Holy crap.
I mean it’s easy to just dismiss this show based on first looks. A bunch of girls piloting mechas to save aliens? That sounds completely generic. And yet the execution and direction are just so damn good here. I mean, this is the Fafner team of Xebec, working together with Tatsuo Sato, written by the guy who wrote the second half of Darker than Black. And it’s true that the biggest sin of this series is being so generic: with an execution and staff like this, just imagine what it could have been if it had an actually good premise here.
Nevertheless, the characters in this episode were awesome. The chemistry between these guys is really fun to watch. This episode introduced the main bad guy, and this completely sets Muginami apart from the stereotypical ditzy girl she was at first. This episode first starts with revealing that she indeed is a villain, making use of some great tension between her and Lan, only to reveal afterwards that she has just been acting on her own, and instead is being seen as a parasite by her comrades.
These kinds of episodes really allow the sharp direction here to shine. The main villain is also very interesting at this point (the coat thing was very funny), and the sharpness and timing of the dialogue here is subtle, yet witty. On top of that, this show has a second season confirmed in the summer season, so there will be enough time to really flesh these characters out.
Rating: *** (Awesome)
The coat thing was great but I gotta say Villagio’s giant “Oh wait, you were saying something?” yawn caused me to lose it. It came as such a surprising funny way to break the tension in that scene before kicking the in hard knocks drama.
I agree with your rating.
Villagios snapping at the end…priceless. Best moment in the series so far, Muginami tottaly deserved that in my opinion. I dont like her.
Thank god. Villagiulio rejuvenated my interest in this series, and now there’s hope that Muginami will be something worthwhile as well. But Madoka annoys the hell out of me. Thank god they kept shutting her up when she tried to deliver a power of friendship speech.
I really hope they at least try to explain why Villagiulio didn’t just kill all of them right here and now, because the biggest problem I have with the series is it’s absolutely flaccid storytelling. They’d better at least give a convincing reason why Madoka’s uncle got away with that.
It might be that matter about not causing unnecessary damage to what is essentially a backwater world whose only fault is that the Voxes are there. So the ultimatum would likely be one last attempt to end the situation without conflict.
And then there would be the political implications of outright killing a princess, which could escalate the war. Remember Franz Ferdinand!
Here’s hoping. After 5 episodes though I feel like you’ve put more thought into it than they have. You’d think that this kind of stuff would be a major theme in a story about imminent intergalactic war. Guess not.
If it was that simple all they needed to do was drop a bomb on the town without even bothering to show their face and that would kill all three pilots. I’m sure that there must be more to the story, and I tend to trust these storytellers as they seem to know what they are doing.
Nice sounds like a good episode.
“On top of that, this show has a second season confirmed in the summer season, so there will be enough time to really flesh these characters out.”
Sweet, I didn’t realize this I was still wondering the total ep count of this show, excellent, glad to see they’ll have more time to flesh out the characters and explain things and not have to rush the story.
The ending scene left me incredibly satisfied, since Muginami is so damn annoying… Sad though, now she will definitely join the other 2 and fight for their side, so we gotta put up with her for the whole thing… Hopefully she turns into something decent along the way though
And yeah… Madoka is also annoying me in how she is the usual saint kind of main character with the moral speeches and crap
So this said, best character is definitely Lan, shes the only one who acts like a real person
It seemed to me that Villagiulio was acting with his speech at the end, in order to force Muginami away from him and join Madoka and Lan. It was only after she expresses her desire to stay with the Jersey Club that he starts being really cold toward her. Maybe he thinks she’ll be better off with friends her own age than hanging out with a group of criminals/terrorists? Or maybe I’m reading too much into it and those were his true feelings.
Totally agree .. i had the same impression .. you can really spot that from the way he looked at Muginami right before he left the scene .. his eyes had a completely different look from when he was choking her .. a look of someone who genuinely cared about her but wanted to distance her from himself.
I didn’t see it coming as i expect he would be happy to have a vox pilot (seeing as how important the Vox are to everyone alien in the series .. then it struck me .. he threatened them that if they didn’t destroy the Voxes he will destroy them along with the base .. that simply means he has completely different goals .. he doesn’t want to “obtain the Voxes” he actually wants to destroy them instead … add that to this scene with Muginami (if you consider he did what he did for her own good trying to give her the life she said she wanted to live forever) and i have a feeling he will turn out to be the only real good guy among the aliens XD
Let me explain more .. His plan would go like tihs .. destroy the Voxes after dumping Muginami with Lan and Madoka (undoing the Memoria contract she made with the Vox) so she can continue living that life she wished for with them) … also .. all the other aliens would have no more interest in Earth with the Vox destroyed .. and considering all the legends about the Voxes being harbingers of Apocalypse that really makes him the most good character so far XD
So far, no one in this series has been portrayed as particularly bloodthirsty. And although everyone talks as if war between the two factions is inevitable, general hostilities don’t seem to have broken out yet, which may be one reason Villagiulio restrained himself, as Code Kyuubi suggested.
Also, these seem to be fairly ancient civilizations. There may simply be strong cultural restraints against killing an essentially unarmed opponent, especially outside of declared hostilities.
I loved what they did with Muginami, and at just the right time, too; she was starting to get on my nerves. Now, like Lan, she’s got a lot more depth, and I gained a lot of sympathy for her plight, even if beneath her ditzy helpful surface she had been hiding her true, arrogant identity. What I liked was how her voice didn’t suddenly change to something lower and sultrier (in that cliche’d, “aHA” way) just because Lan & Co. found out the truth.
She may be arrogant, but she’s still very naive, and has a lot to learn about friendship and comraderie, especially with Madoka, who won’t stand by while her two new friends go to war. An aside: I like the characters’ catchprases; Madoka’s “Maru!” and Lan’s “Woof.” They use them a lot, but I don’t think excessively; it’s just a cute detail. I wonder if Muginami will get one?
Oh, this series has problems that go well beyond it being generic… I’ve had enough, dropped, you guys enjoy… Seriously don’t know what you see here…
Ryōki Kamitsubo is a magician.