*** [TSR] *** Episode 7 - Left Behind.

[FMPFIEND]

The following may contain some information from the novels, that, while it doesnt matter really, could be considered Spoilers



Well the scene seemed kind of stupid so some because they changed it from the novel, just like they changed a lot.

Originally, Kaname see's Wraith on her way home after parting with Kyouko, and so she finally realizes how true it is that she really IS being watched/enemies could show up at any time. Then at home she's paranoid from seeing the shine off of Wraith's rifle, which he/she/it always has pointed at/around kaname. She doesnt know who Wraith is at the time, so of course, she thinks its an enemy.

So she goes to Sousuke's place because she isnt just afraid, but thinks he might know something. Of course, she doesnt do this until after she hears "odd" noises and such, just like any normal person would do if they were wanted for some reason by crazy people and just freaked out earlier that day. She heard normal things, but got scared.

Thats all. In the show though they made it a lot crappier. Just like a lot of stuff. I mean realistically, the twin lesbians dont exist at all in the novels, so this scene was obviously drastically changed...and the male straight twins that the girls are based off of dont show up till Hong Kong....so yeah.

Also, even Sousuke is really freaking out that day. This is because of Wraith. He actually points his rifle directly at Sousuke when Sousuke is at the barbershop, this is the real reason he freaks out. Its in the novels.

So yeah, its not just kaname, Wraith just was causing problems that day cuz he's funny like that i suppose, so he probably did it to kaname that night to, just to screw with her.

[KashimArbalestAS]

I don't think that glare was from Wraith's rifle since it would be too much of a giveaway, since others can see its glare. I think it would have been Wraith's binoculars. There doesn't seem to be any need for Wraith to be constantly handling a rifle when on duty of observing, and in doubt, protecting Kaname.

I don't see anything in the Boku-Tachi scanlations of the novels mentioning Wraith aiming his rifle at Sousuke at the barbershop. It seems that it was Sousuke's usual paranoia/instinct. I don't think Wraith would stoop as low as to cause discomfort to another Mithril agent for enjoyment. Sure Wraith was relishing some moments of the phone call, but that was because Sousuke was getting on his/her nerves. Wraith has his/her honor, Wraith wouldn't risk a report to Mithril stating that when on duty, Wraith was playing around with his/her rifle, causing another Mithril agent to act in a way that could have injured innocent people.

[FMPFIEND]

then you somehow managed to miss it

He even says he screws with Sagara purposefully just for fun.


And i quote.

Since i sit undercover at a distance pointing my rifle in your direction, i can make you extremely uneasy just by moving the bold on my machine gun. You have magnificent instinct for battle, but its because of that that you screw up so much. I enjoyed myself today, too, watching you at the barbershop"

Anyone not stupid enough to eat rocks for breakfast understands what he just said.

1. not only does this obviously imply he was aiming at him or close to him and probably screwing aroudn with his gun just to scare Sousuke.

2. but it also means HE ALWAYS WATCHES WITH A RIFLE. HE SAYS SO RIGHT THERE. Meaning she saw his rifle scope.

3. Wraith just said he gets enjoyment out of messing with a fellow Mithril agent



Besides, using the rifle to watch over is fine. not only does it both work as a weapon and have as good, if not better, zoom to see with and possibly nv and such depending...normal people dont think a glare on a roof is a rifle scope, they assume its just glass or metal, thusly others seeing the glare wouldnt matter, noone else there really cares. If you mean the 'enemy' would see him, well, if you read on, they DO find him at one point, so yeah. He's not perfect =/ I mean if you REALLY think about it, if a helicopter, say a news one, HAPPENED to fly over, they'd see him too, so what. He doesnt try too hard to hide when he's on the roofs apparently =/

[KashimArbalestAS]

The field of vision a rifle's scope gives is inferior to the range that binoculars could offer. Wouldn't someone holding binoculars look less threatening than someone pointing a rifle while moving it little by little to keep something in its field of vision? Anyone in such a business as in tracking a person's movements would have to always assume that he/she is not invisible and is always in danger of being spotted.

It doesn't say that Wraith was pointing his/her rifle in Sousuke's direction when he was in the barbershop. It says, that the rifle is being pointed in his direction at the moment of their chat, not when Sousuke was in the barbershop. First of all, Sousuke was in a building. It seemed he was more interested in what was going on inside the building than compared to what was going on outside. Sousuke does have a magnificent instinct for battle, but that instinct can not penetrate walls/windows/long distances. That was figurative language.

I don't deny that Wraith always carries around a weapon, but holding a weapon as a rifle all day can be tiring.

Of course, many things I wrote in this and my last post is completely conjecture or reasoning. I like to eat a healthy meal for breakfast.

Edit: I guess it all depends on your perspective and reasoning. Amalgam is a very impressive and capable organization. It might not have been Wraith's skill that was his/her fault. It was probably due to the skill of Amalgam's own agents observing Kaname and anyone who seemed to tail her, as in potential bodyguards. Amalgam also has a way with information.

[FMPFIEND]

im not saying he NEVER leaves, later he even meets up with kaname and such. Nor am i saying he ALWAYS has a rifle. It just seems to me that its implied taht he was doing such at the barbershop time.

I hear in episode 7 of the show he actually says he was aiming at Sousuke, but i havnt watched the episode fansubbed yet (and i dont understand enough japanese to say if he really did say it or not) but if he did it helps my point, although the show and manga are two different animals so it doesnt too but meh.

I dont know how it is where you live, but lots of barbershops out here have huge front windows and usually a large space, like a big parking lot then a 4 lane street infront of them, then many buildings surrounding them. Because of this, a rifle could EASILY see everything inside the barbershop. Of course not ALL places are like this, but the majority of hair cutters ive seen/gone to are. And by my standards, a guy on a roof with binoculars is just as suspicious as a guy with a rifle, they both are probably gonna kill someone, or are stalking someone (wraith would count as this). So no matter what he had, it'd be just as suspicious. A random guy on a random roof looking at something, thats not normal no matter how you look at it.

Plus later on when kaname ends up at the 'love hotel' with that guy HE IS ON A ROOF A COUPLE BUILDINGS AWAY watching her WITH HIS RIFLE. Which further proves that he DOES somehow manage to see through windows and all over the place from a roof, with a rifle, even when kaname goes INSIDE A BUILDING and UP AN ELEVATOR and into a room he wouldnt know which. ANd yet he still watches her until she tricks him...which then shows it wasnt a good idea watching from so far away with a rifle, but that he DOES do it.

[KashimArbalestAS]

I wasn't saying that Wraith was having trouble keeping Kaname in his/her sights when she was in the barbershop. I meant Sousuke's instinct, as in you saying that he detected Wraith's rifle being pointed in his direction for fun. In episode 7, it pretty much follows the novel. It says here from the episode, "You had entertained me with the salon incident today." And it doesn't mention either of him pointing his rifle at Sousuke in the salon in the episode. But I guess you'll have to see it for yourself. Many businesses usually have huge windows in front of their shops.

Edit: You may continue your chat with me through PM, though I will most likely not respond.

[FMPFIEND]

Edit: You may continue your chat with me through PM, though I will most likely not respond.

Thats rude If you dont like people disagreeing with you, wether or not your right, then you shouldnt be on message boards. The point is to debate, because really, thats all conversation is. So you shouldnt be such a jerk just because i wont agree with you.

[KiLlEr]

So you shouldnt be such a jerk just because i wont agree with you.

He's not being a jerk because you won't agree with him. He's just born that way.

Wraith watches her from a distance, howerver, he works for the intellegence bureau so he knows who the enemy is. Therefore he keeps tabs on where she is, and who else is there with her. Basicallly, he/she/it will she Kaname get dragged into a van, and he/she/it will just call it into base.

Basically, he'd see her get pulled int a van, but he can't see her getting assulted in an elevator. The dude/dudette ain't superman. No X-Ray vision there.

He can also use binoculars, not just a rifle.

[FMPFIEND]

im not sure if you read it all, but thats EXACTLY my point.

But the binocular thing.

Im saying - when she goes into the 'hotel' with the guy to escape wraith's view and all that and then finally finds him without him noticing..

HE HAS HIS RIFLE and is looking over to the room she was in and around that area for her

proving he uses his rifle as his main scouting equipment. Then he gets shot, but yeah.

[Circle]

Wraith doesn't directly say it out loud that he was pointing his rifle at Sousuke when Sousuke was in the Salon... but that is implied... even though in that scene Wraith is just standing outside on the street. Very stupid to use a rifle if he/she wants to stay inconspicuous, but I guess surveillance is a pretty boring job.

Anyways, as for why Chidori's panic is understandable, I believe it's what Weltall already said, "she just felt a murderous intent." It's the sa ki, killing "ki" (aura, intent, presence); a common Japanese notion sometimes depicted in anime. Chidori felt that aura from the assassin so that sent off warning bells. She's been through many dangerous situations (hijacking, kidnapping, hostagerized :p, seajacking, shot at many times) and knows from Sousuke that the enemy is still out there.

So she feels she's being targeted again, the enemy is very close, and she can't contact the only person she trusts. So suddenly she feels very vulnerable and panics a bit.

About the major incosistency between between the novel and anime about the twins... it doesn't bother me. Sure I don't mind the fan service added, but it's not the reason I enjoy TSR (I've burned my porn fuse many times so these little twincest lesbo scenes do nothing). What I like the most is the character developement in Kaname and Sousuke.

I wanna see Sousuke's revelation about "just following orders." I wanna see Kaname pull herself out of despair and take the initiative. As long as the animators don't screw around with those important stuff, they can change whatever they want with the minor characters to make them sexier and attract new audience.

Whenever a story is tranformed between different media, it gives the creators some liberty to change it. They wanna attract as many new viewers as they can without pissing off the loyal followers too much... don't hold your breath for the NGE live action either.

[AEmer]

A couple of things:

USE SPOILER TAGS!, FMPFIEND, this goes primarily to you. simply use hard brackets around ecs and then hard brackets around /ecs when you're done.

Furthermore:

Kaname spots the assasin on a rooftop in the novel, rather than see her walking by...it's just a glimpse, but that's all. (She hasn't spotted wraith in any way whatsoever yet at this point, except perhaps a scope-glare but I don't think there's confirmation whether that's an assasin or wraith, if it's there indeed.)

Either way... both things repressents the assasin 'licking his/her teeth in front of his/her pray'...that's the primary point here. The assasin playing with Kaname before finishing her off.

That the assasins are modelled differently (eg: they're girls, their weapons differ from the assasins in the novels) is done primarily because of the transition to another medium - the change from ranged firearms to the use of melee weapons, the change from guys to screwed up females...it adds character. It also works better to do it this way, since it's made the episodes far more interesting overall.

[KashimArbalestAS]

I'm sorry if my request seemed rude. I meant that I didn't want to be dragged deeper and deeper into a topic that can lead astray from the main topic, which is Full Metal Panic!: The Second Raid episode 7. I'll debate with you as long as you want, as long as what we are debating about is about episode 7. I'd just like to say that binoculars give a wider range of vision. Wraith's duty is to protect Kaname. Wraith doesn't need to always have Kaname's figure overwhelming his/her vision. When you are protecting someone, you look for others who might have malicious intent against your charge. Meaning, you look through the crowd, you look for people near her, and while doing those, keeping your target in range. I just thought that to accomplish tasks of that sort, binoculars would be most efficacious, more range, you can zoom in on the target, they are smaller, and when you see someone watching you, turn your head and binoculars to the skies, the person might mistake you for a bird watcher. That was a joke.

Edit: I'm not sure about the rifle being Wraith's main scouting tool. Your evidence was presentable, but did not say anything solid, as in an example from the novel stating "My name is Wraith, and my main choice of observation is through my rifle." You'll also find examples where Wraith doesn't just observe through a rifle, in End of Day by Day Book Two Part Five B, [ecs]Wraith was observing through a Belgian-made submachine gun with a laser sight attached. As you know, the range of a submachine gun's fire and effectiveness in range is inferior to the power and distance of a rifle. I'm guessing because Wraith was not in a position to hold something such as a rifle, Wraith went for the smaller submachine gun. And then Wraith went for the binoculars.[/ecs] Finding examples of Wraith holding a rifle is to me, insufficient to fulfill your argument. I can't deny that I'm not a jerk, though here, you are what you write.

[Weltall Elite]

Kaname spots the assasin on a rooftop in the novel, rather than see her walking by...it's just a glimpse, but that's all. (She hasn't spotted wraith in any way whatsoever yet at this point, except perhaps a scope-glare but I don't think there's confirmation whether that's an assasin or wraith, if it's there indeed.)

Yeah, that's what I thought. She didn't see a lense flash when she started to panic in the novel. She saw a person. We aren't told if it was Wraith or the assassin, but I was under the impression that it was the latter.

[KashimArbalestAS]

Yeah, I meant with the binoculars in episode 2...I'm getting mixed up. I'm sure it was the assasin because he smiled. I don't know if Wraith is much of a smiler when Wraith gets caught while on duty.

[Weltall Elite]

Huh? Who smiled? In the anime, the easy way to tell the difference between Wraith and the assassin girl is that one's a girl and the other is dressed up like a guy. If you saw one of them smile, it should be pretty easy to tell them apart.