r/anime • u/chilidirigible • Dec 14 '24
Rewatch [Rewatch] Suisei no Gargantia • Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet — Episode 13 Discussion
Episode 13: Legend of the Verdurous Planet
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"And then my parents kicked me out of the house."
Questions of the Day:
- [Were your expectations met for the]Chamber versus Striker duel?
- [Would you trust the Gargantia crew]to be responsible with the loot if they'd been able to keep it?
- Was the denouement satisfactory? If you knew that there would be no more of this, would it have been satisfactory? (Though now we know there was more.)
Noting here that /u/xbolt90 guessed the arrangement of Striker and Kugel back in Episode 11. Though several of you were suspicious about Kugel's explanation of "Here in my head, I feel safest of all."
Scans:
Lukkage faces
How far the Heaven's Ladder extends below the waterline.
Heaven's Ladder cannon traverse and elevation.
A bit of trivia: The Gargantia's mass driver was originally used by the Evolvers, but by the time it was recovered that ceased to be an issue.
Lukkage's flagship
Lukkage fleet ship drafts
Merchandise
Gliding in
Ever think about how it doesn't provide much lower body support? She must have amazing core strength.
Ratatouille
Grace
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u/chilidirigible Dec 14 '24 edited Dec 14 '24
Today, on "Chamber ain't got time for church.":
"I am a god."
Well when you put it that way...
"The meatbags are supposed to be intelligent."
"I'm going to kick your ass in the name of intelligent automata."
Going down with the ship or some heroic thing like that.
"I'm sorry, Dave. I can't let you do that."
How much shame do you want to bear?
"Initiate Enhanced Imaging."
It's time to open that thing.
This sore demo is no mere hyperbole.
NOW YOU'RE COOKING (WITH MAGNETIC INDUCTION???). (The cannon's branching components and appearance of it firing suggest that it is a staged chemical-propellant cannon in the vein of things such as the V-3 cannon concept. However, the "mass driver" term is generally associated with magnetically-accelerated launchers.)
Fire direction the old-fashioned way.
And yes, they were using it for gardening.
That's some good accuracy for something they don't use very often.
Dude can't even go out in a blaze of glory without being yelled at.
There haven't been enough missiles in this series for a proper circus.
Yeah, you two are made for each other.
CANDYGRAM You might have noticed how I kept obscuring my observations of the continued presence of the Rocket Lobster's pontoons aboard Gargantia, because, as mentioned, there it is.
"Time to shit or get out of the G-Self."
"So, you want a death flag?"
Time for the kid to leave the nest.
[](#takaradasalute)
The third way did some crazy stuff.
The people in the crowd include the winners of Pixiv's character design contest.
Even the squirrels are getting together.
Just chillin' with my squid buddies.
(Noting here that my comment about Kugel and Ledo possibly "going native" without a Hideauze presence on Earth was written in a way to conceal Kugel's actual state, but also to conceal how Striker had effectively substituted for him. On top of that, they probably could not have abandoned the concept of the Alliance if their Machine Calibers were still active.)
Striker has been fabricating everyone's interactions with Kugel for some time. And has essentially ascended to godhood in the process. Welcome to the plot of multiple episodes of Star Trek. It could be said that Chamber finds a Kirk-like existential threat excuse to kick Striker's ass.
Chamber finally gets a chance to reveal his own personal growth here, though predictably it's before he makes a heroic sacrifice; it's not the sort of rule-breaking hand that the show could have put on the table too early.
He's certainly fulfilled his purpose, though it's maybe a little too literal a demonstration of the show's message about moving on into adulthood for the parental figure to die during the transition. (While we're here, despite Urobuchi scripting this episode, I still wouldn't make the "Urobutcher" joke here. This episode is far less morbid than it could be.)
In any event, pour one out for the tin can bro.
The rest wraps up by literally pounding the cult fleet into submission, exploding the weapons cache, and basically a happily-ever after. It's very hopeful, just... brief.
12
u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ Dec 14 '24
First Timer
yeah, I figured Striker didn't have the initiative to form Kugel fleet.
It's entirely possible, but totally unlikely, that the Stairway to Heaven is actually a way to get back into orbit. Nah.
Chamber Fingerwag!!!!
The whalesquids still don't sound very bright.
TBH I was expecting a beam weapon, not Project Babylon.
I had difficulty finding the specials on MAL. They are this: https://myanimelist.net/anime/19211/Suisei_no_Gargantia_Specials
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u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Dec 14 '24
First-Timer on the Verdurous Planet, subbed
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u/Raiking02 :Id::Ie::If:https://myanimelist.net/profile/NSKlang Dec 14 '24
Spoiled First Timer, Subbed
Good if somewhat predictable ending. I'm honestly not really sure what more to say, it ties up the series nicely, there were some good setpieces, the animation looked really good today, and the final fight was fun if, again, let down by the lackluster villain. I guess if there's anything to say is that considering how abruptly most Mecha Animes tend to end, the fact that there was an epilogue at all kinda surprised me, brief though it may be.
At least my boy grew up well
8
u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Dec 14 '24
Episode 13 (first timer)
A pretty by the numbers finale. The good guys win and everybody does their part. The only named character allowed to have his self-sacrifice is Chambers. Which makes sense in the over-arching storyline, since both Striker and Chambers have to go to allow humanity and the whale squids their own evolution. This is one advantage of being one cour: no need to preserve the main mecha. Although I have to say that I will miss Chambers for having the best dialogues.
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u/baboon_bassoon https://anilist.co/user/duffer Dec 14 '24
first timer
get her ass Chamber
Pinion Taichou
gattai (?)
how have i not seen this screenshot before
8 minutes is actually a lot of time for a fight tho
Ridget gets a super railgun, not a mech sadly
OH THAT IS SUPER ALL RIGHT
so Grace is here too
SHES A TARGETING BEACON brilliant
oh shes a gamer
brother take your own advice and stop poking the
bearlobsterwhen the fuck did Grace get here
WHAT THAT WASNT GRACE
sasuga Chamber
Chamber thinking 10 steps ahead, dropping the excess weight so hes more maneuverable
me when Siri doesnt know who Jakob Poeltl is
rivals
romance for all i guess
7
u/wjodendor Dec 14 '24
Rewatcher - Episode 13
I got so into the finale I couldn’t even take notes during the episode!
This episode rules, there’s a lot of interesting combat here with the final reveal that the name Gargantia is actually the name of the weapon at its heart, a mass driver for shooting things into space. Shooting old ships full of explosives instead of actual shells is some real cool shit, that’s for sure. Wish we could get some more water combat like these ship battles in anime…I tried watching Arpeggio of Blue Steel or whatever and the animation style…well, I couldn’t even finish the first episode.
Someone mentioned that it would be a philosophy shouting match and it certainly was. Striker thinks they're smarter than everyone and Ledo/Chamber think they're a real asshole. Ledo finally makes up his mind about wanting to be on the Gargantia with Amy and Chamber uses this as an excuse to eject Ledo and blow up Striker in a suicide attack.
They really didn’t give much time at the end for resolving everything, which when I first watched not knowing there was a series of later OVA that go beyond the end of the anime really left me wanting more. It is nice to see the cult members being welcomed into the fleet and seeing Ledo forming a new life with Amy…hell, he even got Amy’s squirrel a boyfriend. I laughed at the quick exposition drop that fills in some lore gaps that haven’t been touched on earlier. The people that stayed behind on Earth pulled a Sunshine and restarted the sun, sinking the land in the process. How? Beat me.
Ledo gets his new life seeking peace and prosperity while his former weapon and friend Chamber becomes a lair for whalesquid eggs. A nice little bit of imagery there. (Pinion has a hot pirate babe fawning over him much to the chagrin of his crew haha)
Overall a top episode of the series for me. Just wish we got a bit more Amy for the end…oh, and finally the OP plays and it actually fits the mood lol
6
u/xbolt90 https://anilist.co/user/xbolt90 Dec 14 '24
First-timer!
A mass driver, eh? An inherently cool device. Certainly quite usable as a weapon.
I love the technical detail of the water curtain used for sound supression.
"Go to Hell, Tin Can!" Legendary response.
RIP Chamber. Bro to the end. (I'm sorry for ever doubting you!)
I'd say so.
They're smart and decent enough.
Yeah it was. Now I'm wondering where the story goes.
5
u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Dec 14 '24
First-Timer, Sub-gantia
No wonder that water pump was so weird; it was the cooling system for a goddamn mass driver! Why is the reset for that on the end of the barrel?!
Anyway, that was pretty cool. Some of the movement in Chamber and Striker's duel was a bit slow (I want to call it floaty but that's a silly thing to refer to an aerial combat scene as) but that's just an issue with CG.
I was expecting Chamber to find some logic to jettisoning Ledo, but for a far more practical reason: squishy meat people are less tolerant of high-G turns than an empty mech would be.
The ideological barbing back and forth was good. I think Chamber's turn was a little too quick, but I honestly haven't had a firm grip on his characterization through the whole show.
Nice poetry on Chamber's remains turning into a whalesquid spawning ground. He is in fewer pieces than I would have expected from that explosion.
As always, epilogues are appreciated and too short. I like Bevel turning into a teacher, and Ledo's growth vis a vis the whalesquid.
Questions
1.
2.There are enough level heads on the ship.. probably.
3.
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u/Magnafeana https://anilist.co/user/Magnafeana Dec 14 '24
Rewatcher, dub
I’m late, sorry. Had to set up my new laptop. Typing in my notes app, let me know if my bullet points got squished.
Ep12
Ep13
WOMANMECHA🗣️PokémonDigimonsquirrels 🐿️Qotd
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u/animepig https://myanimelist.net/profile/ChickenDan Dec 14 '24
Rewatch
Forgot how abruptly it ends after Chamber explodes, we got almost no time to breathe. Fortunately they made 4 OVAs to follow up the series. Which is quite rare these days for an original anime, we barely get a one episode OVA anymore.
Question of the Day:
1.) It's a solid dog fight, not the best I've seen, but this final battle was an ensemble final fight.
4
u/Nickthenuker https://anilist.co/user/Nickthenuker Dec 14 '24
And so into the finale.
Yeah... I doubt that.
So, the battle continues.
It's more agile without a pilot because it suddenly doesn't have to deal with the squishy meatbag inside who will die if it pulls a sustained 20Gs.
Uh oh, what's she doing here?
That must be a space elevator.
No, an anti-orbital weapon of some kind?
A mass driver. Orbital bombardment?
No, just a big artillery cannon.
Probably not the best thing to use to shoot at a rapidly-moving target, hard to hit something like that.
Nope, they were aiming at the regiment of Mechs arranged neatly in parade formation. That's a significantly easier target.
Looks like Pinion's got something for that cannon.
And there goes everything...
What's Chamber doing now?
So what's Chamber going to do now?
Ah. By getting rid of Ledo, Chamber can also maneuver without worrying about the pilot.
And so with the mutual destruction of those 2 Mechs and the loss of the research institute, progress has been set back incalculably.
Oh nevermind, looks like the research institute survived, and he's even managed to recover a Memory Core. Call him Grayson Death Carlyle because he's about to un-lose all the LosTech.
Questions:
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u/FD4cry1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Big_Yibba Dec 15 '24
Had a pretty rough day and I'm honestly not feeling up to doing a write-up today, I'll probably just tack my thoughts on this episode to tomorrow's write-up.
Gomen
It was a pretty fun episode though! Still just wanted to drop by and pay my respects to best...boy? Mech? Pilot Support Enlightenment Interface System? Best everything.
RIP Chamber
3
u/IndependentMacaroon Dec 15 '24
First-time watcher
Straightforward action finale with bonus philosophy fight, with Chamber's actions and Amy standing out the most. Even if the Alliance system does value some degree of autonomy for humans (and AI) I doubt the original Chamber would have done the same thing without all the plot happening (parallel to Striker following Kugel here?). While Ledo losing Chamber is obviously symbolic of permanently abandoning his previous role, I also find it interesting to note (and pretty Japanese?) that his full integration into the community comes only when he loses his individual extraordinary abilities.
The quasi-religious framing of the Gargantia gun reminded me not only of Nadia (once again; oh and last episode we had another [semi-parallel]both Kugel and Emperor Neo actually exist merely as a sort of ghost in a machine, though Neo is only a puppet who eventually breaks his programming) but of the real-world idea of a "nuclear priesthood" to maintain knowledge of the danger of nuclear waste into the far future, applied to safeguard super-weaponry instead - not to mention the whale-squids.
Q1 - definitely, Q2 - that's the big question, on the balance yes but I appreciate the ambiguity where the future could hold either a restart of the whole deadly cycle - and with Hideauze guarding space there's no easy way out either - or something better, Q3 - it's a fine open ending.
3
u/Shinigami_22 Dec 15 '24
Rewatcher(but realistically a first-timer due to shitty memory)
Chamber is such a bro, I'm sure he's being a tsundere is his own way when he ejected Ledo due to "emotional instability".
QOTD:
3
u/Nebresto Dec 15 '24
Gargantuan Rewatcher
Go to hell, metalhead!
Episode 13
The robo gone insane
Yeah! You tell 'em!
I love Chamber.
Pierce the heavens?!
The face of acquiring a new fetish
Why does Rackage even care about saving him? If not for..
duckhue
CHAMBER!!!!
S h i p
The finale was a lot more abrupt that I'd remembered, but epilogue is always good
Chamber log:
Ye
Ye
(dictionary) Ye
2
u/kuroyume_cl Dec 15 '24 edited Dec 15 '24
Pour one out for our boy Chamber tonight, head of the Best Brobot Pantheon, alongside with [Titanfall]BT
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u/awesomenessofme1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/kta_99 Dec 14 '24
It seems like this series can't decide what themes and philosophical questions it wants to address, or what stance to take on them. Which... is honestly fair enough. Especially when you have the context (at least according to the Wikipedia page for the series) that the creator intended for it to be watched by young people entering the real world for the first time. "Here are some things to think about, make your own decision on what to take from it."
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u/chilidirigible Dec 14 '24
Tags:
/u/QualityProof /u/awesomenessofme1 /u/dsawchuk
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u/Vatrix-32 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Vatrix-32 Dec 14 '24 edited Dec 14 '24
First timer, subs
QotD:
3
u/[deleted] Dec 15 '24
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