseball pitch.)
I felt the first season was average. Some episodes I liked quite a bit, and some I wasn’t so fond of. But that cliffhanger had me wanting to see what was going to happen, and so far, so good. I really enjoyed this first episode and am much more excited about this season than the first.