I do believe what we have here is a “failure to communicate” on this week’s episode. It is not just the distance between Mars and Earth that Tekkadan has to struggle with, it is also the fact they’re still fairly innocent about the world. Oh don’t get me wrong, their lives sucked before they started wearing the big boy pants, yet this impacting line by Takaki defines what I believe will be a prevailing arc this season:
“What will happen if we can’t even trust family?”
Ah, it is nice to finally have something to talk about now. By the skin of their teeth, Tekkadan captures the leader of the Dawn Horizon Corps, and routs the attempt by the WDoJ/Arianrhod from stealing their ‘kill’ so to speak. This is a sound victory on Tekkadan’s part, since the inclusion of a third party in the previous episode’s affairs heightens the tension. This is most manifest in Julieta, who not only gives Mika a workout in terms of combat skills, but also comes off (in my mind), as a female version of him: eccentric to a fault, and fiercely loyal to her superior like Mika is to Orga. Whether this will change any dynamic between him, Kudelia, and Atra in the case he ever meets her is still up in the air, but I cannot help but see some similarities to them based on their disposition in combat.
After two episodes of build up, we have our first full on space battle with Tekkadan facing off against the Dawn Horizon Corps. True to Gundam form, things are not what they appear, and Tekkadan has to fight at a disadvantage.
Yeah, that’s pretty much it.
Not gonna lie, I am REALLY hard pressed to talk about anything this week. It is not that there is anything TOO bad about this episode, but there’s nothing new to discuss. After my gush over Hush last week, he is summarily sidelined for plot purposes as the old boys of Tekkadan sally forth. Understandable, but it is still disappointing. The big non-mecha highlight is the conversation between Orga and Maccy’s subordinate, Isurugi. It provides a nice set up to the battle, never mind the various machinations each side (or at least Maccy-nations for one) has in store, but other than that nothing much can be said. Heck to even say the battles are nice is to state the obvious, and Tekkadan as always is doing the best it can given the circumstances.
Just like the second episode of the first season, the opening ends with a successful rout of enemy forces by Mika and the Barbatos…
…And just like the second episode of the first season, the rest of the episode is dedicated to prep work for the next phase in our players’ games. On one hand it is kinda boring treading familiar territory, but on the other it is kindof necessary and has enough differences to warrant this retreading of old ground. One half-hour after all isn’t enough for a massive cast like this animu has, so I should probably give it a pass for now. Besides, it allows us one instance of foreboding that may colour erryboddy in this show:
Wow. It’s been a year hasn’t it? These upstart rapscallions, once on the verge of utter defeat, now are the biggest names in both the regular and black market. Unlike the last serial Gundam series that had two seasons (Gundam 00), Iron-Blooded Orphans kicks off without any big down note where our heroes are in a lesser position of power than before. After the well-deserved victory they scored last season, they need this moment to shine, and shine they did.
I anticipated a few weeks ago privately that the premiere will be somewhat of a retread of the first episode except Tekkadan is running the show. Sure enough, this is the case. It is not a bad thing, since the time and emotional investment you may have given is not wasted. Set in about I wager six months to a year after the finale, Tekkadan is not just the military adviser to an Arbrau headed by Makanai, but a full-fledged member of the Teiwaz Group. Meanwhile, Kudelia has learned to multitask and founded another enterprise in half metals with the aptly named: Admoss Company. Like the first episode, this one focuses on just establishing their world amidst the backdrop of the bigger one. The series where its first season gives us war as seen from the underclass becomes a series where its second season may give us war… as seen from the upstart lower-middle class. It is refreshing to also see how their actions also brought about unintended consequences. Upstart bunch of kids beating hoity-toity Gjallarhorn now incentivizes upstart groups of people to start utilizing them, Human Debris, and even mobile suits in their quest for either independence from Gjallarhorn or for more power.
And now it is time to say goodbye.
It turns out Folken’s kill of Dornkirk had some intended consequences after all in the latter’s part, serving as a dead man’s switch to turn the Zone of Absolute Fortune online. Now, in ghost form, (which is weird since he’s an Earthling, I guess his will was strong enough to exist as a spectre), Isaac/Dornkirk observes with Hitomi the effects of his final gambit. What is it? Makes everybody’s wishes come true.
Unfortunately for everybody, it has them act upon the emotion they are in at the current moment. So it means all these kingdoms which appeared in the last few episodes want to conquer one another now, dissolving their alliance by way of bloodshed. While they do such, we see how Isaac/Dornkirk takes it: in scientific dispassion. Here is a man so wedded to ending conflict by any means necessary, that he will write off wanton slaughter if this is the inevitable result of his actions. Far cry from the Atlanteans, who at least give warnings and seal away powers in an attempt to not let history repeat itself. It seems like reason awake does not stave off the monsters they say its slumber would bring. No complaints here at this overarching threat in the last part of the endgame, for it is within our foe’s character and rationale.
Action Channel Month this year ends with one of my favorite anime movies, Patlabor 2! Mamoru Oshii directed this taut political thriller with just a liiiiitle bit of giant robot action! Watch the best two characters of the franchise tackle a mystery and a madman with Oshii’s usual downbeat flair. I hope you’re expecting a more thematic and character-oriented review, because I think this movie is deserving of it.
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Oh boy, this is an episode I’ve been looking forward to. The penultimate episode of Escaflowne is one of those kinds of episode that does its best to try and wrap up just about every lingering character arc. In a show like Escaflowne where its end is pretty darn definitive, this is both a necessary and proper venture. However, does it go a good job in that regard and we’re left satisfied in the end of it? Well, yes and no. I’ve never been really gaga about this episode, even if I’m aware of the momentous events occurring in it, and even after so many years since my last watch of it, it still remains.
I’ve really painted myself into a corner this year with Otaku Evolution, covering so many of my favorite anime (like this one), there’s not a whole lot of the best I can review (or at least not a whole lot I can monetize reviews for). But nevertheless, it was great revisiting Macross Plus and confirming that not only does it completely hold up, but it’s still one of the best mecha anime. But what else could it be with that pedigree? Shinichiro Watanabe, Keiko Nobumoto, Ichiro Itano, Yoko Kanno, and for the English dub, Bryan Cranston! Few other anime could satisfy my need for great anime to review for this year’s Action Channel Month quite like this! It’s so crazy good, you’ll hear “Voices”!
When I first watched this I did not think much about why Hitomi returned to the first episode and not at a point on Earth where it matches the time she spent on Gaea. All I knew then was that it was for plot purposes and I guess made sense at the time.
Fast forward to now and thanks to keener observation I can see why it makes a lot of sense for them to do that. Recall if you will Episode 17, where Schezar Sr. wishes to see Granny Kanzaki one more time as he lays dying in the snow. When she reappears, he’s confused as to why she looks the same as she did the last time they met, yet surmises such is the case since the power of Atlantis is the human heart. As such, and given how she is unaware of what has transpired since she left (especially since her mom was kinda sorta not worried), Hitomi goes back to where it all began, a place her heart knows and desires.
