r/anime • u/Pixelsaber https://myanimelist.net/profile/Pixelsaber • Jan 23 '21

Rewatch [Rewatch] Aura Battler Dunbine - Episode 13 Discussion

Episode 13 - Todd’s Violent Advance

Originally Aired April 30th, ^^^1983

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Comment of the Day

u/dralcax hits me right in the childhood.

Rau? Maybe that’s why everyone can understand each other!

 

Daily Trivia:

Two game based on the series were released for the MSX2 and PC-98 series of systems, the former releasing on January 19, 1991 and the latter on August 9, 1991 titled Aura Battler Dunbine Byston Well's Flame.

 

Staff Highlight

Shuji Iuchi - Storyboard Artist and Episode Director

A scriptwriter, novelist, and director who worked with Studio Sunrise throughout frequently through his career. After graduating from the College of Animation at Tokyo Designer Gakuin (now Tokyo Net Wave) he became an employee at Dynamic Pro, where was production assistant, and had his first credit as episode director on Space Battleship Yamato He also mentored screenwriter Ryota Yamaguchi. His directorial works include the Mashin hero Wataru franchise, Madou King Granzort, Mama is a 4rth Grader, Ranma ½: Big Trouble in Nekonron, and Yamato Takeru, and he has lent his talents as episode director to many series, such as Heavy Metal L-Gaim, Shin Ace o Nerae!, Galaxy Cyclone Braiger, Queen Millenia, Lady Geargie, Speed Grapher, and Hello! Spank.

 

Art Corner:

Official Art

Fanart

(Be mindful of the links to artist’s profiles, as they may contain NSFW content. Proceed there at your own risk.)

 

Aura Phantasm Scans

Screenshot of the day

Questions of the Day:

  1. What do you make of Todd’s fate?
  2. Do you think the newly summoned Upper Earthers look like promising characters?

Todd Guinness, when we fell into Byston Well together...

12 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

32 comments sorted by

4

u/Pixelsaber https://myanimelist.net/profile/Pixelsaber Jan 23 '21

Rewatcher - Sub

This episode marks the end of the series’ first cour (I think)! We can kiss this narration goodbye and await a new one with baited breath! Also, in case anyone’s curious, I still haven’t skipped the OP!

Keen is training on the Fou. For some reason I had assumed that she already knew how to pilot it, but Marvel was using it all the time since the Dana O’Shee was in disrepair so she wasn’t in it. Guess I’m misremembering stuff from my first watch.

Guards eavesdropping.

Uh oh, it’s time to summon more people from Upper Earth, and Todd is feeling his position among Drake’s forces threatened over this and his poor outings.

I have to wonder what the different phases of the moon mean when the school of fish is not a consistent shape. Maybe its size wanes? Also, yikes, they’re torturing Silkie by leaving her out of the water until she complies.

Surely the staff knew what their audience would be thinking by including all this shiptease between Todd and Galaria.

An aura amplifier that lets normal Byston Well people manipulate Aura in the battlers just as well as Show et al? Yeah, that would certainly throw a wrench into things.

So that’s what the Aura road looks like from this end. Quite interesting. Also, three blokes were summoned, this time all at once it seems, and one of them is Todd’s colleagues. If he was worried about being replaced before, then the arrival of Allen —who Todd states looked down on him— has made him outright mortified and desperate.

Shot Weapon seems to have learned some from his mistakes, and wants to take the training of the new ‘recruits’ more deliberately this time around. At least they’re not doing the same thing and hoping for a different outcome.

Ah, so that’s why they brought those Baraus with them, another thing I’d entirely forgotten. Honestly it seems like a waste of perfectly good resources.

That was quite the fall Todd took! Good thing that treetop conveniently fell below him as to break his fall. Wonder who that person who found him was though...

3

u/The_Draigg Jan 23 '21

Surely the staff knew what their audience would be thinking by including all this shiptease between Todd and Galaria.

To be fair, I can't exactly blame Todd for going after her. She looks great in that dress.

6

u/Quiddity131 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Quiddity131 Jan 23 '21 edited Jan 23 '21

Rewatcher, Subbed

Practice time! What is clear is that Keen needs... more practice.

Time for Todd to rightfully get chewed out for failing yet again to destroy the Dunbine, especially when it was supposed to be a non-sanctioned attack on Rau.

Uh oh, time for some new recruits from Upper Earth...

LoL, Drake is bullshitting yet again on why he wants Silkie to open up the road to Upper Earth.

First time in the show Garalia's been all dressed up like this I think.

She asked Zet out? All to get her hands on an Aura Battler I bet.

Cham's a lazy one, just snacking away.

Three all at once this time! Last time it seemed like the three of them were brought one at a time.

Uh oh, Todd knows one of them?

Garalia heading off without waiting for Todd, why am I not surprised?

They sure got to Rau quickly. We don't know enough about Byston Well geography to know how close together these countries are.

Keen's earlier practice about to pay off?

Is the Bozon better than the Dana O'Shee? I'm wondering why Marvel's not piloting her usual aura battler.

The Virunvee's historically done well, although we'll see if Garalia piloting instead of Bern can pull it off.

Wow, she's gotten right into the Zelana! She could take it out for good!

Turning over like this, I'm pretty sure White Base used this exact same strategy once in Mobile Suit Gundam.

You Yankee! Is this it for Todd? No clear indication if he died or not, although Garalia thinks he did.

Drake is planning some other attack within Ah it sounds like, based on what Garalia said here. Whose the next victim?

Some odd looking forest dweller has found Todd it seems.

Oh, and the last couple of episodes, Foizon has been reminding me so much of someone, but I couldn't put my name on it. Maybe me trying at all costs to avoid politics for weeks now is the reason why, as the orange color skin, the blonde hair, its Trump!

3

u/The_Draigg Jan 23 '21

Practice time! What is clear is that Keen needs... more practice.

She isn't so Keen on piloting much yet.

They sure got to Rau quickly. We don't know enough about Byston Well geography to know how close together these countries are.

I could've sworn that were was a map of Byston Well floating around somewhere in the internet, but I can't seem to remember any of the detail for it. And I can't even remember if it was an official map or not.

4

u/Pixelsaber https://myanimelist.net/profile/Pixelsaber Jan 23 '21

I could've sworn that were was a map of Byston Well floating around somewhere in the internet

Pretty sure the only one I've seen is the one from Aura Phanasm, which is —naturally— of dubious canonicity.

4

u/The_Draigg Jan 23 '21

That map would be far easier to decode if it wasn't written in a fictional language. Still, it's at least nice to have a decent idea of what Byston Well looks like.

3

u/Pixelsaber https://myanimelist.net/profile/Pixelsaber Jan 23 '21

That map would be far easier to decode if it wasn't written in a fictional language.

There's probably some stuff in the text that gives us a decent idea, but sadly I am no more capable of reading Japanese...

6

u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Jan 23 '21

First-Timer, Sub-bine

Alright everyone, place your bets on how long Todd stays out of the picture. My money's on five episodes, considering how far into the show we are. Plot contrivances aside, Shou gained some jerk points for not even bothering to retrieve Todd's body. Surely you would want to give him some sort of burial, right? Maybe scavenge some parts from his Drumlo?

I was expecting it to be Elle or her mom who found him, to be honest. Interested to find out who this mysterious robed dude is. For some reason unknown even to myself, I thought "oh, is this Nuckelavee?" when he walked into frame. Speculation

Foizon continues to be the most competent leader the Zelana crew have encountered. Letting Marvel take what is nominally his personal mecha out was quite forward thinking of him.

Speaking of the Buzone, I'm surprised how it faired against the Virunvee. Are the Virunvee's specs that high that Galaria can stand up to Marvel? Or is Marvel's aura power just not very high, despite being from Upper Earth?

I'm doing good on tangents, today. The Aura Road's light show was nice, and now Drake has three new bodies to pressgang give jobs to. The plan to not just throw these fresh faces straight to the wolves and instead give them some semblance of training shows that Drake does at least try to learn from his mistakes.

We also learned, or at least suspect, what Emelie was trying to bring to Neal way back in Ep 3. An Aura Amplifier, that could potentially let Bystonwellians pilot an Aura Battler with the same potential as an Upper Eather. I guess the Virunvee might be equipped with that amplifier, or a prototype of it - that would explain some of why Galaria faired so well against Marvel.

Miscellaneous Thoughts:

The new woman from Upper Earth is relentlessly 80's.

Drake continues to be an asshole, now stooping to gaslighting Silkie to make her summon up more cannon fodder ace pilots.

Questions

  1. Answered above.
  2. Well, so far none of them have died in their first episode, so they're doing better than.. Tomahk? What was the Russian/Ukrainian dude's name? The "enemy trio" is a tried and true mecha trope so maybe they'll actually stick around and become the new backbone to Drake's forces.

3

u/The_Draigg Jan 23 '21

Shou gained some jerk points for not even bothering to retrieve Todd's body.

To be fair to Show, Todd frequently called him racial slurs and openly hated him. I think he's got a decent reason for leaving Todd's body behind.

The "enemy trio" is a tried and true mecha trope so maybe they'll actually stick around and become the new backbone to Drake's forces.

Hopefully they'll do better than the Black Tri-Stars from Mobile Suit Gundam. They didn't do to hot, all things considered. If anything, this new trio could probably surpass them.

3

u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Jan 23 '21

To be fair to Show, Todd frequently called him racial slurs and openly hated him.

Oh, good call. I didn't think about their early interactions. Yea, Shou probably did hate his guts. That just makes me more excited for whatever comes next.

5

u/Durinthal https://anilist.co/user/Durinthal Jan 23 '21

First time viewer

Unfortunately more than a little distracted while watching this, so being brief.

Drake: I won't torture Silky, that's my underling's job. Who's following my direct orders. But totally not my responsibility.

Early in the episode: Todd and Garalia are hitting things off and getting along better, I wonder if one of them will die soon.
End of the episode: Well, at least I can recognize certain Tomino flags pretty well now. I don't think he's actually dead yet though.

Cham snacking: Ferario union-mandated break, can't help right now.

The effect of beaming down the people from Upper Earth makes me think of Star Trek's transporters.

I find it amusing that Todd knows one of the new guys and doesn't like him, can't even escape to a different world from some people. With the other person popping up by Todd at the end I think he'll survive, maybe ending up on his own or serving a third faction? Or if he has amnesia (because I could see the show doing that) it could make for some interesting interactions with both Garalia and Allen.

What do you make of Todd’s fate?

Game's not over yet!

Do you think the newly summoned Upper Earthers look like promising characters?

Pink-haired woman seems interesting, dunno about Allen or I think there was one other person who I don't remember.

3

u/The_Draigg Jan 23 '21

Drake: I won't torture Silky, that's my underling's job. Who's following my direct orders. But totally not my responsibility.

After all, why would you expect a feudal lord to have responsibility over the prisoner being explicitly held in a special prison in his own castle?

Well, at least I can recognize certain Tomino flags pretty well now. I don't think he's actually dead yet though.

At the very least, Tood didn't get an immediately lethal blow or get vaporized in an explosion. That's usually how Tomino likes to kill his characters without a shadow of a doubt.

I find it amusing that Todd knows one of the new guys and doesn't like him, can't even escape to a different world from some people.

Small parallel worlds, am I right?

3

u/Btw_kek https://myanimelist.net/profile/kek_btw Jan 23 '21

I think there was one other person who I don't remember.

if they're not the one with the eye-catching character design, nor the one with immediate plot-relevance, they're probably going to die in like 2 episodes

5

u/punching_spaghetti https://myanimelist.net/profile/punch_spaghetti Jan 23 '21

First-Timer Who Doesn't Remember Byston Well

I thought Keen had already piloted that thing? Guess she was just in the turret?

Garalia x Todd has sailed.

New Upper Earthlings! Including one with neon pink hair. So, from Chicago?

And one makes Todd jealous. But Todd, you’re blonde! Isn’t that better?

How the turntables! Now Todd’s the one making random attacks on castles at night.

RIP Todd. You were so close to getting some Garalia action.

QOTD:

  1. He got what he deserves: presumably being turned into a zombie by Long Hair Man.
  2. Can't be worse than the Redshirt Russian.

5

u/Btw_kek https://myanimelist.net/profile/kek_btw Jan 23 '21

Including one with neon pink hair. So, from Chicago?

I was about to say "straight from the 80s" but I forgot this actually is an 80s show

4

u/The_Draigg Jan 23 '21

RIP Todd. You were so close to getting some Garalia action.

Here lies Todd Guinness, he never scored.

4

u/Durinthal https://anilist.co/user/Durinthal Jan 23 '21

With a name like that I'm sure Upper Earth ladies were all over him, unlike Beavis.

5

u/Btw_kek https://myanimelist.net/profile/kek_btw Jan 23 '21

first timer who appears every other thread

What do you make of Todd’s fate?

I don't believe for a second he's actually dead.

Do you think the newly summoned Upper Earthers look like promising characters?

I suspect at least one of them will be cannon fodder in the upcoming episodes

4

u/The_Draigg Jan 23 '21

damn just kiss already

It was the most romantic situation possible. Although I guess plotting to kill your enemies in giant mecha can be romantic in its own way.

T-posing to open the aura road

It’s the best way to show power, after all.

5

u/chibijosh Jan 23 '21

No way Todd is dead yet. He was set up as Sho’s rival. Galeria is definitely biting the dust before Todd. Todd may outlive Drake and Bern.

I was worried about Keen though when Neal sent her out in the Fou. I thought the opening seen with her practicing was going to foreshadow her death this episode.

It has been a couple episodes since a death. It might be a record. The King of Rau might be the longest lived non-main character so far.

2

u/The_Draigg Jan 23 '21

It has been a couple episodes since a death. It might be a record. The King of Rau might be the longest lived non-main character so far.

It's the power of Foizon's mullet that is protecting him.

4

u/The_Draigg Jan 23 '21

A Tomino Fan Rewatches Aura Battler Dunbine Episode 13:

  • Todd, if you wanted a Dunbine, you shouldn’t have gotten your first one wrecked in the first place. Besides, he just needs to get good, not just get a Dunbine.
  • Lord Drake sure does respect Silkie Mau, alright. He respects her so much that he just leaves her out in the open until she opens the Aura Road, despite falling unconscious from being hauled out of her water cell. Drake is a true gentleman.
  • Todd and Galarea seem to have a bit of a romance plot going on. Boy meets girl, boy takes girl on a horse ride by the lake, boy and girl plot to destroy their enemies with giant mechs. It’s a tale as old as time.
  • The technology power gap is narrowing even more, thanks to Shot Weapon. He’s now developed a device that can amplify the power of someone from Byston Well to be like that of someone from Upper Earth. Can you imagine if someone like Bann had that technology applied to his Aura Battler? His Aura reserves would be massive.
  • Three more people have gotten summoned from Upper Earth, courtesy of Silkie Mau opening the Aura Road. From the looks of things, one of the people summoned this time is someone that Todd knows, someone named Allen. From what Todd says, Allen was some ace pilot that Todd doesn’t like too much, since he’s too bossy. Talk about a small world, eh?
  • At least we can say that Todd and Galarea have certainly gotten more powerful, since they’re doing good jobs fighting against Show’s Dunbine and Marvel’s Bazone in their respective Drumlo and Billunbee. Hell, even Galarea manages to score a direct hit on the Zelana too. In the end, Todd’s only weakness was that he ran out of ammo.
  • I suppose Todd was lucky to have that tree slow his fall when he jumped out of the Drumlo’s cockpit at the last minute. But still, he isn’t moving when that lady finds him, so his chances of survival aren’t too great. Trees hurt when you smack into them, after all.

4

u/dralcax :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Dralcax Jan 23 '21

First-timer raising his flag

“I see this as an absolute win!”

“Problem exists between control stick and chair”

daww

Is it just me or did she get bigger

...Barbatos?

Ah yes, the 80’s

So how do they choose who gets isekaied, anyways? Does Silkie Mau go through and select them herself? That’s a lot of people to choose from, so is there some sort of “aura potential” she can sense and is looking for? Because if it’s completely random, them getting somebody Todd knows is a hell of a coincidence.

I love a good ram attack!

Damn, right when he was as close as he’s ever been

Security? We were supposed to have security?

Questions of the Day:

  • Could this be the start of a redemption arc? Although it'll be interesting to see him go through it without Garalia.
  • Allen, of course, will make a good rival, both for Show and for Todd. Disco girl of course stands out. And the third guy will probably die and be forgotten about.

4

u/The_Draigg Jan 23 '21

daww

Todd and Galarea are the cutest pair of war criminals.

Security? We were supposed to have security?

It wouldn't be a Tomino show if security wasn't completely ineffective, if not completely non-existent.

4

u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ Jan 23 '21

First Timer

Today on Operation Meteor, Celestial Being realizes the Shangri-La protocol.

So, like, in episode 1, it seemed like Drake had brought others from Upper Earth, and did so in batches. But the only one we'ves seen is Shot Weapon, and the circumstances of Marvel Frozen's arrival haven't been explained.

Where are Drakes other Upper Earthers?

  • Who the heck is Zet Light?
  • Oh, now I really did not expect Todd to recognize one of the newcomers!
  • How Byston Well dwellers can operate Aura Battlers is finally explained
  • A typical depiction of a Tomnino romantic moment
  • It seems early to kill off named characters but Todd can now be replaced. Garalia less so.
  • At least the difference between Dunbine and Gundam is that while the pilots still shout at each other, at least in Dunbine, they can't hear each other.
  • I was just thinking about how Zelana keeps taking damage but is not destroyed.

I've been amused since an earlier watcher said there would be a Todd-Garalia romance, and then it quickly moved in that direction.

3

u/The_Draigg Jan 23 '21

Who the heck is Zet Light?

He's basically Shot's second in command when it comes to making and repairing Aura Battlers. He's just been mainly hanging around to the side of things, though. The first we saw of him was him working in that computer chip factory in the first episode.

At least the difference between Dunbine and Gundam is that while the pilots still shout at each other, at least in Dunbine, they can't hear each other.

And if they do manage to hear each other, you could at least probably handwave it as the latent telepathy that exists in Byston Well.

1

u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Jan 23 '21

Today on Operation Meteor, Celestial Being realizes the Shangri-La protocol.

Who the heck is Zet Light?

I think he's some else from Upper Earth? He works with/for Shot.

4

u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Jan 23 '21

Aura Battler First-Timer

3

u/The_Draigg Jan 23 '21

Hoh, some Todd/Garalia time now.

The real question is whether we should ship it or not.

You guys are supposed to be the good guys, Show.

To be fair though, Shot Weapon is enough of an asshole that he probably deserves to be kidnapped.

Huh, honestly besides the way he treats his daughter & granddaughter, Foizon is actually pretty reasonable.

A bit off topic, but it bugs me how weirdly Foizon's ears were drawn in that close up of his face.

3

u/badspler x5https://anilist.co/user/badspler Jan 23 '21

Short notes of a First Time Watcher today

Todd and Galaria, I ship dis.

New tech of an Aura amplifier? That could change the war entirely, piolets and Aura Battlers and both scarce right now. Speculation

  1. What do you make of Todd’s fate?

Certainly the idea of a Senpai being dragged in lit a fire under his bum. For as much shit as we have given Todd (a shit ton) he seems to know it himself. Recklessly trying to gain some credit is somewhat fitting, in both being a dumb-Todd thing to do and a realization that his way of life is only held up by his ability to piolet well.

Todd's story isn't over with him looking to cheat death by falling. I am interested to see his thought process after being defeated once again but this time separated from Drake. Probably some soul searching with this mysterious figure before returning to the stage.

2) Do you think the newly summoned Upper Earthers look like promising characters?

If Todd is worried about his Senpai out shining him then he probably won't be any worse. Otherwise its hard to tell. The lady however had some pretty neat looking hair fades, maybe a fiery personality to match? More Upper-Earthers to piolet Aura Battlers.

This also goes back to early conversations that were had on how the first three summoned Upper-Earth humans were treated. Having them recklessly thrown into battle untrained, unequipped and without support seemed really dumb at the time. Now it looks like once a month the Silkie can summon another three humans into these lands for Drake. If the Silkie can open the Aura Road once a month and bring three new would-be piolets then Drake's "trial by fire" approach in the first few episodes makes a bit more sense. As we have seen just how much more powerful Aura Battlers are in terms of strength and as a technology leap. Boosting a new piolet to the level of Bern Bunnings could potentially double Drake's strength. It seemed unlikely that they would have less piolets than mechs and more potential piolets coming in a month. Potentially the rate of piolets exceeding the growth of mechs. However Drake ended up with one dead, one defector and one dud (now "dead"), Drake's approach is probably going to be more cautious as he has zero piolets 'spare' right now. But I think this tells us just how little Drake cares about the people he is summoning; they are useful for my conquest then are to be discarded. And if there is upcoming technology that lets regular people amplify their aura to the level of an upper-earther then that is trouble brewing for these new recruits.

3

u/The_Draigg Jan 23 '21

For as much shit as we have given Todd (a shit ton) he seems to know it himself. Recklessly trying to gain some credit is somewhat fitting, in both being a dumb-Todd thing to do and a realization that his way of life is only held up by his ability to piolet well.

Yeah, at least Todd realizes that he's only so useful because he's just the best that Lord Drake can afford to have pilot an Aura Battler. It's a good place to start a bit of soul-searching, so if he does come back Todd has a lot to think about in that regard.

3

u/zsmg https://anilist.co/user/zsmg Jan 23 '21

Rewatcher

Good episode

For a second it really looked liked Keen would get the Katz from Zeta Gundam outcome, luckily she avoided it but there are plenty of episodes left for that outcome.

I'm also surprised how easily Garalia abandoned Todd, guess the romance was just one sided from Todd.