Anime: The Third: Aoi Hitomi no Shoujo

The fact that they used a narrator to skip dialogues and character interaction should say enough about how boring this series actually is.

The Third stands out because of the excellent animation, an interesting and mysterious world and a strong headstart of the show. The Third also stands out because halfway the show the animation, the plot and the character development drops 3 notches halfway.

Animation: Halfway the show the animator left, so they had to hire part-timers.

Honestly, the animation was good. I really think the animation helps creating the entire atmosphere this series builds on, with the world, the characters and the surroundings animated in a way which is just plain beautiful. I would have given this my two thumbs up, if the series didn't break down halfway the show. Episode 12 or 13 looks like the animators went on a vacation and left the show to the part-timers who had to rush through the show, resulting in a lack of detailed faces, bodies and surroundings.
Now this shouldn't usually catch your eye, since lots of series get a drop in quality every now and then, but this series manages to drop the quality so much that even people who do not have an eye for animation quality will notice.

Sound: Nothing remarkable.

I can't really remember whether there was something good or bad about the voiceactors, the music or the sound effects, which I usually do, so I have to brand this section as 'average'. Otherwise it would have left an impression, whether it was really good or really bad, but it was neither of them.

Story: After they had shown all the mysterious parts, the rest was only to fill the time.

How often have you seen a show which starts awesome, only to become less and less appealing and eventually hardly worth the time to finish? Unfortunately there are plenty of those series around. This series is one of them.
They start of well, with mysterious characters, a brand new world full of new characters, new races and everything you want to make a great story. Kind of like Trigun, Wolf's Rain, and so on. But after a few episodes this series already starts to drag, perks up every now and then, only to lose itself once again in its own mass of boredom. They have so much at their disposal, the entire "The Third", which they tell so little about, the history of other characters, but the entire plot is so sloppy that nothing of the mystery stays kept, nothing of the interesting parts stay interesting.
But to make matters even worse, they start to preach. If there is something I don't like in an anime is when they try to make me believe that something is good or bad.

Characters: There is development, but the characters become so terribly boring that it is a drag to see them again.

I usually don't comment on other reviews, but I'd like to quote one of them. As AlbinoSquirrel said, Bogie the tank is probably the only character with actual depth, and that's pretty pathetic for a series with so much potential. Of all the characters in this show, none of them are really worthwhile, not even Honoka. While she is onscreen in 90% of the show, there is not much content or action or even emotion why you can get attached to her.

This gets emphasized by the fact that they use a narrator; everytime there is a possible dialogue about something you might actually like, the narrator kicks in, you get a few still-shots, a zoom-out on the party and then a skip to the next day. This series manages to skimp out on character development and dialogues simply because they use a narrator to summarize the good parts.

Value & Enjoyment[/u]: Too many flaws to rewatch or enjoy.

I would like to say that at least half the show is good, but there are so many flaws, in story, characters and even animation, but the appearance of the narrator kills a lot of potential enjoyment this show might bring you.
I sat through the series and it does have some decent episodes or scenes, but the series drags and especially the narrator gets on your nerves as fast as the very first 5-6 episodes already. That by itself makes this series not worth watching, but the rest fails so miserably in many more places that I don't even want to recommend the first few episodes anymore.

- - [ The Third - Aoi Hitomi no Shoujo :: Eps: 24 ] - -

The Third - Aoi Hitomi no Shoujo, or The Third - The Girl With Blue Eyes, revolves around Honoka who is a jack-of-all-trades. She will accept any job except human murder. The Third is a race of humans, with a third eye on their forehead, allowing them to interact with machines and turn into semi-computers with huge data-processing abilities. Honoka is accompanied by Bogie, a tank with a bio-brain, or an artificial personality if you want. This is the gist of the plot of The Third (Refered henceforth as T3rd.).

I started watching it, after seeing its cover which seems quite interesting. A katana-wielding girl, followed by a super-armed tank. Quite nice. However, it was quite a deception for me. Maybe I set my standards too high, but I didn't find it too interesting. Animation is kind of strange. Sound was ok. Plotline was quite inconsistent. Characters lacked development. And there was not much value. However, it does make a great watch because there are lots of action scenes. To maintain a balance, I will grant it a 7/10.

But a word of advice, keep off if you have got better things to watch...

- [ Animation = 7 ] -

To tell you the truth, I was going to give T3rd a 5/10 or a 6/10 for animation. But considering that it has a fair amount of CGI, i gave it 7/10. Mind you, the CGI is not that great, but it is satisfactory. It truly cannot compare to the likes of Appleseed, but it does give another touch to the animation.

Personally, I didn't find T3d's animation great. The characters are bizarre and not very life-like. Sometimes, they seem to have chibi-like expressions (eg. a simple curved line for a smile). Lower eye-lids are curved upwards and things like that. I could call it traditional animation style.. but here, it's more unnatural animation style.

However, the action scenes were well done. Fast paced with enough details to make it fun. Otherwise, there is not much scenery. Most of the time, you will see lots and lots of deserts. Yes, deserts, with sand and all. It becomes quite a boring scenery after a while. On the rare occasions you will see cities, they are quite well-done. Overall, there are not much scenes to look at. The CGI does make The Third (the race)'s vechicles quite good to look at. But even then, the vehicles are not very realistic, nor very pretty or cutting-edge. Even Bogie, the tank that follows Honoka everywhere is quite disproportionate if you ask me. It's so very big but we never saw why it was that big! Even The Third's vehicles, supposedly highly advanced, are quite undermined. We never get to see much, apart from the blank white interiors. The same applies for their buildings. What I mean to say, don't expect lots from the animation, drawings or CGI. It's there and it does its job. Nothing more.

- [ Sound = 7 ] -

As always, sound does not get my attention. In T3rd, it was satisfactory. The action scenes used fast-paced music, and the OP and ED were ok. However, the music variety is kind of limited, if you ask me. Most of the time, you get to hear the same music, over and over. And sometimes, I really believed that I was listening to a loop.

I found some solace in the voice actors' performance which was great. At least, they did their work well, and did well at relaying the various emotions. Even the robotic voices were good.

Nothing more to say here.. Except, don't expect to find much music here. The OST is not as diverse as Eureka Seven's or even Samurai Champloo's.

- [ Story = 5 ] -

Lemme say it here, fair and square: The Third's story was bad! I've never seen something so inconsistent and lacking details! The last episode was really really bad! It seems the producers wanted to compress a whole arc inside one episdode! It was really a poor job!

Now let me start the real ranting! The story really lacked details. We are not told anything about how The Third race came to Earth. Coming with another character, Iksu, we are not told how or why he came here. We are not told about any of the characters' pasts, except for Honoka. We do not know why Honoka came in possession of such a huge tank such as Bogie. Ok, we know that Zankan gave it to her. But how the hell did she pay for that? No answer. The other characters seriously lack depth. They are here like puppets, just doing what they want. And sometimes, they look real stupid.

But the thing that really got on my nerves is the voice that tells us the story. Or if you want, it elaborates on the scenes! Damn! I really hated that voice. I think I'm big enough to watch a movie, and understand what's happening without having somebody telling me everything. "Honoka did that, then that happened, then this, then that, then it became really annoying to hear me everytime!". I really really hated that. If they wanted to give more details about the series, they should have included in the characters' dialogues, or even the scenes. But using a voice to elaborate on the story is really poor.

Another annoying thing. The things that happen in T3rd are really insane. Sometimes, the powers of a character (yes, one) are really really godlike. You've seen Bleach. It's even worse! One example? Conquering an army of mechas, with more than 100,000 units, mechas, tanks and everything, with the single swipe of a katana! Now, this was insane! The other people are just there to see, and mind you, nobody is amazed! What kind of world is that! A single swipe! :s

To finish burying T3d's plotline completely, there is *no* plotline. The story is really really jumpy. At one time, the characters are doing that, then the next, they are doing this, with no logical link with the past arc. At episode 22, I really thought that T3rd's semblance of a plot was ending, and that we'll get to get a good finisher at the characters, polishing things afterwards in 2 episodes. That would be great. How much I was mistaken!!

The producers truly compressed the content of a whole arc in 1 episode! There was so much to see that you can easily get lost. Don't even try to understand what's happening. It's so Evangelion style! And what's really disgusting is that the arc seems really out of place. Really really badly done. That last episode really grossed me out. And mind you! Even in the credits, they were still trying to explain things! They even wanted to create a mini-episode out of the credits (involving romance)! Now, that's what I can call compression! :D

- [ Characters = 6 ] -

I think I don't have to say much here. The main character hogs all the action. The secondary characters just sit there and see. That's what you call monopolizing the scene. Honoka here, Honoka there, Honoka does this, Honoka does that. OMG! Is she omnipresent and omnipotent?

No character development. We are given very few details about the characters. Take for example, Paifu. We are not told much about her past. Just like her, every character is introduced quickly. Call it, introducing them just to get them up and running just to get on with the series. Really, there was no great elaborations. Just like we are not told why Honoka's grandfather was so great of a sword wielder.

Now, another thing to hate is the way characters seem to come and vanish. One example is the sporadic appearance of Blue Breaker. It seems the producers tend to forget the characters existed. Again, coming to that 100,000 mecha army, Blue Breaker was nowhere to be seen! And he (it) was supposed to be really really powerful. Where the hell was it? Don't know. Perhaps drinking tea somewhere. Oh yeah, it's worth noting that Blue Breaker reminds me of the mechas of Gundam Seed Destiny. At least his way of fighting does! :D

Similarly, Joey appeared in the previous-to-last episode, ranting about Technos Taboo. Then, Honoka went single-handedly to challenge the Third for Joey's sake. Then? Joey vanished! We are not told what happened! Perhaps an after-effect of compressing a whole arc in one episode!

- [ Value and Enjoyment = 7 ] -

Frankly, I was annoyed at T3rd's defects. So I was not really enjoying it. I really enjoyed the first 10 or so episodes, afterwards, it got really bad. Perhaps a lack of budget?

But it does contain some things that are worth a watch. The action scenes are an example. The sword actions, and teamwork were good and deserve a watch. The CGI too deserved a watch.

I'd say it has a rewatch value if you want to understand things better (or at least try to understand). But even then, I think I would skip that last episode!

Personally, this much is all I've got to say. If you want to give it a try, go ahead. I don't know, maybe you might enjoy it better than I did.

- [ Conclusion ] -

The truth is, I didn't enjoy T3rd on my first watch. I may give it a rewatch, just to see if it's worth it. If so, I might consider amending my review. The first 10-15 episodes were fully worth my time. The action were good. And the power of the main character was not that insane. It was pretty well balanced, and characters didn't disappear for nothing. That's up till the series went off-track.

Overall, it's not that good. You can watch it if you don't have anything better to watch. Or if you are really curious. Or if you've got lots of time and a great internet connection or a good supply of finance.

In my opinion, it was not that great. There are better things out there to watch.

Sadly, I really had high hopes for the series after seeing the first 10 to 15 episodes. I still have. Maybe it was me. So I'll have to go for a rewatch just to see. If anything changes, amend this review...

That's all. Thanks for reading.

This review is in part a positive response to albinosqrl's negative review.

First, the bad news.

On balance the animation is eh. The CG stuff is great, really well-meshed with the background. However, the Third team must have had some problems keeping the main artists in the building--sometimes characters' faces are unrecognizable between episodes. And, every once in a while, the art is really well put together--for example, the final episode of the “Grave Stone” arc. But the art quality varies a lot. So, 6.

Value is 5 because rarely, rarely does a series have replay value.

Sound was unremarkable except for a few really cool romantic, orchestrated themes that would pop up every once in a while and dramatize the story. The OP and ED were unremarkable. Sound is 7.

Now, the Good news.
Story
I personally really liked the narration. I think it added a huge amount of depth to the story. It was like reading a good novel. I also loved the ideology of the story--strong emphasis on love and courage, very little sexism.

The episodic nature of the series might detract for some people. Personally I thought it was fitting--episodic, like the life of a mercenary. But there is no particularly overall story.

The particular arcs chosen, though they did often err on the sentimental side, seemed really emotionally powerful to me. For some reason I just loved the episode “Until Dawn.” But I think most people might find them at least a little too sentimental. I liked the ending a lot--it had a theme of judging the sins of humanity. But again, it was quite sentimental. There's even a fairy.

Story is 7.

Character
I felt the characters were really deep. All of them changed visibly through the story. Even initially stereotypical coolier-than-thou characters like Ikus and Jouganki showed softer/weaker sides. Bogie did have a lot of personality, and it was interesting to see him mellow out as the story progressed.

Admittedly, Paifu's behavior was pretty bizarre in the "blonde boy" arc, but other than that she was generally one of the more interesting and believable characters. I didn't see Honoka as emo, but rather as a believable character with strengths and weaknesses. She was far more inspired than gloomy. Characters is 8, the strongest category.

Enjoyment…Overall, I really got into this show, sympathized with the characters and looked forward to the next episode. Only a few other specific things detracted from the enjoyment.
-I generally disapprove of fanservice, including tentacle monsters, however gentle they might be.
-There was a lot of Sci-Fi Bullshit at times, which I also don't like. But it was not quite near as bad as in, say, NGE, and all the systems were pretty logical. Reminded me a lot of the MechWarrior universe.

Other than that, no problems.
So for me the enjoyment was an 8.
But considering that I really like sentimental philosophizing about love and courage while most people probably don’t, I will rate it a 7.

Well, it's been a while since I've seen a good post-apocalyptic show. Unfortunately, after watching The Third, I feel like there is no hope left for the sub-genre. I haven't seen a more hackneyed and disjointed series in quite some time. And the subtitle to the series, Girl with the Azure Eyes, should more accurately be Girl with the Weeping Eyes. Rarely have I seen a character devolve in such a way.

Summary: Many years after the Earth was wrecked in a cataclysmic war, the survivors are getting on with their lives under the mysterious guardianship of a race known as The Third. They are called The Third because of their third eye, colloquially known as a "space eye" which gives them SUPER SEKRIT POWERS. I mean, it lets them connect to computers or electronics or something. WITH THEIR MINDS.

Animation: Well, the series is fairly attractive, if you're into the desert thing. Apparently the war turned the entire world into a vast sandbox. While there's a lot of nice shots, it's very dull after the first few episodes.

Characters are fairly bland as well. Honoka, the protagonist, is your classic skinny badass girl. Iks seems a bit stretched in some ways. Paife...well, I imagine she's got back problems. Seriously, the most attractive character to look at is Millie, who at age 12-ish, should not be looked at as attractive. This is just not right.

The actual animation itself has its high points. Some of the fight scenes are pretty nicely done, and there are some nice CG scenes. It's not extremely pretty, but you won't want to rip your eyes out due to the graphics.

Sound: Again, a mixed bag. While the voice acting ranges from barely tolerable to decent, the opening and ending songs are horrific. I skipped them constantly. The series does have some nice background instrumentals at times, which bumps the score back up.

Story: As usual, my bone to pick is with the story. Or more accurately, the lack of a coherent story. The Third seems to move forward with a lurching gait, introducing short story arcs that tend to end with a dull thud each time. The penultimate story arc is actually pretty good - but it ends with three episodes to go, leaving the series conclusion feeling very rushed.

The backstory is just ridiculous as well. The race of The Third is thoroughly unexplored and unexplained. Are they humans? Are they a mutation of humans? Are they an alien race? They seem to regard themselves as different from humans, but seriously, their only distinguishing characteristics are the "space eye" and their impeccable fashion sense. Whoever came up with "space eye" needs to get out more, by the way.

The pacing of this series is horrible. Some of the story arcs are too short, others too long, and none feel as if they're truly meaningful. The final arc feels extremely, extremely cheesy and my emotional reaction can only be described as disgust.

Character: Another horrible aspect of this series is the characterization. The writers wanted a badass with a heart of gold in Honoka. What they ended up with is an emo with a sword. Seriously, the longer the series went on, the more I despised her. While some might characterize her as a growing character, it just seemed very contrived.

The supporting cast was fairly bland as well. Ixs was amusing in his always-cheerful manner, and Paife and Millie provided some nice doses of quasi-reality. Bogie the tank probably had more personality than the rest of them combined. I also have to say that the idea of having a series narrator was just plain insulting. It's lazy. Instead of illustrating Honoka's thoughts by dialogue and action, they just...narrated it. Lovely.

Value and Enjoyment: 24 episodes was 17 too many. That's a completely arbitrary number, yes. I did not enjoy this series at all. I wanted to shut it off after the first few episodes, but then I realized, hey. I can write a negative review about it, and that makes it all worth while. Almost.

Conclusion: Don't watch this series, there are so many better ones out there. Disjointed story, weak characters, and nothing special for technical merits? Pass on The Third.

So far ive watched six episodes and ive really enjoyed the series. With beautiful poems, a really interesting background history of what happened with the world.
The animation is of good quality and many hours have been spent on details. I havnt noticed any frames being re-used or any copy and pasting.

It has a post apocalyptic setting, after the ruinment of mankind and the remaining settlements of it. The competition with a higher being human form, "the third", as theyre called.

In this world of ruin humans try to live on struggling with limited supplies to feed them in a vast desert.
The Third, or higher developed biological human race has a third eye which with they can control and communicate with machines. With the use of this power they have limited normal humans to be lower creatures, creating laws of technological limitations and claimed their power of ruling over them.

The sound is pretty discrete with some nice relaxing tunes and upwarded in fighting scenes. I enjoyed the kind of feeling they gave.
The opening and ending themes are also very good.

The story is told by "story teller" to clarify some content which i personally think is great. It gives good complementary to the fantasy setting.

Characters as ive seen them so far are interesting and you really want to know more about them, i think many interesting additions are to come later on in the series!

I really recommend this anime for as far as ive watched it!
Xebec (the creators) have never made any extremely bad anime before so i dont think they will spoil this one in the end!

Regards Kenzeitak
http://www.kenzeitak.inc.se