anime

That is a disappointed Aisha Face, because there wasn’t enough of her to go around this week.

Thankfully, this is not a disappointing episode.

So we have a prison break episode, I could’ve sworn I’ve seen something similar to this back in the old Toonami days, maybe involving a wayward youth with a ripped Polaroid picture. To save Melfina, Gene is transferred into a high-security prison on a gravity-heavy planet, and must find the one inmate who has the coordinates of the Galactic Leyline. It goes about as well as you’d expect when a protagonist goes into a prison to do something: conflict with the warden, fairly intense regimen of torture, the guest character is a bit of a pessimistic curmudgeon, but all turns out well in the end. read more

The article title also fits for another reason; because Gene is a bit of a Dexter this episode, despite not ever being zapped by an in-series variation of the Infanto Ray.

You’d think with a pre-intro Jet Black narration like the one showcased here, this episode would be heavy on the space lore. However, lore does not figure into much of the drama this week. Instead, it is more a character study based on not only how the characters interact with one another at this point in the show, but how they reflect. It is not just Jim and Aisha having rapport, with the young genius being more an older sibling than the Ctarl-Ctarl, it is also (actually MOSTLY) Gene opining with Suzuka on his promise to Melfina many moons ago. I’m thankful the show got around to having a character or two notice Gene’s emotional distance with Melfina. read more

Points to you if you understood the reference of my article title without researching and why I used it.

Holy shit, this episode is fucking adorable, and also perhaps now either the second or third best in the series. We had yet to get to Jim in terms of character development in this series, with most of his role being in support and foil to Gene’s scattershot ambitions. But now, with only six episodes left we get one, and boy does it not disappoint. Why is that really?

Is it because in one scene, there are four instances of Aisha Face? No, but it helps. read more

To sound like a broken record, how do you follow an episode that injected a shitton of adrenaline to the series and gives Gene an impetus to get his ass in gear?

Have him enter a big deal fighting tournament so Fred Luo can get out of marrying Space Ronda Rousey. Didn’t this happen already a few years back in… Wait, no. I… don’t think it’s really happened in any sortof space animu, at least anything like Outlaw Star.

However, like the space fishing trip before it, this wrestling episode is surprisingly endearing. Everybody is at their humourous best here, from Gene’s interactions with Fred, including him being quite aware of Fred’s preferences, to Fred himself aghast at the idea of heterosexual monogamy. It’s a nice way to kick off the episode and also as per usual builds upon Jet Black’s pre-intro narration. read more

Well now. We are back to plot again, and more importantly, back to the McDougal brothers. It has been a five-episode absence for them in the series, and they come back in a big and satisfying way. It doesn’t look like they’re aligned with Hazanko and the Anten Seven at this juncture, but what we don’t know doesn’t hurt us in the slightest. More surprises are nice at this point.

The crux of this episode involves Melfina feeling rather glum about not going anywhere with her origin finding wish. You know things are getting a bit real if she wanders into some space church right after a grocery run and strikes up a conversation with the local clergy. This scene, coupled with Jet Black getting metaphysical in the prologue helps set the tone for one of two conflicts this week, and does a terrific job intriguing. However, despite Melfina uncertain of her faith in Gene’s problem, their interaction is absent from said crux. In fact, Gene and Melfina spend most of the episode separated from one another thanks to the McDougals. read more

Because it not so much needs to be asked, but moreso because I want to: How do you follow an episode that injected a shitton of adrenaline to the series and gives Gene an impetus to get his ass in gear?

You have Gene and friends go on a salvaging expedition for some old man in another interpretation of a TV staple plot involving old men and the sea. Didn’t this just happen a few years ago in Space Dandy?

To our eternal relief, this episode is not as bad as it would seem, and doesn’t deflate the momentum of last week TOO MUCH (in fact, the way the episode is carried makes it seem like last week didn’t happen at all). One, Gene and Jim are both motivated towards the job, instead of Gene being dismissive and Jim being frustrated by such. Two, the captain is a charming enough curmudgeon thanks to his design and the creative adaptation of his English dub dialogue. Three, it gives Gene perspective on what it means to be an Outlaw, despite not being TOO related to the overall Galactic Leyland. And Four? read more