It’s like 3 AM and I’m all out of witty comments, but I’m still supposed to put some images in this thing so here you go
- So uh… I kind of ended up putting this post off way longer than I should have. The episode’s not really that fresh in my memory anymore, so I’m just going to try to assemble this from the notes I typed up on my phone shortly after watching it. I don’t really have quite as much to say on this episode anyway, and that will probably continue to be the case until whenever the next SHOCKING TWIST comes along I guess.
- So there’s a battle in space in this one, and Inaho is still just… Inahoing it up as usual. It’s almost like he’s the only one on Earth’s side who actually does stuff in these battles, except for the few times when he needs his friends to help execute his plans. Occasionally we also see some regular soldiers go out first, only to die without accomplishing anything. They’re basically just human sacrifices to Inaho the Mech God, so he can figure out the enemy’s weakness without actually having to struggle and put himself in danger until he knows what he’s doing.
- And see, this kind of thing worked when they were just a small-ish group trying to get out of Japan. They needed someone smarter and more skilled than the average pilot to get them out of bad situations, and Inaho filled that necessary role. But now it seems like this one teenager is not only probably the best mech pilot in the whole world, but the only one who can ever actually accomplish anything. And that doesn’t just stretch the limits of believability – it also makes the story predictable, because even with a large cast of characters, you know it’s literally always going to be the same damn guy winning the battles, with no one else even significantly helping unless they’re following his instructions.
Come on there is literally no one else it could possibly be
- Furthermore, I’m just getting tired of him showing little to no emotion at all times. I get that it’s kind of his whole gimmick, but that doesn’t make it fun to watch. If I’m supposed to root for this guy even when he’s already guaranteed to win, I need to be convinced he’s a human being who struggles with the situations he’s faced with just like anyone else, rather than some cold robotic winning machine. Even when finally confronting Slaine again, it doesn’t seem all that personal to him. He knows this is the guy who shot him in the head and probably made off with his princess friend’s body afterward, but he’s not really visibly angry about it – it’s just another challenge for him. I’m not asking for him to start yelling and crying all the time or something. I just wish it didn’t always feel like we’re watching him from a distance, even when he’s alone.
- On the subject of Slaine, he seems like maybe just a bit less of a creep in this episode, now that we know he’s genuinely optimistic that Asseylum will one day recover rather than basically just obsessing over her effectively dead body. He also has a pretty interesting conversation with Saazbaum about what effect the invasion of Earth will actually have on the Martian people, which reminds me I guess that they can sound surprisingly intelligent and self-aware about this whole conflict… which if anything just makes it worse that their personal motives for participating in it are so stupid.
- Anyway I didn’t expect to see ROUND THREE of Inaho vs. Slaine happen anywhere near this early, so I’m curious as to how it will go. I’m not really expecting anything conclusive though – chances are the fight will be broken up by something, maybe even before it really begins. There’s no way either of them are dying now, and I also really doubt Slaine is suddenly going to switch sides again right after being upgraded to full villain status.
- Finally I guess I should probably address the new characters, since I don’t think I’ve mentioned them yet. I’m not exactly against Lemrina, but it kind of feels like she literally came out of nowhere, and thus it’s hard to care about her personal issues and stuff when the viewers still barely know anything about her or how big her role in the story will be. Would it have been that hard to at least just briefly allude to her existence in the first season or something?
- I’m a lot more curious about Harklight though, honestly. I got the impression from what little promotional material for the new season I paid attention to that he’s supposed to be important, but so far he really hasn’t done much. I have no idea where they could be going with him except that it will obviously play a big part in Slaine’s development, so that’s one of the things I’m still looking forward to finding out.
Saazbaum summons Clyde von Beefthrust, the Most Muscular Horse in the World
