What happens when you take Patlabor, switch the robots to planes, reverse the male-to-female ratio, and file off the serial number? Well, you’d probably still get something a bit better than 801 TTS Airbats, which, while having excellent aerial scenes, and some character potential, falls somewhat short of the runway. But hey, more Penguinopolis Mk II stuff in this video, so you can enjoy that, at least.
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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.
After about two months I have completed my PG Exia build with mini hanger diorama and detached GN drive!
One of these days I really need to go back and re-read all of my post-build mission reports. I have a sneaking suspicion that with all of my big builds I complain and say how terribly I screwed up the build. This is another one of those examples. For everything that went well, at least one other aspect didn’t quite go as planned for got messed up along the way.
Before I start commiserating about my build I want to take a minute to talk about the PG Exia. Without a doubt, it is easily a top tier Perfect Grade from Bandai. As someone who’s build a metric shitload of Perfect Grade Unicorns I feel like Bandai listened to all most of the criticism from that release. The LED wiring is a thousand times simpler this time around. Instead of building out a section of the kit and carefully feeding wires through tight joints you actually build the kit around the wires as you go along. The risk of breaking a cable along the way is greatly reduced. There’s also a lot more detail on the inner frame than previous kits. Okay, not a lot like you’d find on the MKII, but considerably more than the 00 Raiser & Unicorn, and completely in line with what you’d expect from a 00 era kit. Most impressively to me, Bandai addressed one of my biggest issues – the lack of fexability on the stand. With the PG Unicorn the torso was locked in an upright position, really limiting the posability of the kit. The connection point on Exia’s base actually adjusts forward and back for a much greater range when making dynamic poses (of course I end up leaving it in the default position for my build – shame on me). Unfortunately there’s no side-to-side action but I’ll take what I can get. I still want to say the detail and flexability of the PG Strike is makes it #1, but the PG Exia is right on its heels.
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.
The first English-language bastardization of Space Battleship Yamato, Space Cruiser Yamato, a recut version of the compilation version of the first TV series, is quite a ride. A ride into mediocrity, with its truncated, if not entirely decimated character development and simplistic plot summarizing. And you know how I hate people who just boil down long works into a neat package, as if to comment on them with faux-wry humor for an audience of captive idiots too lazy to watch a whole TV series.
I mean, I just hate that. Hate it.
For my PG Exia build, which I have been too lazy to share WIP images of here, I decided to gunk wash the stand. I wanted to create a nice contrast between the clean kit and the grimy hanger scene I’m going for. All in all, I think it turned out well. In addition I’m prepping some old action bases for a proper gunk wash tutorial!
Here’s how the stand looked before the gunk wash. Just a bit of paint, some pre-shading, decals, and a flat coat…
[flickr-photo:id=28363358569,size=z]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?
Ah, this is the episode with the scene bookending one of the original Toonami’s Outlaw Star promos back in the day. Personally, I like this tagline better than the reused “Time to roll the dice.” However, given my favourite tagline would not fit TOO much in 2018 than it would in 2000-ish, I guess it will have to do.
Even though, when one thinks about it, “time to roll the dice” wouldn’t make sense given how the original edit took great strides to censor out any allusion to gambling. I guess Gene and friends play some SD&SD (Space Dungeons & Space Dragons) inbetween jobs, which explains the use of dice.
I think the celebration is too early for my continuing onward of this show, but the sentiment is appreciated.
So after the rather amusing diversion that was last week, this week tries its luck in a tense affair. An innocuous tugboat job for Gene, Jim, and Melfina is hacked and hijacked by a terrorist group with a penchant for cartoonish theatrics and an over the top Mickey Mouse-esque mask. Attached to an advertising spaceship with a bomb in it, Gene and the gang have to beat the clock to not only get out of being blown up but also find out who is this ‘Cracker Jack’ and what’s his game?
I told you I’d be back. Also, I have noticed Jim has yet to make an appearance on the feature shot of an episode. So here I am remedying more matters. Then again, covering this series is in and of itself a remedy of mistakes long made in the past. Mistakes I, once again say, hope to fix.
Anyway, FILLER! Not just any filler, ENJOYABLE FILLER! After some Space Race adventures, we’re now privy to the inner workings of the Heifong branch of Starwind and Hawking Enterprises. However, like Sentinel and elsewhere, they’re not doing so hot. Gene is still dismissive about any job coming his way; Jim still harps on him to find anything (although he’ll draw the line on certain recommendations he finds questionable); Melfina’s just happy to be there; Aisha’s a go getter; and Suzuka must be so well-off from her job she can loiter around their HQ for lord knows whatever reason. They’re all at their peak when it comes to how they act when they aren’t pegged for death.
