And that takes care of the second act of this series. And it really was an awesome way to do it! Mizuno had a great episode here and her character developed even more from what it did in the previous episode and we finally get to see Takuto’s past as well!
I’m really starting to suspect that Head somehow has the ability to stop time as his first phase. Or at least, that would fill in the plothole of why he said that his father was the painter R. In this episode, it becomes clear that the entire reason he swam over to the island was because he wanted to punch his father. And this is where Marino comes into play: on top of being a great character, her case also relates to that of Takuto.
Also, here is a question that has been bugging me for quite a while now: why are there only two seals broken at this point? I mean, it feels like the Crux Brigade has no intention of breaking Keito’s seal, even though this would have been quite convenient throughout… well… the entire series basically. The fact that they were only looking for the West Maiden shows that they knew about Keito and all, and yet they never even mentioned her as a maiden. What’s going on here?
In any case, the great thing here is that after this point, this show can pretty much go anywhere. We’re getting closer and closer to the point of this series that I’ve really been looking forward to. Furthermore, I HAVE SEEN Melody of Oblivion’s final four episodes. I know what a messed up sunovabitch Enokido can be when it comes to ending his series. My problem with Melody of Oblivion was that those final four episodes were just about the only thing about that series that caught my attention, but Star Driver has been much more solid and interesting at this point. It’s true that it could have been better during its first half, but it always was building up its characters, and fleshing them out. Now, if the creators really want to make this into a memorable series, the time has come to actually use this build-up. The past two episodes were a great start, but it’s definitely not there yet.
Rating: *** (Awesome)
I think the Maiden in the Glittering Crux is of greater use if her seal is unbroken. Maybe they want to break three and the last Maiden would use her powa’ to accomplish something?
They don’t all know that Keito is the East maiden. The one that does is Head, and I don’t think we would be too reckless in assuming he has a reason for controlling the information. The brigade is made up of different factions with different motivations for their participation. I think that Head wants to return Vanishing Age to space, and doesn’t care about the other groups that don’t have natural marks and possess less lofty goals. He most likely wants to control when the seals are broken, so that he can make his move to escape without having to deal with the other members of the brigade getting in his way. To this end he aligned himself with Keito, suggests that whoever beats Takuto can lead the brigade so that all of the people that are unimportant to him have their cybodies disabled, warns his own people that they can’t beat Takuto, and then goes off to woo Samekh’s driver. Now that they can repair cybodies, he’ll probably find a way to sabotage the regeneration process before making his move to free the cybodies entirely.
The thing with Head that I wonder about is how old he is. It’s possible that I’ve been tricked and that he’s Takuto’s half-brother with a deceptive name and hobby, but I’ve been operating under the assumption that he is his father and that his first phase makes him ageless. I’m curious if he’s been there since the beginning, waiting for a driver to come along and unlock Samekh, so that he can finally leave this dustball.
It’s also interesting that Sugata doesn’t actually do anything to help Takuto this episode, when it looks like Head is going to destroy Tauburn.
And of course they follow all of this up with what looks like a beach episode. Evil trolls, the lot of them. Well, I suppose it is well past time for some light-hearted fun. It’s been pretty serious around the island as of late.
She already said that she doesn’t care if the rest of the order finds out about her so I guess she has a good explanation.
As for Takuto’s father, I think it was hinted somewhere that his Phase makes him younger or stops him from aging.
For the last time. Head is Takuto’s father. His student alias means zero time. He is being frozen at the age since he first approvoised.
In episode 1 Head was supposed to have used his first phase to break the south maiden’s seal.
This was before they could pilot cybodies and his first phase allowed him to summon his star sword without needing to be in a cybody.
One of the background characters even referred to it as “the first phase that will usher in the second stage” or something.
Unless people can have two first stages there is something else going on if Head really is supposed to be Takuto’s father. Maybe something linked to his libido, or his being a galactic pretty boy as well. But it shouldn’t be his first phase.
The fact Ivrogne was the one to unleash Mizuno’s seal probably hints that only with the help of a maiden can the crux’s plan be rendered possible.
So Keito is not concerned with the possibility that the Crux may find out about her status as the East Maiden possibly entails their needing of her abilities.
As it has shown with the destruction of cybodies, people lose the effect of their first phase. Scarlet Kiss and Toudori both seem to have lost it. And Mizuno losing her seal made her fear for the disappearance of Marino, but that was remedied by a sort of a miracle of an exception.
Another thing is regarding the Maiden Cybodies. All the warrior cybodies seem to be stored at the crux base thing, while the maiden cybodies can only be accessed through zero time. So that, and on principle itself indicate that maiden cybodies cannot be fixed in the same way warrior cybodies can. And braking Keito’s seal/destroying her cybody could potentially remove all her ability to assist as a maiden.
This episode just continues to demonstrate the fact that Star Driver has been an excellent series from episode 1: It knows how to build intrigue, juggle multiple characters and retain a certain obtuseness despite the relatively straightforward character interactions.
Bloody brilliant, and I’m expecting a helluva finale down the line.
@houlgrave: Star Driver has been pretty horrible with the exceptions of Mizuno and the fish girl. Wako, Takuto, Lerouch have been pretty uninteresting and unlikable characters. Kind of speaks volumes when the side characters still the show from the main characters.
Anyway, it looks like we are going back to the monster of the week format. *groan*
I’m starting to appreciate how much planning went into Star Driver. I wish more series would put this much thought into their shows, learn to work with the time constraints they have, use story mechanics and visual cues to present a cohesive story.
With the ubiquitous beach episode coming up, I sincerely hope it serves a purpose other than to pace this mid-season climax.
After watching this episode, I went back and rewatched the other 15 and I’ve noticed a lot of foreshadowing that I was oblivious to when they first aired. Particularly when all the maidens were on that bus together (after fishy breaks out). Foreshadowing is only possible with prior planning and the impact of it is determined by how well the characters are handled and scripted.
I’m also glad that the creators respect our intelligence in that plot points aren’t explained outright. I appreciate that there wasn’t dialog of the calibre: “I’m the East Maiden” or “My son is the Galactic Pretty boy”
Maybe Takuto came from the future and went back in time.
Fairly good episode. I really liked the Marino arc. The only downfall is the usual episodic random power-up he pulls from his ass to make Takuto remain undefeated. I’ve gotten tired of that something like 7 episodes ago.
I’m gonna hope it’s gonna jump right into a new arc. But it doesn’t sound very likely with the beach volleyball thing for next episode (ugh, fanservice).