The Third

This article is about the media franchise. For other uses, see The Third (disambiguation).
The Third: The Girl with the Blue Eye
ザ・サード～蒼い瞳の少女～
(Za Sādo - Aoi Hitomi no)
Genre Action, Comedy-drama, Science fiction
Light novel
Written by Ryo Hoshino
Illustrated by Nao Goto
Published by Fujimi Shobo
Demographic Seinen
Imprint Fujimi Fantasia Bunko
Magazine Dragon Magazine
Original run 1999 – present
Volumes 17
Anime television series
Directed by Jun Kamiya
Studio XEBEC
Licensed by
Network WOWOW
Original run April 13, 2006 – October 26, 2006
Episodes 24
Manga
Written by Ryo Hoshino
Illustrated by Nao Goto
Published by Kadokawa Shoten
Demographic Shōnen
Magazine Monthly Dragon Age
Original run 2005 – 2006
Volumes 2

The Third (Japanese: ザ・サード Hepburn: Za Sādo) is a light novel series, that has also been made into manga and anime series by Ryo Hoshino (星野亮 Hoshino Ryō) and illustrated by Nao Goto (後藤なお Gotō Nao). The anime series goes under the name The Third: Aoi Hitomi no Shōjo (ザ・サード～蒼い瞳の少女～ Za Sādo - Aoi Hitomi no Shōjo, "The Third: The Girl with the Blue Eye"). According to the New York Comic Convention, The Third has been licensed by Kadokawa Pictures U.S.A. and is distributed by Nozomi Entertainment for U.S. release. The anime was released in summer of 2007.

Plot

The series is set many years after a devastating war, which killed 80% of the Earth's population. Earth is being watched by a group of beings known as The Third from a city called Hyperius. They are named after a red jewel-like eye on their forehead (Space Eye) that serves as a port for data access and other types of communication. These beings are committed to protecting the humans from harm. One of the main ways to protect the humans is to control the amount of "technos" or technology that the humans have access to, known as the "technos taboo". Humans found using forbidden technos could be killed by The Third's best "autoenforcer" an AI robot named Bluebreaker.

It follows the adventures of Honoka, a 17-year-old girl who is human, but was born with a third eye as well. The Third found that she could not interface with the rest of The Third and so declared her a mutation and left her with her human parents. Her third eye enables her to see Chi and use it to find cloaked enemies and sense the emotions of all living things. Honoka is a jack-of-all-trades who travels throughout the barren earth with the help of a sand tank operated by Bogie, an AI guardian given to her by her grandfather. She earns a living by doing various jobs with the tank like ridding areas of oversized spiders and ants and escorting or transporting clients. One night while traveling through the desert, she comes upon a strange man named Iks (eeks). He arrived on the planet for a purpose which is not clear until the last episode. The Third is also nervous about his arrival and fears he may seek to harm the humans. In order to understand the world more, Iks contracts with Honoka to accompany her for most of her travels. During travel or at night, she recites poems by a writer named "Dona Myfree" (exact spelling unknown at this time).

Various other characters are woven in to bring out more of Honoka's character and virtues. She grows over the episodes into a person whose personality becomes critical to the very survival of the planet.

Characters

Honoka (火乃香)
Voiced by: Megumi Toyoguchi (Japanese); Anna Morrow[1] (English)
She is the protagonist of the story, a jack-of-all-trades that will do any job except assassinate another human. Honoka wields a katana and a pair of guns, in which she uses for battles. Honoka is known as the Sword Dancer (ソード・ダンサー Sōdo Dansā) because of her graceful moves with her katana. She is also shown to be a gun fanatic, usually spending all of her money from her latest mission on guns.
Honoka also has a third eye similar to The Third, but this eye is blue rather than red. She does not have the abilities that The Third have, but with the blue eye, she is able to detect life forces and sense other things in her environment. She is 17 years old in the anime and 15 in the manga (which appears to take place before the anime). She is incredibly strong, where in the end of the anime series with one strike of her sword she was able to take down a large army.
Iks (イクス Ikusu)
Voiced by: Daisuke Namikawa (Japanese); Steve Cannon (English)
He is the mysterious, seemingly young individual that Honoka meets earlier on in the series. Iks has a calm and trusting persona, appearing to be harmless. However, he is sought after by The Third since no one knows his purpose or intentions. He has special powers of healing and is later revealed to be a visiting alien sent to observe the Earth. In the end we get to know that he is the arbitrator, who has come to make decision about the Earth and also fell in love with Honoka.
Bogie (ボギー Bogī)
Voiced by: Unshou Ishizuka (Japanese); Jamieson Price (English)
A robotic mind that acts a guardian, advisor and support for Honoka. He is lodged in a metal container and wears a green visor. Appears to be sentient to an extent and is often serviced at the hospital in Emporium. He will state Honoka's flaws bluntly, as well as reprimand her after spending all her money on guns, usually annoying her. He is a very skilled fighter, where he was able to defeat an anti-tank helicopter by himself.
Zankan (ザンカン)
Voiced by: Masahiko Tanaka (Japanese); Wayne Grayson (English)
He was one of the best mechanics and regularly services Honoka's sand tank. He travelled about in a huge crane/tank. He was killed by Blue Breaker because of repeatedly breaking the Technos Taboo near the beginning of the anime.
Joganki (浄眼機 Jōganki)
Voiced by: Takehito Koyasu (Japanese); Patrick Seitz (English)
One of The Third and very interested in Honoka. He keeps tabs on her from time to time and wields considerable political power within The Third.
Millie (ミリィ Mirī)
Voiced by: Yuki Sakata (Japanese); Angora Deb (English)
A small girl that travels with Zankan. She is cheerful and likes Honoka as if she is her sister, usually calling her Hono-chan. Currently, she is travelling with Honoka after her father, Zankan, was killed by a Blue Breaker. She now attends school in Emporium and lives with her father's sister.
Toy Joey (トイジョーイ Toi Jōi)
Voiced by: Yuji Ueda (Japanese); Sam Regal (English)
A youth that meets Honoka in the first episode and is a mechanic to the sand vehicle. He wishes to follow the man's footsteps whom he calls pops; Zankan. For this, he will attend a technical school while working for Honoka's team. He has obvious feelings for Honoka, and usually gets jealous when she talks to Iks. Near the end of the anime, while trying to invent a way to improve Boogie, her tank, he breaks the Techno Taboo which causes him to be banned from being a mechanic.
Paifu (パイフウ Paifū)
Voiced by: Sanae Kobayashi (Japanese); Carol Jacobanis (English)
A health teacher from Millie's school who takes an apparently sexual interest in Honoka. When she travelled with Honoka she revealed that she can sense chi. She also displays an open hatred towards men and carries a gun around with her. Despite her hatred towards men, near the end of the anime she helps Iks with his feelings towards Honoka, later commenting after doing so "it's like a wife helping her husband find his mistress". Honoka often refers to her as Sensei (teacher in Japanese), since she herself never went to school.
Leon (レオン Reon)
Voiced by: Naoya Uchida (Japanese); Troy Baker (English)
A cyborg from the Great War. He is a hunter out to merge with Allies of the Monster Troop to grow stronger. His body is made from a mysterious liquid metal and can shoot laser beams from his finger. In order to keep from deteriorating he merges with other allies from the Monster Troop as well to keep its nanomachines alive.

Episodes

#Title (Kanji)Title (Romaji)TranslationDVD Title[2]Synopsis
1 ソード・ダンサー Sōdo Dansā Sword Dancer Sword Dancer Honoka is traveling in the desert when she stumbles upon a young man about to be ambushed by desert creatures. She and her companion AI, Bogie, rescue the young man and learn that his name is Iks.
2 慌しい一夜 Awatadashī Ichiya A Busy Night An Eventful Night Honoka goes to Zankan, a friend and mechanic, to have her sand tank inspected. We also meet Jouganki, a Third with a strange connection to Honoka.
3 砂漠の街 Sabaku no Machi Town of the Desert Desert Town Honoka does some mundane jobs in the desert town of Emporium to earn some money.
4 蒼い殺戮者 Burū Bureikā Blue Breaker Blue Breaker Honoka receives a PSP Suit from Zankan, but as Honoka leaves, a Blue Breaker kills Zankan.
5 蒼い天宙眼 Aoi Tenchūgan The Blue Space Eye The Blue Astral Eye Honoka and Millie struggle to comprehend Zankan's Death.
6 大地に吹く風 Daichi ni Fuku Kaze The Wind that Blows Toward the Earth The Wind That Sweeps The Land Honoka fights the Blue Breaker that killed Zankan.
7 夜明けまで Yoake Made Straight Until Dawn Until Dawn Honoka attempts to protect a queen ant from enemies until it is strong enough to fly away.
8 エンポリウムの午後 Enporiumu no Gogo An Afternoon In Emporium An Afternoon In Emporium Herds of sand dragons in the desert are stampeding for an unknown reason. A teacher at a school in Emporium possesses a strange power. The Third are investigating a crisis regarding a dimensional distortion.
9 パイフウ Paifū Paifu Paife Having been employed to search for the reason behind the fright of the sand dragons, Honoka goes off to the desert. Paifu joins Honoka as a partner. In the night, they have to deal with assassins after Paifu.
10 砂漠の墓碑 Sabaku no Bohi Desert's Tombstone Gravestone The expedition group reaches the dimensional distortion, which is called Gravestone.
11 幻影との戦い Gen'eito no Tatakai Fight with the Illusion Battling Against Illusion The dimensional distortion engulfs the group and traps them in an interdimensional threshold. Honoka and Iks both disappeared.
12 それぞれの理由 Sorezore no Riyū Their Respective Reason Their Respective Reasons Gravestone tries to kill each separated individual.
13 砂漠の伝説 Sabaku no Fōkuroa Desert's Folklore Desert Folklore Honoka takes a break from work by traveling in the desert with Millie and Iks.
14 妖精幻視 Yōsei Genshi Fairy Hallucination Fairy Visions Millie was rescued by a fairy and wolf when attacked by a monster in the desert.
15 砂嵐の夜 Sunārashi no Yoru Night of the Sandstorm Night Of The Sandstorm The group search for the fairy and the wolf. Honoka opposes Leon's search for the fairy and is almost killed.
16 乱舞する生命 Ranbusuru Seimei The Life which Dances Boisterously Life Dancing Wildly Honoka is healed by Kamui the wolf. When they resume their search for the fairy, they encounter Leon again.
17 ローナ・ファウナ Rōna Fauna Rona Fauna Rona Fauna Rona Fauna, one of Third, has seized control of the wormhole drive weapon and is holding Jouganki prisoner. Honoka has been asked to rescue him.
18 発動 Hatsudō Motion / Engage Engage Two unexpected individuals join Honoka’s rescue team.
19 強行突破 Kyōkōtoppa Force Breaking Breaking Through Enemy Lines Honoka gets separated from Bogie and Paifu and has to join forces with Blue Breaker.
20 死線を越えて Shisen wo Koete Over the Dead Line Facing Down Death Paifu and Bogie defeat their opponents. Rona Fauna becomes very weak from overusing her powers and becomes unable to control her powers.
21 届かぬ思い Todokanu Omoi Feelings That Won't Reach You Emotions That Fall Short Rona expresses her love for Jouganki and her jealousy for Honoka.
22 還らざる魂の蜃気楼 Kaerazaru Tamashii no Shinkirou Mirage of A Past Soul The Mirage Of A Soul Never To Return Rona has a showdown with Honoka and the wormhole driver is activated to destroy the entire planet.
23 鋼の谷へ Hagane no Tani e To The Steel Valley To The Steel Gorge Both Iks and Honoka for different reasons to head to the Steel Gorge and face the Third.
24 これから始まる物語 Kore Kara Hajimaru Monogatari The Story Starts from Now The Story That Begins Here Jouganki, Iks and Honoka go into the crevasse of the Steel Gorge to meet the Observer of the planet.

Further reading

References

  1. ↑ "Right Stuf's Anime Today Interviews Anna Morrow, the Voice of "Honoka" in The Third". Anime News Network. February 15, 2008.
  2. ↑ The Third: The Girl With The Blue Eye - Complete Collection 2009
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