While her quest for revenge is complete, there is still
one mystery Elle still must solve: the man from her memory, the one who gave
her the Black Lotus tattoo. The one
person Elle has come to trust most, J, a former Blade Runner, knows the truth
and knows that if Elle goes after it, it could mean her end. Seeking answers and atonement, Elle and J
head off to their final battles. The
stage is set for the beginning of a bold new future and Elle is about to prove
that she is indeed more Human than Human.
Considering everything that went down in last weeks set
of episodes, I was wondering what more Blade Runner: Black Lotus had to
tell.
Turns out, it had a little more to
share after all.
As a finale, Black
Lotus had some good resolution and one stand out moment that made me
cheer.
But is it a GOOD ending?
Much like the rest of the series…it’s just
ok.
That kind of sucks as this is the
one piece of Blade Runner mythos I cant rate super high as I have past
titles.
I was entertained overall but
yeah, there was something lacking…ok a few things.
Let’s break it all down.
Honestly, it wasn’t a real mystery that Wallace Jr. (I’m
just gonna call him Wallace since it’s just him now) was the one behind Elle’s
tattoo memory.
There was no one else
with the skill or high enough clearance to slip something that vital into her
psyche and not have it traced back.
I’m
surprised Wallace had such a large role to play other than lingering in the
shadows while misfortune befell his Dad and the Doll Hunt participants.
But since Black Lotus has also been his
origin story, in more ways than one, it made sense for Wallace to step onto the
stage he orchestrated and see Elle’s final moments, the ones he wanted
anyway.
Ugh, Wallace is a good, good
villain but man do I hate him.
I didn’t
think it was possible to dislike him more in Black Lotus but his younger
version is even more full of himself than his 2049 version. “In the future, the
present species of humans will perish. But in the world that follows, my
creations will reproduce, expand and spread my glory across the Earth.
And then the stars.”
His God Complex was taken to the nth degree
with every line of dialogue like that and more…so HECK YES I gasped and cheered
when Elle found a loop hole in Wallace’s defense against him.
She couldn’t kill him but she could blind
him.
I didn’t think such a pivotal
moment for Wallace would happen here but ha.
I also loved Elle’s cold, “My face is the last thing you’ll see
line.”
Sure Wallace is far from deterred
but it was gratifying to see something go wrong with his plans, no matter how
minor in the grand scheme of things.
J’s story also got heavily expanded upon before closing
up.
Yep, he was a Blade Runner and his
flashback episode, honestly, it could have been a short story from a Blade
Runner anthology.
It’s short but an
important piece, showing that Deckard and K aren’t the only Blade Runners who
had love on the brain when it came to artificial life forms.
Selene, voiced by singer Alessia Cara, who
also sings the shows OP, was absolutely gorgeous and easy to fall for.
Her musical pieces were beautiful as well and
with such talent and beauty, clearly Selene was headed for a bad end, one that
would haunt J for years to come.
It
would have been tragic for J to have actually killed her in their final embrace
but maybe he did plan on sparring her too, since Marlowe is revealed as the one
who killed her in the end.
This led to a
pretty epic duel between Blade Runners in the present.
It felt like a more gun laden, hard hitting duel
between Deckard and Batty from the original movie, running and gunning through
the apartment complex and even ending up on a roof.
It was a brutal duel but I’ve gotta ask: was
Marlowe also a Replicant?
Dude took
three shotgun blasts from his own gun before J blew him off the building to his
death.
It wouldn’t shock me if this was
the case, again looking at Deckard and K (yes I do believe Deckard is a
Replicant, the evidence is there, agree to disagree if you want).
As for J’s end, it was clear J wasn’t going to make it
and I think he knew that.
Throughout the
series, he’s seen Elle as his chance at redemption, to make up for the woman he
couldn’t protect.
That said…maybe it’s
just me but I never saw a romance between Elle and J.
Sure they had a strong bond built over the
series but romantic…ehhhh.
There were
attempts with some intimate gestures and J’s dream of living with Elle under a
clear blue sky (which felt like a call back to the non cannon Happy Ending from
the Blade Runner Theatrical Cut).
Sorry,
maybe if theyd kissed or shown more attraction beforehand, I might buy it.
But Elle was so obsessed with the man who
gave her the tattoo on her shoulder, I don’t think she ever gave a second to
thinking of anything romantic with J until right at the very end.
Still, while he didn’t get the girl, J still
redeemed himself, good on him.
Where the finale really trips up is the introduction of
one more major opponent for Elle to face.
At first I thought Water Lily was a prototype of Love from Blade Runner
2049, but nope.
She’s supposed to be a
superior model to Elle but Water Lily fails in so many ways.
Her design is easily the weakest of any
character in the series.
She looks so
expressionless and at times, kind of unfinished, like her rendering hadn’t been
completed in several shots.
There’s also
no real emotional connection between Elle and Water Lily, she’s just one more
goon to have Elle fight in the last episode.
The duel itself is fine, its about time Elle got a proper sword
duel.
But honestly, the fight probably
couldve gone to Wallace, if he didn’t have his “don’t kill me” code implanted
into Elle.
The jerk even killed poor
Water Lily in the end for losing cause he wont settle for anything less than
perfection…before Elle defied her creator and blinded him (again, hell
yes).
But yeah, the final fight would’ve
been stronger with a greater emotional tether for Elle, which she had more with
Wallace or even Marlowe than her last minute rival.
The series also doesn’t do a good job of wrapping up
Davis’ storyline at all.
For a moment, I
wondered if Davis and Elle were going to team up to go after Wallace together,
be the additional ally Elle and J probably needed in the final fight.
But no, Elle and Davis have one brief stand
off before Water Lily stabs Davis and leaves her for dead.
Davis survives, somehow…and that’s that.
Davis is last seen going back to work at the
LAPD, albeit in a wheelchair a month after the final fight.
She gets zero adequate closure.
Davis has been a key player throughout the
entire series and yet her final scenes feel like a last minute tagline because
they didn’t want her to just vanish after being stabbed and not seen
again.
Even in its weakest moments, Black
Lotus still seemed to tie up everyone elses storylines nicely…that said who is
riding off to join Elle as she rides into the desert anyway, now THAT could
have been Davis going along with her, makes more sense than for her to return
to the force that did her dirty.
Well enough of all that, time for Final Thoughts.
How was Blade Runner: Black Lotus.
I found myself hooked more than I thought but
it wasn’t a perfect Anime.
Elle’s story
had the benefit of a strong performance from Jessica Henwick, even if the story
itself felt mostly unoriginal.
The
supporting cast was fine but some took a while to find their moments to shine
than others.
The production value was
pretty good, particularly when it came to the action.
This is by far the most action heavy Blade
Runner story.
And yet, there was still
that amazing atmosphere, it felt like I was back in the world of Blade
Runner.
Even if some of the references
felt a little out of place, I was happy to point them out and smirk at being
able to see things like the Tyrell Owl or the Voight Kampff test in an
Anime.
Character models seemed a bit
stiff when the action wasn’t happening (Water Lily definitely got the short end
of that).
And the ending is both
satisfying overall but still a little underwhelming.
Overall, this is easily the weakest Blade
Runner entry I’ve seen but I still did enjoy it for the most part.
It also wraps itself on a mostly stand alone
note. Would I like to see more adventures with Elle, aka the cutest and best
dressed Replicant in the franchise?
Sure, so long as it’s a bit more original and not just a Battle Angel
Alita CG Test run.
time.
Certainly not a negative but not quite a full
positive either.
Still, I give Blade Runner: Black Lotus a 7.5/10.
Next Week, Tenchi Masaki returns for the final chapter of
our Tenchi Toonami Saga as he heads to the big city for his biggest adventure
yet.
Tenchi in Tokyo kicks off
December, Next Monday right here at the Gundam Anime Corner.
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