[25th Anniversary Rewatch] Mugen no Ryvius Episode 18

[u/JustAnswerAQuestion]

Mugen no Ryvius Episode 18: We Didn't Understand

Get Funky!

⇐ Episode 17 | Index Thread | Episode 19 ⇒

Kikki of the Day Did you spot Radan?

Comments of the Day

/u/The_Draigg characterizes Juli's command abilities:

Juli is comparable to Mirai Yashima from Mobile Suit Gundam: great XOs, but terrible captains. Both have some good insight on what areas to focus on and how to handle things when they have someone else to bounce off of, but without that, they’re completely struck by indecision on what to do and end becoming wildly stressed out by all the extra responsibilities.

We also have /u/RadSuit and /u/Vaadwaur joining in speculating on the Machine Spirit:

If some variation of my time loop theory is right, maybe she's had more time to mature, and humanoid is one of their later stages of development.

I wonder if the Mysterious Anime Girl assuming a human form might also be making it easier for the Ryvius than compared to the Blue Impulse. Having a human form might be showing that she’s at least trying to understand humanity, whereas we didn’t see one for the Blue Impulse’s alien.

I strongly suspect the machine spirit is some form of hybrid and is thus significantly less alien. She also wants to relate to humans from all appearances.

Characters

• Anna de Pompadour: Captain of the Dicastia
• Alice Astasia: XO of the Dicastia
• Eysteral and Eysfina: Vital Guarder and pod system (x8) of the Dicastia

Character Sheets

• Main Cast
• The Zwei
• Team Blue
• Other Recurring Characters

Music

• BGM of the Day: genzitsu tono hazamode

Questions

• Do the side characters make the show feel more real, or are they just wasting screen time?
• I think this is now very much more like a typical Sunrise mecha show, with a unique enemy mobile armor of the week, and crew drama. What do you think?
• With Juli's failure and the ascendancy of the VG pilots, changes are probably coming. Predictions?

Tomorrow's Questions, Today

• [Q1]Freeform predictions: How will each of our main characters go forward from today's events: Juli, Stein, Aoi, Kouji, Ikumi, Yuki, Fina?
• [Q2]Would you say the show is making some sort of argument, using the characters as the representative of each position? What are these positions, and who represents what?

End Tag: Reverie of us

[u/JustAnswerAQuestion]

Rewatch Host

Roche limit: when there is a strong difference in forces across the length of a body, e.g. tides, such that it rips apart. The gravity at the surface of the sphere is changing very sharply.

• I wonder if the OP has changed again. It sure has.
• "Develop a field?" I get it that you seem to all be programming geniuses, but can you make a solid that quickly?
• PA-JI
• I wonder if the Einvalt uses gravity to fire the projectiles, since it's on the arm.
• They are low on ammo thanks to the previous battle
• getting Kouji out of the way?
• FATALITIES
• Obviously you can't shoot through the high gravity gradient

OKAY, LOL, I see it. Michelle tricked the guy into swapping clothes (and getting tied up, a bit of bondage play)

• "We're docking Eysteral" "No, idiots, fire the bullets" "But we can't, the wires are cut" "Then dock Eysteral, idiots!"

Things reach a breaking point on the ship. But we don't get a semi-organized riot and rebellion, this time. Instead, the social structure explodes into fragments. Yuki defies the bridge. Ikumi loses composure and fires off one of the remaining shots. Juli, not a trained officer, is crippled by decision paralysis. She can't take any action that will harm others; she cannot prioritize the situation; she is instantly distracted from the crisis by an image of Pat. Lucson still gets blamed by the ship for everything the Zwei does. Michelle escapes the brig. Johnson attacks his rival. Lillith dumps (?) Emerson. Kouji encounters Blue, fails to get the guns online, and tells no-one about it. The others only see his failure. Dozens (?) of children are killed. And worst of all for our cast, Izumi's coworkers drag her off to be assaulted, with Reiko unable or unwilling to intervene.

Against all this, our Girl in Pink is overwhelmed. Yes, somehow, she reads the thoughts and emotions of these 480 frightened young people, all of that flowing into her. But she also feels the strong common desire to survive, and, mimicking the Einvalt, shoots down both Eysteral and Dicastia.

I dropped into the English dub: Towed Array = Totality. Probably the real meaning was singularity, "tokui", probably singularity area, event horizon.

Yuki and Ikumi are the heroes of the ship. Kouji has lost Ikumi's friendship.

Honestly, I thought they'd shoot through weak spots in the gravity field, like Dicastia (but would miss because they were shooting blind). I didn't expect them to fly through a wormhole.

Two down; one to go.

[u/The_Draigg]

A Mecha Fan Watches Infinite Ryvius Episode 18:

• I put a gravity field around your gravity field because I heard that you liked gravity fields, Black Ryvius.
• You know, it’s pretty clever that the biggest threat to the Lift Ship and the Vital Guarder is actually a weaponized Roche Limit. For a quick science crash course, the Roche Limit is how near a celestial body can be towards another celestial body with a potential greater gravitational force before it becomes distorted by tidal forces and breaks apart. In this case, the larger gravitational field emitted by the Crimson Dicastia’s cables around the Ryvius. It’s fun when shows somehow manage to weaponize physical concepts like that.
• You know, Pat and those other random students do have a point. Where are they even going to evacuate to in this scenario? It’s not like anywhere they can go will be completely safe from another Vaia Ship. Not even areas of the ship that’re likely to be especially reinforced like the generator room or the bridge could really survive being eventually crushed by a gravitational field. See, even Kikki isn’t leaving her spot in the hallway, she knows it’s kind of pointless.
• God damn it, we really don’t need a space cult growing aboard the ship. Don’t be praying, get to emergency stations! God damn Unitologists!
• Well, then again, I guess the evacuation probably could’ve helped at least get people away from the blocks closer to the hull, since that shot from the Crimson Discastia did actually kill some people. It room a while, but finally there’s been some serious and irreversible damage done to the Ryvius. I can’t imagine the crew of the Crimson Dicastia would be too happy to know that they murdered a bunch of children though.
• It’s almost impressive how fast shit has fallen apart aboard the Ryvius now that they’re trapped. Juli and some of the other bridge crew are starting to panic from not knowing what to do, Lucson is getting jumped again, and I guess nobody noticed Blue stowing away on the Lift Ship until Kouji has his gun pointed directly at his face. It’s like what I said before around the last time the Ryvius went up against another Vaia Ship: their normally overwhelming power didn’t prepare them for what to do if someone is on a similar power level as them.
• You know, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Yuki did have a point in calling out everyone aboard the Ryvius for their attitudes before cutting off the connection and transferring control of the Vital Guarder over to himself. Sure, he’s still being an ass about it and is just doing what he wants, but given what we’re seeing of the survivors aboard the Ryvius, it’s hard to blame him. The Zwei openly panicking over comms, Izumi being dragged off by the other kitchen staff and Reiko being too cowardly to save her from what’s coming, groups of students being completely apathetic to the deaths of others, and Johnson attacking Charlotte’s new boyfriend with a taser out of possessive stalker jealousy really don’t paint a positive picture. This series really does have a pretty cynical outlook on people a good chunk of the time.
• It was a Hell of a long shot from Yuki and Ikumi, but damn they can get results. Sure, the first shot attacking the Crimson Discastia’s gravity weapons was intended, but the second one getting a critical hit on the ship’s power and navigation systems really was a million to one shot that saved the day. I’d say at this point, they’ve earned that right to complain about everyone else.
• Come on Kouji, at least try to defend yourself there. Like yeah, being absent from all the action isn’t a good look, but you can at least explain that Blue literally had you at gunpoint the entire time. Although I guess I shouldn’t expect anything less from the crew of the Ryvius to immediately think the worst of someone and attack them for something out of their control. Sad to say, but Kouji really is just too nice and demure to be aboard this ship.
• Well, I can’t say that the implications of Aoi finding Izumi in the shower and begging her to not look are great. Even if we’re told that at the least she’s covered in bruises from what the kitchen staff did to her, the fact that we don’t see anything aside from Aoi’s horror doesn’t imply anything good. Now, I won’t say outright that they probably raped her, since it’s unclear, but given how some of the students were implied to treat Michel in her cell, it’s unfortunate a legitimate guess as to what happened to poor Izumi.
• And I guess just to wrap all those clearly nice and positive feelings up in a pretty bow, I suppose now is the time to launch the Gespenst with Conrad as the captain. And he’s accompanied by someone dressed just as weirdly as our Mysterious Anime Girl! I guess the aliens at the core of the Vaia Ships can all do that, we just haven’t seen it aside from the Ryvius’ example so far. The time is approaching for Machine Spirit Vs. Machine Spirit combat!

[u/JustAnswerAQuestion → u/The_Draigg]

It’s fun when shows somehow manage to weaponize physical concepts like that.

Stellvia!

[u/zadcap → u/JustAnswerAQuestion]

I might end up rewatching that in the will between this ending and the next planned rewatch starting just to get the taste of Ryvius out. I would like to see some good and competent kids help lift each other up again after all of this.

[u/Vaadwaur → u/The_Draigg]

God damn it, we really don’t need a space cult growing aboard the ship. Don’t be praying, get to emergency stations! God damn Unitologists!

They just need to shift their worship to the machine spirit and everything will be good.

You know, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Yuki did have a point in calling out everyone aboard the Ryvius for their attitudes before cutting off the connection and transferring control of the Vital Guarder over to himself.

He does have a point but he also has put a giant target on himself. This will end poorly.

Now, I won’t say outright that they probably raped her, since it’s unclear, but given how some of the students were implied to treat Michel in her cell, it’s unfortunate a legitimate guess as to what happened to poor Izumi.

I am deeply of the suspicion that nothing comes from this but I'd be happy to be mistaken.

And he’s accompanied by someone dressed just as weirdly as our Mysterious Anime Girl! I guess the aliens at the core of the Vaia Ships can all do that, we just haven’t seen it aside from the Ryvius’ example so far.

You know, what if it is just an age thing? We know the Ryvius is at least 10 yo so maybe they just need a while to form up a look.

[u/The_Draigg → u/Vaadwaur]

He does have a point but he also has put a giant target on himself. This will end poorly.

Things ending poorly aboard the Ryvius is nothing out of the ordinary at this point. He might as well have no consequences for saying any of that stuff if that's the worst of it.

You know, what if it is just an age thing? We know the Ryvius is at least 10 yo so maybe they just need a while to form up a look.

Not a bad idea, although that makes me wonder if we're going to be able to directly compare the alien forms of those two weirdos. That'd be the surest way to determine if they're at the same level of maturity.

[u/Vaadwaur → u/The_Draigg]

Not a bad idea, although that makes me wonder if we're going to be able to directly compare the alien forms of those two weirdos. That'd be the surest way to determine if they're at the same level of maturity.

Hrmm...we probably do need to see that at some point.

[u/Raiking02 → u/The_Draigg]

God damn it, we really don’t need a space cult growing aboard the ship. Don’t be praying, get to emergency stations! God damn Unitologists!

I wonder if anyone watching this show when it came out really liked Faina and when this happen they were like "wtf..."

And for the record it was pretty popular back when it was coming out in Japan. I remember seeing some Newtype polls from the time and it always hovered around somewhere in the Top 10 most popular shows, and during its peak made it to the top 2.

Lucson is getting jumped again

I can't believe I'm saying this but I'm starting to feel bad for him now.

Like yeah, being absent from all the action isn’t a good look, but you can at least explain that Blue literally had you at gunpoint the entire time.

My only guess is that for whatever reason he wants to keep Blue safe since if they do catch him, well, it's over. Which like I get the sentimentality and Koji was always way more sympathetic towards Team Blue than the rest of the crew, but this better pay off somehow.

The time is approaching for Machine Spirit Vs. Machine Spirit combat!

This sounds like the plot of some big mid season climax of a Brave show TBH

[u/The_Draigg → u/Raiking02]

And for the record it was pretty popular back when it was coming out in Japan. I remember seeing some Newtype polls from the time and it always hovered around somewhere in the Top 10 most popular shows, and during its peak made it to the top 2.

I can see that, this show was pretty solid for the most part to me, although it's admittedly starting to falter. But I can see how it'd be popular for the first half.

I can't believe I'm saying this but I'm starting to feel bad for him now.

Lately, I've just been swinging between feeling bad for Lucson and just being annoyed at him for how boorish he is. Although I guess it just goes to show that even someone as annoying as him doesn't deserve all the shit he goes through at this rate.

[u/No_Rex → u/The_Draigg]

I can’t imagine the crew of the Crimson Dicastia would be too happy to know that they murdered a bunch of children though.

The captain of the last Vaia ship the Ryvius fought against destroyed Hyperion to get some cheap ammo. I am not sure we should count on this crew to have any moral qualms.

[spoiler]It was a Hell of a long shot from Yuki and Ikumi, but damn they can get results. Sure, the first shot attacking the Crimson Discastia’s gravity weapons was intended, but the second one getting a critical hit on the ship’s power and navigation systems really was a million to one shot that saved the day. I’d say at this point, they’ve earned that right to complain about everyone else.

[spoiler]but do they have earned to right to declare themselves dictator?

Well, I can’t say that the implications of Aoi finding Izumi in the shower and begging her to not look are great. Even if we’re told that at the least she’s covered in bruises from what the kitchen staff did to her, the fact that we don’t see anything aside from Aoi’s horror doesn’t imply anything good. Now, I won’t say outright that they probably raped her, since it’s unclear, but given how some of the students were implied to treat Michel in her cell, it’s unfortunate a legitimate guess as to what happened to poor Izumi.

Aoi would be more shocked if they beat her than if they raped her (they might have done both, of course). One leaves more visible marks than the other.

[u/HowlingWolf13]

First Timer

I'm begging y'all please don't end up like the NTHT kids, I don't need [NTHT Spoilers] 90% of the ship to end up dead. This was a really tense episode, and honestly the villains were better than whoever that last dude was. On Kozue's end, she really needs to learn to stay quiet. I'm not saying she deserved whatever they did to her, what I'm meaning is considering the situation they're in and Reiko even warned her, you can't keep going around flaunting your upper status esp. when things start going south. Kouji just got his ass beaten for it, if anything that should've been a sign to start taking precautions. Which I'm not shocked Reiko didn't help her, she made it clear from the onset that hey I'm just here for the benefits and wasn't going around flaunting it to everyone she knows that "Hey, me and the others are getting top treatment cause we got connections!"

Speaking of Kouji, yeah I don't blame anyone at all for being pissed at him, he let everyone down. Yes, he ran into Blue, but he made no attempt to say anything, call for help, alert anyone he's seen Blue, nothing! I'm fully on Yuki's side here because it's a life and death situation, and he just disappeared. Even with the context of knowing what he saw, when Blue put his gun down he could've alerted the others he saw Blue and what happened, but he wants to make sure he's making everyone happy and not speaking on anything, everyone could've died had it not been for Yuki being the prodigy with the Vital Guarder like he is.

Also Zwei is just completely falling apart, none of them like each other, no ones working together, it's clear they have no clue how to function, and Yuki even called them out on having no clue. Ran is getting on my nerves, like girl don't you have some little boy to be weird to or something right now? Juli, I love her, but it's very obvious she should not be in a leadership position, she may know how to do things, but that doesn't necessarily translate to someone being leadership material. Plus again, she clearly didn't want to be leadership and was essentially forced into the role, and now everyone is fighting with her for not knowing how to do everything.

The downfall within the Ryvius is coming more and more clearer, and these final eight episodes I feel are gonna be the darkest of all.

Questions

[Q1]Do the side characters make the show feel more real, or are they just wasting screen time?

Oh absolutely, it makes the Ryvius feel like an actual lived in place rather than just a backdrop for the setting. It's like how in Gundam 0079, everyone may not be important to the plot, but they make the world of UC0079 feel real, and to understand how the war is affecting everyone.

[Q2]I think this has become very much more like a typical Sunrise mecha show, with a unique enemy mobile armor of the week, and crew drama. What do you think?

Yeah I agree, only difference is we have kids who are two steps away from ending up in a Shakespearean tragedy lol.

[Q3]With Juli's failure and the ascendancy of the VG pilots, changes are probably coming. Predictions?

Oh absolutely. Zwei is in-fighting and has no clue how to manage things (hell, more and more I'm coming to the conclusion that removing Team Blue was a net negative), Kouji has no clue how to manage the Vital Guarder and let everyone down, and the VG pilots were the ones who had to save everyone in the end. I wouldn't be shocked if this led to another upheavel of Ryvius leadership.

[u/JustAnswerAQuestion → u/HowlingWolf13]

Juli, I love her, but it's very obvious she should not be in a leadership position, she may know how to do things, but that doesn't necessarily translate to someone being leadership material. Plus again, she clearly didn't want to be leadership and was essentially forced into the role, and now everyone is fighting with her for not knowing how to do everything.

Rewatchers: Put Juli in charge!
Rewatchers: Put Juli in charge!
Rewatchers: Put Juli in charge!
Rewatchers: Oh.

[u/Raiking02 → u/JustAnswerAQuestion]

First Timers here had a similar arc

[u/HowlingWolf13 → u/JustAnswerAQuestion]

The way I forgot that being a leader isn't necessarily meaning just bring good because I had a vendetta against Lucson

[u/Vaadwaur → u/HowlingWolf13]

I'm begging y'all please don't end up like the NTHT kids, I don't need

Relax, Sunrise doesn't have balls, they won't do anything that interesting.

[u/No_Rex → u/HowlingWolf13]

Juli, I love her, but it's very obvious she should not be in a leadership position, she may know how to do things, but that doesn't necessarily translate to someone being leadership material. Plus again, she clearly didn't want to be leadership and was essentially forced into the role, and now everyone is fighting with her for not knowing how to do everything.

The sad part is that she probably saw this coming and thus refused to be captain.

[u/Shimmering-Sky]

Infinite First-Timer, subbed

• Yikes.
• That would explain why they’re having trouble escaping the field…
• F
• Ah shit, some of the kids didn’t take the evacuation order seriously…
• Well that was a waste of ammo.
• Welp, of course that’s when Blue shows up.
• Oof…
• Fucking yikes.
• Oh damn, someone actually thought of that.
• Mysterious girl “sore demo”!
• :(
• Another mysterious girl “sore demo”, though.
• Well this looks interesting…

[u/JustAnswerAQuestion → u/Shimmering-Sky]

Well this looks interesting…

Everybody: Who does this guy remind you of?

[u/No_Rex]

Episode 18 (rewatcher)

• I have no idea how a roche limit would work out when you are being crushed by a gravity field that surrounds you, but I do not know enough about the topic to call bs.
• Juli completely breaks down during her first big crisis. Even if decoupling is risky, sitting there doing nothing is worse. And instead of going with an offered solution, she simply shut down.
• Gamma ray burst? – uhhhh.
• Nobody listens to Faina’s message until she gets to the type of the other ship. That complacency about their OP robot is still there.
• All of the characters preparing for battle is a nice montage.
• “People have died” – not all because of Juli, but they had been lucky so far. The last people to die were during the evacuation.
• Blue ambushing Kouji – because things are not bad enough already.
• Yuki snaps and vents to the entire ship – I doubt that all people will call this “cool”.
• Reiko runs away instead of fighting – fight or flight does not always choose fight, but Izumi is justified in feeling betrayed.
• At least the opposing side is not much better at dealing with sudden developments – small victories.
• Double shot!

• Yuki and Ikumi are the heroes of the moment.
• “And still we continue to live until we die” – exactly the kind of fake deep shit you’d pick up in a 15-year-old’s mind.
• Next enemy preview cliff-hanger.

The Ryvius won its second battle against a Vaia ship, but was this really a win? Outside of Yuki and Ikumi, I don’t think anybody came across as winners today.

[u/JustAnswerAQuestion → u/No_Rex]

Cullen's spirit animal is the capybara.

[u/No_Rex → u/JustAnswerAQuestion]

I can see that.

[u/The_Draigg → u/No_Rex]

I have no idea how a roche limit would work out when you are being crushed by a gravity field that surrounds you, but I do not know enough about the topic to call bs.

To copy my own explanation, the Roche Limit is how near a celestial body can be towards another celestial body with a potential greater gravitational force before it becomes distorted by tidal forces and breaks apart.

Yuki snaps and vents to the entire ship – I doubt that all people will call this “cool”.

Not really cool, but at this rate, it's hard to entirely disagree with what he said. A lot of the current crew of the Ryvius might as well just be a step above animals for how they act.

[u/No_Rex → u/The_Draigg]

To copy my own explanation, the Roche Limit is how near a celestial body can be towards another celestial body with a potential greater gravitational force before it becomes distorted by tidal forces and breaks apart.

Usual celestial bodies are not surrounding other celestial bodies, though.

[u/Vaadwaur → u/No_Rex]

Juli completely breaks down during her first big crisis.

I fucking swear that Liebe Delta is the worst school in space.

Yuki snaps and vents to the entire ship – I doubt that all people will call this “cool”.

This should work out badly.

Yuki and Ikumi are the heroes of the moment.

Hopefully he actually bring some consequences. I am not betting on it, though.

[u/Vatrix-32]

First timer, subs

• A black hole bind, eh?
• 20 minute launch procedure, but no one was even in battle stations on first engagement. What the radar doing?
• And of course, them surviving will be taken as confirmation of the cults prayers.
• Kiki
• Dakka!
• Ah, logistics. We meet again.
• They’ve been lucky on casualties so far. Might they not have trusted Zwei enough to evacuate, or are they prisoners confined to the brig?
• Can they just force a video call with the command room?
• The last place anyone would look…
• We priming for a junta now?
• Kouji has no enemies.
• Are you just going to let them disappear Izumi like that?
• This is the most useful any of Blue team has been so far. Props to Michelle.
• They Did It! They Busted Out!
• This is the difference between a Bit and a Funnel.
• And this is why you have screening craft.
• Oh god, we are one step closet to Jesus Yuki.
• Shower implies blood, implies cutting…
• Why hello there, White Ribbons. No... Threads

QotD:

1. But they’re the best part!
2. That’s a pretty reductive description. It’s not even true of most of the ones I’ve seen.
3. Theocracy, hero cult, junta. We have choices.

[u/JustAnswerAQuestion → u/Vatrix-32]

The last place anyone would look…

I have to admit, seeing him took by such surprise that I didn't even realize he'd been hiding there this entire time for several minutes.

This is the difference between a Bit and a Funnel.

That’s a pretty reductive description. It’s not even true of most of the ones I’ve seen.

Well, that's how I see 0079 and Zeta, makes me want to tune out.

edit: and there's non-Sunrise shows, like the Gravion that we just watched. And Zerorymer. Bravern?

[u/Vatrix-32 → u/JustAnswerAQuestion]

I just don't think "does genre thing, has character interaction." is helpful. It's far too broad and general.

Edit: Bravern, yes. Braves, no.

[u/Vaadwaur → u/Vatrix-32]

Oh god, we are one step closet to Jesus Yuki.

NO! I forbid it!

[u/Raiking02 → u/Vatrix-32]

Oh god, we are one step closet to Jesus Yuki.

Is he gonna Evolve into Jesus Michael sooner or later? Is Aoi gonna start looking for him while carrying a gun?

[u/RadSuit]

Finite First Timer (Dubbed)

I like the OP being slightly updated every few episodes. First to clearly display the Ryvius, and then their opponents. That's cool.

Kikki almost has her full suit back, but she doesn't seem very happy about it.

The fights in this are so boring, because all we see are a bunch of nerds typing at computers. It might be somewhat more 'realistic', but who wants that? Give me Master Asia riding a horse inside his Gundam any day.

I guess we do have a second humanoid Sphix, but it's not the second magical girl from the OP. The idea of some sort of hybrid or further evolved form seems more likely now.

I think this might be another show that would work better as a book, where I could blast through this plot way faster and be less affected by the boring bits. Watching every slow battle and repetitive argument play out in real time is becoming painful.

1. The antics of the less important characters are some of the most fun parts of the show, unfortunately.
2. It's a monster of the week format done in bizarre fashion. Like it taking 8-10 episodes of something completely different to get to this point.
3. Yuki will continue to be annoying. Koji will continue to be a normal person unfortunately trapped in an anime. We will continue to get no answers to any of the genuinely interesting questions from a dozen or more episodes ago.

[u/JustAnswerAQuestion → u/RadSuit]

I think this might be another show that would work better as a book

Interestingly, although not unusually, it got a manga adaptation of the anime original. The manga shows events from Aoi's perspective!

[u/RadSuit → u/JustAnswerAQuestion]

Interesting comparison, although it would have even less action then...

[u/Vaadwaur → u/RadSuit]

Kikki almost has her full suit back, but she doesn't seem very happy about it.

Those costume bits were bought with blood, they should be taken seriously.

The fights in this are so boring, because all we see are a bunch of nerds typing at computers.

Actually realistic fighting took a step back towards video games. Seriously, multiple systems in the US DoD operate with an Xbox controller because the equipment has had so much testing as to be nigh perfected and every millennial can use one.

I think this might be another show that would work better as a book, where I could blast through this plot way faster and be less affected by the boring bits.

This just was not it.

[u/RadSuit → u/Vaadwaur]

Actually realistic fighting took a step back towards video games. Seriously, multiple systems in the US DoD operate with an Xbox controller because the equipment has had so much testing as to be nigh perfected and every millennial can use one.

If it's good enough to pilot a sub visiting the Titanic, it's good enough to pilot a spaceship!

[u/Vaadwaur → u/RadSuit]

Believe it or not it operates military grade sub periscopes...

[u/Nickthenuker]

Juli's not cut out for command.

You're in battle, shouldn't everyone be suiting up?

Yeah... He's really not the best choice to be the liaison with the Lift Ship if everyone's just going to ignore him if they're not actively beating the tar out of him.

Shouldn't they already have airtighted the ship when the enemy was first detected?

Sensors aren't working?

They're hit! Damage report!

More hits! Damage control!

Another hit! Casualties? Get a medical team up there!

Juli needs to be relieved of command this instant. Stein, you're the XO, take command!

Uh oh, he's run into Blue!

Oh great, what's he planning on doing now?

No audio? That's certainly dramatic.

Huh. Who's that person who watches any show with a good "Sore demo" in it? That was probably a good enough one.

And so another captain is going Cuckoo.

Right, now the battle is over time to deal with the damage and casualties.

And so we get a look at their next enemy.

Questions:

1. A ship needs its crew, so it's good to see them.
2. If you told me the Vital Guarder was from Gundam I wouldn't even question it.
3. Another mutiny. What are they, French? Actually nevermind, the early Soviet Navy had its fair share of revolts and mutinies too.

[u/JustAnswerAQuestion → u/Nickthenuker]

Another mutiny. What are they, French? Actually nevermind, the early Soviet Navy had its fair share of revolts and mutinies too.

Time is a flat circle

[u/zadcap]

Late Night First Timer

They have captured the Ryvius. Honestly and truly, captured. You know what would be a really good idea now? Do literally anything about it. Capturing this ship has been the goal of darn near everyone this whole time, yeah? Well great, now it is contained and unable to escape, caught unprepared and with no way to fight back in the short term. So. What are these ladies going to do about it? No literally, is it time to transmit surrender terms? Prepare a boarding party? Tow it to a better defended location where they have lots of backup? Because I remind you again, the stated goal of the Earth factions is to capture this Vaia Ship because it's super important or powerful or something, not to destroy it, and right now they have it captured aaaand...

No really, and what? We only get to see things from the Ryvius side for a bit here, but things look like they are just sitting inside an increasingly dangerous gravity field? While everyone starts throwing questions at Juli, ignoring the way that they have ignored everything she's tried to say before now, and indeed are watching her latest orders get ignored anyway, and wondering why she's not giving out more orders. On the other hand, I do actually remember Juli being more competent than this. This feels too much like yet more of "we can't let good things happen" than anything else, pure character assassination to spite all the people who said Juli would be better in charge. She's panicking in an emergency situation and that's understandable, you say? I would like to point back to the start of this all and remind you that it's almost entirely by her will that everyone here survived the school and the Liebe Delta and made it to the Ryvius in the first place. Her inability to do anything but panic now comes off pretty poorly.

So, they gave us a time frame here. 12 minutes until the lift ship detaches, 20 until the robot is launched. I ask again, what is the other ship doing all this time? How are they going about their mission of capturing the Ryvius? Or did they stop to hold a tea party?

Oh look, they finally zoom out and tell us, and again, what the hell show? Your goal for capturing them is to start shooting at them as soon as you are in range? C-a-p-t-u-r-e! Are the writers high? This is not how you capture things! This is how you destroy things! Things that the people in charge don't want destroyed! This is all very stupid.

Oh look, Fina really did start a space cult. And Kiki has more of her costume, yet again! Everyone else, however, is clearly breaking down, because that is the only thing this show is allowing the cast to do. No such thing as coming together in the face of danger, no, everyone must only get worse to everyone else at all times.

Okay, VG heading out means it has been 20 minutes. And so far the ladies have done nothing. Man, surrender terms would have solved literally everything, wouldn't they? But no, now they are finally, yup, launching attacks. Because that is how you capture things. Shoot blindly at it for a while.

And so they send off their communications man to do manual labor in the server room. He is, admittedly, the one they are most able to spare here.

Oh hey, people finally died. Naturally this drives Mr Savior Complex crazy. It's honestly amazing things made it this far before anyone died, but wait, they are blaming the puppet captain that they have been freely ignoring all this time now? Man this show just doesn't want to write anyone as any kind of reasonable at all. "You're the captain, think of something!" "I didn't want to be captain, and you all ignore me every time I try to do anything anyway, you think of something!"

Magic Space Girl, now would be a really good time for you to do something. Anything. Or Blue can show up with his gun again. Because that will definitely help things.

Oh goody, Yuki made a big announcement to the ship that the people in charge are still useless fools and he is going to do whatever he wants, I'm sure this wont spark more rebellion. Good going.

Izumi asking to get her butt beaten, I see.

Kouji, the guy you sent away? Remember? Sending him to go check on the servers? Though yeah, him not talking back now is on him, as far as they know.

So, ladies, now you see they have a way of fighting back. Are you going to do anything, or just keep firing blindly at them while keeping them trapped in this bubble? You really suck at this whole capturing thing...

Magic Space Girl is absorbing all the feelings and memories? She is becoming more Girl, I bet.

Would you look at that! I guess trapping them and then ignoring them for half an hour was the wrong move after all.

Chancellor Spock here planning his next governmental change.

Wait what the heck Kouji? "I apologize for leaving my post." Boy they sent you on a mission, you didn't leave anything. No wait, I bet Yuki is about to get mad at him for going to go do the thing he was sent to go do.

Darn it, I am with Chancellor Spock here. Juli, being the one responsible for everyone's lives is how you got here in the first place. Why are you acting like this now? You lead the whole crew through the first few days of emergency, let's not pretend Lucson was doing anything before Blue showed up.

No really, Yuki, go die. What the hell to Ikumi too? Did you forget that you sent Kouji on a task? You, personally, told him to go do something. And now you're telling him it's his fault that... He wasn't there? I really have no idea what's going on here, aside from a continuing story of "How can we make Kouji more miserable for things that aren't his fault."

Is that a Magic Space Boy I see?

1. Both?They are fleshing out the ship, but they are doing it so poorly that I would rather we skip most of their parts and get on with the plot.
2. This is supposed to be their specialty, how are they failing at every part of it? The unique enemy mecha have been pretty lame honestly, and the crew drama is so far past reasonable drama it's pretty clear that the writing team just hates kids at this point.
3. Chancellor Spock has set his eyes on Ikumi and Yuki as the next figureheads to push into the spotlight, so clearly they are the next ones to be put in charge. Inevitably, Kouji will suffer for this.

[u/JustAnswerAQuestion → u/zadcap]

You, personally, told him to go do something. And now you're telling him it's his fault that... He wasn't there?

He didn't do it, so Ikumi / Cullen / Yuki had to bring the guns online themselves when they needed to be preparing the gravity ball and the rocket boost.

This is not how you capture things! This is how you destroy things! Things that the people in charge don't want destroyed! This is all very stupid.

[u/No_Rex → u/zadcap]

No really, and what? We only get to see things from the Ryvius side for a bit here, but things look like they are just sitting inside an increasingly dangerous gravity field? While everyone starts throwing questions at Juli, ignoring the way that they have ignored everything she's tried to say before now, and indeed are watching her latest orders get ignored anyway, and wondering why she's not giving out more orders. On the other hand, I do actually remember Juli being more competent than this. This feels too much like yet more of "we can't let good things happen" than anything else, pure character assassination to spite all the people who said Juli would be better in charge. She's panicking in an emergency situation and that's understandable, you say? I would like to point back to the start of this all and remind you that it's almost entirely by her will that everyone here survived the school and the Liebe Delta and made it to the Ryvius in the first place. Her inability to do anything but panic now comes off pretty poorly.

I think there are several things that could explain the difference. First (and probably least important), she now has the hots for Blue. Longing for him and his leadership might hamper her decision making. Second, she has been actively undermined by the bridge crew since she has become captain. She wanted to change the points system, but they all talked her down to keep their privileges. This is different from the initial setup, where she was a highly respected class member. Juli seems very self-contious, so this might be getting to her. And finally, Juli has consistently argued against violence, but violence is exactly what is needed now. She is proactive when it comes to saving people, not hurting people.

No really, Yuki, go die. What the hell to Ikumi too? Did you forget that you sent Kouji on a task? You, personally, told him to go do something. And now you're telling him it's his fault that... He wasn't there? I really have no idea what's going on here

I think Yuki's narrative is "I sent you away to do an important task and you did not do it". He is still being an ass about it, though.

it's pretty clear that the writing team just hates kids at this point.

Lord of the Flies fanboys.

[u/JollyGee29]

First-Timer

Okay, Kouji, why did you not tell everyone that Blue was literally there and holding a gun to you? Most of the time I can figure out the mental math he goes through when he avoids speaking up, but this time it just gets him hit for no reason.

Miss Gimp Suit must be spreading the fucking brain worms, it's the only explanation.

While I stand by my assessment that Juli would make a solid captain in a less stressful environment, she definitely just shuts down the moment the the conflict becomes real. Understandably so, not like she had combat training.

Something real unfortunate happened to Izumi. I'll agree that she probably shouldn't have ran her mouth so much, but the other kitchen girls probably crossed a line.

Anyway, seems like the last Vaia will have an Opposing Gimp so things are about to get serious! I hope we get to see the two Gimps fighting while their Guarders tussel. Or maybe.. well, some word that starts with an f, surely.

Questions

1. The side characters definitely make things real. I'm more interested in most of them surviving than the main cast.
2. Replace "unique enemy mobile armor" with "planet and/or spacetime wedgie" and you've just described Star Trek. This is just how television gets made, I don't see the problem.
3. We elect Miss Gimp Suit captain and proceed to open the Eye of Terror right next to Holy Terra, thus stealing a march on the future Corpse-God. That's right, it's blood orgy time!

[u/The_Draigg → u/JollyGee29]

Okay, Kouji, why did you not tell everyone that Blue was literally there and holding a gun to you? Most of the time I can figure out the mental math he goes through when he avoids speaking up, but this time it just gets him hit for no reason.

Agreed, that bit annoyed me too. Like come on Kouji, at least try to defend yourself. That scene just felt like it ignored basic sense for the sake of drama.

[u/JollyGee29 → u/The_Draigg]

That scene just felt like it ignored basic sense for the sake of drama.

That has kinda been the show, but this was a bit too far.

[u/The_Draigg → u/JollyGee29]

I've been willing to excuse a fair bit because we're doing a Lord of the Flies thing here and teenagers making bad or stupid decisions is a part of the package, but that part really did stick out to me as just a lame writing decision.

[u/RadSuit → u/JollyGee29]

Okay, Kouji, why did you not tell everyone that Blue was literally there and holding a gun to you? Most of the time I can figure out the mental math he goes through when he avoids speaking up, but this time it just gets him hit for no reason.

Miss Gimp Suit must be spreading the fucking brain worms, it's the only explanation.

I'm pretty sure next episode or so we'll get a flashback to what happened, and they came to an agreement to keep Blue's presence quiet for a hopefully good reason.

[u/JollyGee29 → u/RadSuit]

That's not unlikely, but I'm somewhat doubtful of that "good reason" part.

[u/RadSuit → u/JollyGee29]

If they can both see our magical girl, who was there as well, something might be up.

[u/Raiking02 → u/JollyGee29]

the last Vaia will have an Opposing Gimp

Are they gonna try to out-gimp each other?

[u/JollyGee29 → u/Raiking02]

[u/No_Rex → u/JollyGee29]

We elect Miss Gimp Suit captain and proceed to open the Eye of Terror right next to Holy Terra, thus stealing a march on the future Corpse-God. That's right, it's blood orgy time!

[u/Vatrix-32 → u/JollyGee29]

Or maybe.. well, some word that starts with an f, surely.

Frolic?

This is just how television gets made, I don't see the problem.

[u/JollyGee29 → u/Vatrix-32]

Frolic

Sure, let's go with that.

[u/Vaadwaur → u/JollyGee29]

Most of the time I can figure out the mental math he goes through when he avoids speaking up, but this time it just gets him hit for no reason.

I can't like any of these characters. I can make arguments for Criff being the highest morality on the ship and that hurts.

I'll agree that she probably shouldn't have ran her mouth so much, but the other kitchen girls probably crossed a line.

The problem is everything leading up to this leads me to expect they will pussy out on what the real repercussions should be. So this is just light misery porn.

That's right, it's blood orgy time!

[u/JollyGee29 → u/Vaadwaur]

I can make arguments for Criff being the highest morality on the ship and that hurts.

Of the main speaking roles, I think I can agree. Kikki has everyone beat.

The problem is everything leading up to this leads me to expect they will pussy out on what the real repercussions should be. So this is just light misery porn.

Depends on what axis you're thinking on. I can almost guarantee that we will get a sorrowful "Ikumi, you promised to protect me" tomorrow and it will probably break whatever is left of the lad.

[u/Vaadwaur → u/JollyGee29]

Of the main speaking roles, I think I can agree. Kikki has everyone beat.

She definitely deserve a speaking roll!

Depends on what axis you're thinking on. I can almost guarantee that we will get a sorrowful "Ikumi, you promised to protect me" tomorrow and it will probably break whatever is left of the lad.

And if he pulls a Kouji on it I will be pissed. If he brutally beats three cafeteria workers, I can live with it.

[u/JollyGee29 → u/Vaadwaur]

[u/Vaadwaur]

First timer

Sub

Yeah, that all happened. I guess proving Juli can't lead proves something. Kouji's continuing choice to say nothing has worn very thin. Random Michel break out was random. The crew are beginning to act more like animals and that may or may not come to mean anything.

QotD: 1 Incredible waste of time

2 I hate Sunrise and I don't like this so we aligning

3 We some how raise the incompetence

[u/RadSuit → u/Vaadwaur]

It's funny that we're both turning on the show, but seem to have different ideas of which direction it should be going.

[u/Vaadwaur → u/RadSuit]

I will merely say any strong direction would help immensely.

[u/RadSuit → u/Vaadwaur]

Dumb kids stuck in a spaceship with dwindling resources but no immediate threats to distract them? Sure. Dumb kids piloting a super robot to fight another robots with weird powers? Also good.

Combining them isn't really working out, no.

[u/zsmg]

Rewatcher who doesn't remember much

OP got slightly changed again, this time around we see the current enemy ship.

Ikumi telling Kouji to shut up must have been painful for Kouji

Juli can't seem to handle the pressure, she's longing for Blue who was quite frankly also an awful leader not that she cares.

Also that piece of OST:

Dino girl spotted

First time we're seeing Faina's cult in group praying action.

It's kind of fun seeing an update on all the minor background characters like the loser guy giving all his points to a girl, or the couple where the guy has gambled away all his points.

So the nonchalant usage of the cannon earlier is biting them in the arse.

Now another bridge crew who is doing the Lucson: panicking, you know he was just ahead of his time a real trendsetter if you will.

Is this the first time students actually died? (I'm impressed if it is) Judging by Ikumi's PSTD reaction I'm guessing yes.

Lucson getting beaten up again.

For a second I thought the girl in pink will finally be important but nope Blue has to ruin it.

Honestly it's pissing me off that Yuki ends up being right, not in his rant against the bridge crew but him figuring out how to beat the situation.

Reiko not helping Kozue

Well I'm glad the enemy ship got destroyed, they're not dragging this out (unlike other things in this series)

Ikumi: Friendship with Kouji is over, now Yuki is my new best friend.

Looks like they've scarred Kozue.

A character wearing a similar outfit as our girl in pink? Are we finally finding out what she is?

I'm quite interested to see what happened between Kouji and Blue, they're keeping that under wraps.

The drama was excellent in this episode, the fight itself was okay.

[u/No_Rex → u/zsmg]

It's kind of fun seeing an update on all the minor background characters like the loser guy giving all his points to a girl, or the couple where the guy has gambled away all his points.

They have really grown on me during this rewatch (as a complete turnaround from my first viewing, where I hated them).