Jormungand - 2

[gallery link="file" columns="4" orderby="title"]

Is this a case of the anime being better than the manga Maybe.....

It was only about a week or two ago that the topic of adapting a manga into an anime piece after the manga had finished airing was broached in a chapter of one of my favourites Bakuman: in just one page we saw the animation company bring out 2 opinions regarding having a manga end, one of which was that should a manga end and only then be adapted into an anime, the production company would be able to adapt a piece whilst fully grasping the content. White Fox have taken this approach and I'm glad to say that it's working for them since I'm enjoying the anime more than I remember enjoying the manga. Fans of the manga don't worry, based on the first two episodes and the preview of the next episode it's safe to assume there will be little or no deviation from the manga.

The episode didn't have the same level of intensity as the first but provided something different, not what you'd expect but still very welcome and a nice change from what you'd usually expect from a second episode of any series. Koko meets another rival arms dealer, Mr. Currie, but this time instead of killing him off like the one from the previous episode, she decides to have a little more fun thus giving the episode a more carefree feeling to it, certainly not the way I remember feeling when reading the manga and maybe not what people were expecting but I liked the different atmosphere in the episode. The moments of comedy created by Koko and the gang were short injections of what can be construed as serious comedy -Koko telling her gang that they'll pretend to go through with the arms deal and run out which is met by their reaction of a unified "Oooohhhh" and better yet when she decides to through the arms dealer under the bus (figuratively) just so she can escape - moments which make you chuckle and smile but won't have you in tears; what did you expect from a seinen arms dealer story

Adding to the humour this episode was one of the Mr. Currie's bodyguards Mildred from her various conversations and inner thoughts, seeing as she had certain affections for Koko and Valment; yes the yaoi train doesn't seem to end with Valmet's love for Koko. I really liked Mildred's character, which again was made more memorable than it was in the mange because of the added comedy in the interactions, something that Lewd didn't have but I'm not complaining since having 2 more comedic characters enter would not have been a great addition to the episode. The ending in particular was memorable since it followed in the light-hearted atmosphere of the entire episode and gave us a chance to see Jonah smiling, maybe to remind us that he really is a child and that there is joy to be had from not firing off a single bullet.

Two last points I would like to make is that the dialogue doesn't seemed to have been altered from the manga which I think only serves to add more to the series, making it feel more like an anime about arms dealing and that the has gotten even better this episode - even more dub/rock to add excitement to not just the fight scenes.

A great second episode and if it continues this way then the series is looking to be a hit of this season and the autumn season, when it returns with season 2. Next episode looks to be exciting and possibly lasting more than one episode.