Now this is where this series set itself apart for me. There was no action in this episode, but instead it focused on Ao making himself at home at the base of the Pied Piper. Usually it’s the kind of build-up episode where nothing much of importance happens and instead a bunch of characters are introduced. This episode really impressed me though.
And there is one reason for that: Ao’s portrayal. The way in which he feels so awkward and out of place, not knowing what to do here. It’s just showing the consequence of his decision, and how not everything is going to go smooth for him. My favorite parts were where he stood so helplessly, not knowing what to do. There is a huge difference between the teenagers and the adults in this series. The adults really sympathize with having to make children fight. The kids though: are completely different. They are not going to guide newcomers along every step of the way. They offer their support here and there at crucial points, but everything inbetween will be for Ao himself to solve.
Meanwhile this episode kept the nice ideas coming. The whole base being built out of things gathered from the Scab Coral is a very interesting idea, and I also like the idea of having Ao be able to see light frequencies beyond what normal humans can see (again this isn’t revealed to him)I do wonder though: why is every pilot there aside from Ao a girl?
Rating: **+ (Excellent+)
“why is every pilot there aside from Ao a girl?”
hey psgels, I know you are thinking what I’m about to say so rest assured, fanboys/girls can flame me not you :):
Sign of the times, almost every studio seems to have to have some O.P. in their shows at the behest of the studio execs, because O.P = money its gotta go in.
(O.P. = Otaku Pandering for those who didn’t know)
I’m wondering if it’s a plot point myself. It’s interesting to see that there’s more than one team associated with Generation Bleu and all the pilots are very young children grouped into squads of three. Plus I think there are male pilots. It looks like their dormitories are gender separated. I wonder if they’ve lost pilots before.
Ha I was surely getting the sense of otaku pandering in this ep. those suggestive shots of young girls in short skirts and over-the-knee socks only had one goal and thats to sell. especially that one shot with the girl wrapped in her bath towel, the camera movements couldn’t make it more obvious. I guess they tried to balance it out with noah the sloth trying to appeal to females.
apparently noah can move fairly fast with that news report and the bit of slapstick he had with the girls.
regardless, good episode.
oh and some of the drawings looked a bit weaker this time around, but i’m just nitpicking.
It’s probably pandering(it’s probably false, since the Military has IFOs that probably had male pilots, not to mention that there might be unseen teams besides Pied Piper and Goldilocks)
But it’s not out of the realm of possibility that female had greater natural proficiency since that every IFO in the world are base on the Nirvash piloted by Eureaka
Well, the fact that the one girl keeps sprouting anime catch phrases is pretty much proof of this. I see very little reason within the show for that kind of thing.
But i have got to say this…
The moment i recognised that Kyuubei line… I couldn’t stop laughing! XD
Especially when the face drawn on her helmet is actually quite similiar to Kyuubei!
But still… It’s a bit disturbing to see that appearing in this story…
Kyuubei lures innocent girls into contracts with him, changed them utterly without their knowledge and screws up their fate, while giving them a huge pile of power & responsibilities to fight “witches”. Who are actually former Mahou Shoujo…
And in Ao’s case, he joins the Pied Piper team.
Pied Piper, the piper in the fairytale who lures away children from their home…
Am i the only one getting weird vibes off this? 😀
Anyway, now that he has to pilot Nirvash to fight Secrets and so the power & responsbilities part…
Wonder how the Scab Cores would fit into this story… Hmmm…
as long as they don’t give unnecessary emphasis to them it doesn’t really bother me. Also, there might be other groups that have guys ’cause it certainly doesn’t look like there are only 2 groups of pilots.
I wonder if they’re all named after childhood stories.
I’m curious about that too. I wonder if there’s any meaning behind the naming of the teams.
You know, Generation Bleu HQ reminds me of Gecko-Go. Look at that shape!
It really is weird though that all the pilots seem to be kids at this point. Wonder why?
It’s been specifically stated that IFO pilots can only be children.
I remember them saying that at some point but not the reason for it.
Last week I thought it was prudent for Naru to stay behind, considering her poor health the risks Pied Piper would face.
But now that we’re at Generation Bleu HQ, I’m questioning that decision. Perched in the heart of the Swiss Alps, the HQ is a heavily-fortified installation where Naru would be safe. It has state-of-the-art medical facilities where some light might be shed on Naru’s illness.
Finally, her presence would’ve helped take the edge off of Ao’s transition to life in Gen Bleu – a calming, familiar presence amongst all his snobbish fellow pilots. Noah didn’t cut it.
Maybe that would have made things too ‘easy’ for him, but considering the logic of reasons above, I’d say it seemed more contrived to leave Naru behind, thus arbitrarily separating Ao from his best friend.
the HQ is a heavily-fortified installation where Naru would be safe.
The part that bugs me about their base is how it’s made up of parts salvaged from the Scab Bursts. For some reason, the Secrets wind up going after Scab Coral. Whatever they’re looking for, there’s a good chance it’s at their HQ too so they might wind up eventually attacking it en mass. Doesn’t sound so safe anymore, does it?
And I’m not too unhappy that Naru gets to be with her family. I’d wish the same for Ao, except instead of a family life, he’ll probably get treated like a bargaining chip. Plus there’s something about that Goldilocks captain’s words about what the children do there will make their families unhappy. What was he talking about? Do they do a lot of damage or do they wind up dying too quickly?