Aah, again that bloody school festival episode. It’s a good thing that this episode was good, because it gets harder and harder to do something interesting with them the more they get used. I know that they must be a very large part of Japanese culture and all, but when every show and its dog pulls one it gets a bit annoying.
What saved this episode was that it had a point. At this point, the school festival episodes that immediately bore me are the ones who are just there to fill time. The school festival as climax of the series also is starting to get very repetitive. This episode though pulled an interesting turn when they revealed that Madoka was getting jealous of Ran and Muginami making other friends. And unlike Black Rock Shooter, she knew that these feelings didn’t make any sense, making these feelings very genuine.
Also, this episode convinced me again: the villains of this series are really good. It’s hard to label them as the best of the season because that would mean comparing them to Another’s villain, who is fleshed out in the complete opposite manner, but what I really liked in this episode was that they really had their doubts about fighting. In any case they are the most down to earth villains of the season.
Another criticism I have about this episode is that I wonder what the point was of not having Madoka pilot. It’s indeed as I feared: the enemy arrives and she immediately ignores her resolution for not piloting Midori. Then what was the point of all that? That will be a tough question that the next episode will have to answer.
Rating: ** (Excellent)
Given her impulsiveness, I never expected that resolution to last. And honestly, I think she agreed to it more to get her friends out of trouble than from any personal conviction that it was the “right thing” to do. She wanted to keep her promise once she’d made it, but given her character, once her friends were in danger…fuggit about it. And given the time she’s spent with Madoka, it’ll be interesting to see what Blondie’s (can’t recall her name right off hand) reaction is. Will she genuinely do everything she can to stop her, or will she have doubts about her decision and back down?
Another criticism I have about this episode is that I wonder what the point was of not having Madoka pilot.
Um….well, let’s see. According to ancient legend, the last time the Vox was used, the Rinne got activated and an advanced ancient human civilization was almost wiped out. It caused survivors of that civilization to flee the planet for survival and turn Earth into a no-fly zone, a rule that has held up for thousands of years. The horror of that story has been passed down for um..thousands of years in song and has had Lan in terror for so long, she couldn’t pilot her Vox properly til Madoka showed up to encourage her. And the last time Madoka piloted Midori, she almost activated the Rinne again, although it looks like Lan managed to interrupt her before she could finish. Now, of course, we the audience don’t know for sure what the Rinne will actually do once activated. It looks really pretty and all, but with the fate of humanity at stake, would you want to risk it? Especially in the frame of mind Madoka was in when she actually activated it?
Chances are Lan’s big bro wants the Vox as a weapon in their war effort while Gio wants to destroy the Vox so it can’t be used to cause another tragedy anymore, like what happened with Yurikano when she last piloted it. (or so it has been implied.)
Btw, any chance Madoka might be Yurikano’s daughter? I’m real curious about Madoka’s mom right now.
Sigh, whats up with all the filler? Starting to get tired of this…
The last moments reveal that if Madoka wants to pilot Midori bad enough, it will power up on its own and (likely) fly out to meet her.
It does seem a bit odd for Madoka to be grounded, only to make it so easy for her to defy that order (also, it’s a good thing she knows people with boats!)
More than anything else, this episode showed us that Madoka isn’t happy unless she’s helping, and she can’t help save her town without Midori.
She may have initially been mature and agreed to being grounded, but that was then, and this is now: her place in that cockpit; risk of calamity be damned.
It was always expected that she’ll wind up piloting Midori again. It’s just that what was at stake needed to be fleshed out, along with the motivations of the various sides to this conflict. I think this so-called filler episode also helped establish that both Ran and Mugi had built ties to the local community, not just with Madoka herself, which would help them stand against their respective sides if they became a threat to that community.
I also liked the additional character development for the little blonde director. I don’t think she intended to keep Madoka grounded for good. I suspect she’s trying to prepare her to pilot Midori without activating the Rinne carelessly and risking that great calamity. Who wants to bet that she might be a 20,000+ year old former Vox pilot herself?
That’s an interestng thought.