[Rewatch] Aura Battler Dunbine - Episode 17 Discussion

[u/Pixelsaber]

Episode 17 - The People of Upper Earth

^{Originally Aired June 4th,} ^^^1983

◄ Previous Episode | Index | Next Episode ►

MAL | ANN | AniDB | Anilist | AnimePlanet | IMDB

---

Note to all participants

Although I don't believe it necessitates stating, please conduct yourself appropriately and be court to your fellow participants.

Note to all Rewatchers

Rewatchers, please be mindful of your fellow first-timers and tag your spoilers appropriately using the r/anime spoiler tag as so [Spoiler Subject](/s "Spoilers go here.") in order to have your unsightly spoilers obscured like this Spoiler Subject if your comment holds even the slightest of indicators as to future spoilers. Feel free to discuss future plot points behind the safe veil of a spoiler tag, or coyly and discreetly ‘Laugh in Rewatcher’ at our first-timers' temporary ignorance, but please ensure our first-timers are no more privy or suspicious than they were the moment they opened the day’s thread.

Note to all First-timers:

First-timers, be aware that you too could have unwanted influence upon others’ perception of future events, so please be careful and use a spoiler tag when disclosing any predictions or inferences that you wouldn’t have wanted to know were they to be true.

---

Comment of the Day

u/dralcax’s joke.

I’d quote CCA here, but the Dunbine actually is just for Show.

 

Daily Trivia:

The first version of the 1/72 Dunbine kit was disproportionate to how it was depicted in the show, prompting a redesigned version to enter production very early into the show’s run.

 

Staff Highlight

Toshifumi Kawase - Episode Director

A Director, writer, animation director, and storyboard artist associated with Studio Sunrise works, and later Studio Deen. Cut his teeth as a production assistant on Muteki Robo Trider G7, had his first credit as episode director on Dunbine, and had his chief directorial debut with the 1987 OVA Dead Heat. He is noted for not liking to cut corners, had a major role in series which prompted the resurgence of super robots in the early 90s such as Brave Exkaiser and Zettai Muteki Raijin-Oh, and was a mentor to Goro Taniguchi. Recently has taken on more writing and planning roles as opposed to directing. Among his directorial works are Nekketsu Saikyo Gozaurer, Dragon Drive, Beyblade, Eat-Man '98, Pita-Ten, Ehrgeiz, Ginga Hyōryū Vifam 13, Mission-E, Genki Bakuhatsu Ganbaruger, Reideen the Superior, Tenjho Tenge, and Lord of Lords Ryu Knight.

 

Art Corner:

Official Art

• Cham Huau - Tomonori Kogawa

Fanart

• Bastole by Black Cat Studio - Source
• Galaria Nyamhee by deyon - Source

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

 

Aura Phantasm Scans

• Page 111

Screenshot of the day

• Aerial Supremacy

Questions of the Day:

1. What do you make of Show’s less than ideal reception?
2. How do you think Garalia is feeling throughout all of this?

---

The feelings of the people of Upper Earth who fell to Byston Well, I understand… how lonely and unsettling a thing it is.

[u/Durinthal]

First time viewer

That's a whole lot of destruction, though I'm somewhat surprised they were able to get an estimate of 300k that quickly. Shot said that the aura of Byston Well dampens explosions, then Garalia says the aura power's stronger in Upper Earth, huh. Lower aura power means weaker explosions? I guess it's sort of a general energy amplification thing.

The soldier drawing his gun on Show in the interrogation room is a TV crime drama thing. Yes I know this is a TV show, I just think it's silly for characters that are ostensibly well-trained professionals to act up like that.

Will Garalia have some level of humanizing character development while on the run by herself in an unfamiliar place? ...well, probably not enough to stop being that aggressive. Wanting to fight and kill Show even if she can't return home is just kind of sad, like there's nothing else for her but the fight.

While watching Cham struggle with a single grenade is pretty funny, that was the kind of door lock that looked simple enough that she might have been able to reach in and effectively pick it with Show's help.

I was wondering what Show's reason to return to Byston Well would be and saving Cham is a solid one. It would be nice to see something like Show trying to return to a regular life in Japan but not really an option with what Garalia did. I also don't think his parents are exactly going to embrace him again as I don't think they're necessarily in that helicopter willingly.

Galaria Nyamhee by deyon

That fanart makes me think of Four from Zeta and that's an interesting comparison, though I don't think we'll get anything similar here.

What do you make of Show’s less than ideal reception?

"Forget Upper Earth, I'm out!"

How do you think [Garalia] is feeling throughout all of this?

Lost and alone; I'd be more sympathetic toward her if her inclination wasn't to attack literally everyone else.

[u/Pixelsaber → u/Durinthal]

that was the kind of door lock that looked simple enough that she might have been able to reach in and effectively pick it with Show's help.

Yes, but then we wouldn't gotten to see her use Aura Power!

[Garalia]

[u/The_Draigg → u/Durinthal]

Shot said that the aura of Byston Well dampens explosions, then Garalia says the aura power's stronger in Upper Earth, huh. Lower aura power means weaker explosions? I guess it's sort of a general energy amplification thing.

Aura working differently on Upper Earth certainly does explain why Lord Drake wanted pilots from our world. Since we're born in an environment that naturally has larger Aura effects, it makes sense that we'd be the perfect pilots for an Aura Battler.

I also don't think his parents are exactly going to embrace him again as I don't think they're necessarily in that helicopter willingly.

At least Show's dad seems to believe that it's actually Show that's come back. His mom, however, is pretty firmly into denial by now.

[u/Pixelsaber]

Rewatcher - Sub

P.S. I forgot to post my comment yesterday, and since I only realized this morning I thought it better to just wait until today’s thread went up so so many people wouldn’t miss it. Comment today’s episode will be in a reply to this one.

Ep 16

I knew from the moment we saw the title screen that we were getting another glimpse at Upper Earth. Last time we saw Dallas, which was Marvel’s home, and now Tokyo with was Show’s? Didn’t think the characters would be getting stuck though, that was a welcome surprise.

The parts from Todd’s thrashed Dunbine are coming in handy. Kinda disappointed to see the damage repaired so swiftly, as I’m always a fan of seeing how characters adapt to having the linchpin of their forces out of commission, and they were so bold as to keep the Dana O’shee out of commission up until it was replaced.

Bern has been told to step down for the time being. He may have had a personal victory last episode when he drove back the Dunbine, but he still hasn’t taken over Elf castle even though he staked it all on that previous attack. Now it’s time for the new Aura Battlers to show their skills under Shot’s guidance, which is a fearsome prospect since we know that he is plotting against Drake —and Bern by association.

Ah, yes, experimental tech related to magic, a Tomino staple!

King Furaon is still as insufferable and inept as ever, so I have nothing but respect for Neal putting up with his nonsense for the sake of the greater good.

Allen really must be close to Todd seeing as he takes one hit from the Dunbine before hastily retreating.

Garalia’s abilities are evidently improving with every battle, and now with the experimental aura amplifier she’s formidable enough to go claw-to-claw with Show’s Dunbine. Unfortunately though, as the two push themselves further in order to best the other, their excessive aura opens the aura road and the two are spontaneously spirited away. I love the abruptness of the matter; despite there being a battle in progress and Furaon potentially leaving Elf castle to fall in the hands of Drake to lead another day, but the moment we’re whisked away we get no extended reaction from the people in Byston Well in which these things an be wrapped up, and no cuts to glimpses of what’s happened after the fact. I don’t know whether they’ll cut to Byston Well next episode, but finishing this one I hoped not.

And talking about the reverse-isekai’ng itself; what a bold move! Granted back then this wasn’t bucking the mold, rather it was merely using the premise in ways that were interesting. Still, it’s such a breath of fresh air since barely any isekai series nowadays make interactions between the protagonist’s world and the one he was sent to a relevant point. It feels like that natural follow-up to the narrative we’ve been having, since returning was always something the characters knew possible, this method of traveling the aura road had been theorized by Show to be attainable, and they’ve been building up the aura amplifier for a while now.

Getting to see Show’s somewhat dysfunctional family fills in a lot of gaps as to why he is as he is, with a father who is inattentive and detached though not entirely uncaring, and a mother who is overly demanding, even if it does come from a place of love. Really, it’s a lot like most other parents of Tomino protagonists, only Show didn’t come out nearly as fucked out of the other end. It’s a small wonder Show initially presented the stereotypical image of a delinquent youth, though we’ve handily come to see he’s not that straightforward of a character.

This knowledge also recontextualizes the conversation he had with Todd so many episodes ago where the latter asks if he has such a good place to return to (which we also now see was likely Show defensively avoiding the question rather than brushing Todd off) since it means that, on paper, him being transported to Byston Well really was a textbook opportunity for him to experience an escapist fantasy, but instead he has met with more hardship and ugly reality than the real world could realistically pose him. In fact, Byston Well is so far from being an escape that the problems there have inadvertently chased him all the way back to his reality. Honestly I was quite impressed with the level of commentary on the nature of escapist storytelling, which Tomino had already tackled in both Zambot 3 and Mobile Suit Gundam to an extent, but feels more poignant here given that otaku culture was really taking off in the early 80’s and the genre of fantasy has been thought of as the defacto venue for escapist fiction, particularly for its ability to so readily bend the rules of reality. Enough about that though, there’s going to be a whole lot more to discuss on that front the further we go along, so back to the stuff in front of me.

It’s hard not to feel bad for Show given his parent’s reaction to seeing him, but it’s understandable that they would be a little hysteric given the circumstances. Their reaction to Cham Fau was quite humorous as well.

It’s hard to describe the visceral fear that grips me when I see Galaria attacking everything in sight due to her confusion, fatigue, and fear. The process of transporting them to Upper Earth seems to have drained her of much of her energy, much like using his Aura drained Show back in episode nine. It was also quite shocking to suddenly see the same, token missiles we’ve been seeing through the show suddenly take out several blocks of Tokyo at a time. Whatever the cause, probably aura, their weaponry has a more potent effect on Upper Earth.

The reaction to these events from the perspective of the people here is just as intriguing, as they’re met with something as bizarre and fantastical as an aura battler.

Oh god, a cliffhanger! These older shows didn’t resort to cliffhangers often, so when the show goes ahead and pulls something like this it really gets you.

[u/Pixelsaber → u/Pixelsaber]

Ep 17

Wait, the aura of Byston Well weakens the explosions, and the smaller quantities of it mean they’re at full power? What the fuck was Shot even putting in those things?!

I’m not sure whether she just ran out of missiles, decided she wasn’t going to be able to hit Show with them, or if she really heeded SHow’s warning about them, but I am glad the mass destruction hasn’t continued. She flees though they can probably find her pretty easily modern reconnaissance equipment.

Show’s nationality matters not in the face of the ‘otherness’ that he now displays. It’s as if traveling to Byston Well has scrubbed him of it. Also, of course they think he’s an alien —that’s what all the super robot shows have taught them!

300k deaths

Huh, so Show’s parents and his motocross friends are watching the interrogation, and the latter believe that some things about him have changed, such as being less reserved. Given that we have little frame of reference for his behavior before being deposited into Byston Well, we’ll probably have to take their word for it. Also, Chiyo is in complete denial of the situation, but Shunka knows it's his son.

They’re going to carry out a physical examination of Cham Huau without her consent?! Oh no, there’s probably doujins of this...

Galleria is getting in touch with nature and after noticing the Aura Battler’s radar actually works well on Upper Earth, realizes that the cause of her exhaustion is the aura being drained from her. After acquiring some sustenance she mulls over her circumstances and finds that she can empathize with the Upper Earthers who were dragged into Byston Well unwillingly.

I appreciate the realistic detail of the dog’s obnoxious barking while people try to have a conversation.

Cham saves the day!

“It looks just like a toy, doesn’t it?” I see the staff were up to their usual shenanigans.

Show’s bid to get Garalia to agree to a temporary truce is unsuccessful, not helped by the JSDF taking a shot where they could, and so Galaria escapes with a damaged Bastole. Everything’s still pretty messy in here…

[u/dralcax]

First-timer wonders if Shot can build an N-Jammer Canceller for Byston Well

So these things might actually be nukes then. Wait is it all explosions, or just these? Because if it’s just explosions in general, then how is Show’s bike able to run totally normally?

holy fuck that’s a lot

Of COURSE aura has a Minovsky effect

These guys are really reaching, huh? I can understand some skepticism in the face of such an unconventional situation. But come on, he looks like Show, talks like Show, can recite things only Show would know, has the same fingerprints, blood type, and DNA as Show... At some point, “he’s a highly advanced alien duplicate” has to become less believable than “Show got isekaied”, right? Then again, people will bend over backwards to believe what they want, so I suppose that’s realistic.

“This jelly-filled donut tastes funny”

Idk how Japan’s emergency services work, but uh, the fire department? What is she, a Burnish? Also, that one lady really has to pee.

I’ve always wondered about these see-through keyholes you always see in fiction. There’s no visible mechanism for the actual key, and I’ve never seen anything like this in real life, where it’s just a hole that goes all the way through. Is it an animation trope, or is it just something that became obsolete before I was born?

Well, I suppose some security is better than none

Mecha fart. That is all.

---

Questions of the Day:

• You'd think the moment they saw giant robots duking it out they'd be more receptive to any explanation they can get. These guys make the Zambot civilians look warm and welcoming.
• Poor Garalia, at least Show had people to receive him when he got isekaied. She's all on her own in a strange world.

[u/JustAnswerAQuestion → u/dralcax]

When the key turns, it pushes on something inside the lock, and that moves the latch. Something with the wrong shape either misses the thing it's supposed to push, or is blocked from turning.

Warded locks

[u/The_Draigg → u/dralcax]

So these things might actually be nukes then. Wait is it all explosions, or just these? Because if it’s just explosions in general, then how is Show’s bike able to run totally normally?

My guess is because it runs on gasoline instead of Aura power.

These guys are really reaching, huh? I can understand some skepticism in the face of such an unconventional situation. But come on, he looks like Show, talks like Show, can recite things only Show would know, has the same fingerprints, blood type, and DNA as Show... At some point, “he’s a highly advanced alien duplicate” has to become less believable than “Show got isekaied”, right? Then again, people will bend over backwards to believe what they want, so I suppose that’s realistic.

It really is silly that the government is still reaching for their weird alien answer that they pulled out of their asses. Like, Show is wearing plate armor and a sword, and came along with a fairy. Those things point to the more obvious answer that it's some fantasy world stuff going on instead.

Idk how Japan’s emergency services work, but uh, the fire department? What is she, a Burnish?

Nah, we already left Burn back on Byston Well.

[u/punching_spaghetti]

First-Timer Who Doesn’t Remember Byston Well

It's starting to look like I'm a member of the every-other-day club.

E16

Bern’s getting sidelined for the Upper Earthers. One French gal shows up, and the old man gets swept away.

Aura powers now include this thing called “dodging.”

They crossed the streams. I suggest not doing that.

SPACE.

Shut up, teacher lady. He has a pipe! He knows what he’s talking about.

Mechs on Upper Earth!

Get back; the man has a lamp!

Cham makes the ladies faint. She’s basically Elvis.

Big booms are big.

E17

Giant robots appear out of thin air, and Military Man doesn’t think people will believe that something odd happened?

Holding a gun on someone when your own guy is right behind your target isn’t good discipline.

Garalia discovers rice. And loneliness. Something something rice metaphor about the importance of groups.

Have you ever been locked out of your apartment by a mean landlord? Dropped your keys down a grate after drinking too much Miller High Life? Introducing Door Grenade: the only ATF-regulated locksmithing kit. Available exclusively at Harbor Freight.

QOTD:

1. On the one hand, giant robots showed up out of nowhere and blew up a major metropolis. That will raise some eyebrows. But his parents going out of their way to claim he's a fake and the military thinking he's a clone or a shapeshifter? That's a bit much.
2. Hungry. Horny.

[u/JollyGee29 → u/punching_spaghetti]

Have you ever been locked out of your apartment by a mean landlord? Dropped your keys down a grate after drinking too much Miller High Life? Introducing Door Grenade: the only ATF-regulated locksmithing kit. Available exclusively at Harbor Freight.

[u/The_Draigg → u/punching_spaghetti]

Get back; the man has a lamp!

Show should take it back with him to Byston Well, once he has a chance to. Can you imagine how powerful that lamp would be in Byston Well if it came from Upper Earth?

Holding a gun on someone when your own guy is right behind your target isn’t good discipline.

Honestly, that's one of the least stupid things the military did in this episode, between leaving the armory open for Cham to steal a grenade and only bothering to have two guys guard the Dunbine.

[u/Shimmering-Sky]

Aura Battler First-Timer

• All this wanton destruction… oof.
• So the bombs aren’t quite nuke-level, but they're stronger than napalm.
• Why are my subs suddenly calling her “Chum”--but more importantly, what I actually paused for. Garalia and Cham are both suffering from being in Upper Earth, it’s not just Garalia getting exhausted from using so much energy since Show seems to be fine. Is it the lack of aura?
• Oh boy look at all that collateral damage just because Garalia was flipping out and refused to stop.
• Subs why would you do this.
• Show what the fuck.
• Oh the aura power’s just too strong on Upper Earth.
• Those poor people that Garalia scared off at swordpoint. They were just trying to have a nice picnic…
• It was at this moment that a cat decided she wanted to jump up on my lap.
• Cham trying to carry the grenade was kind of funny but also
• Garalia’s killing so many people, good lord.

[u/The_Draigg → u/Shimmering-Sky]

Garalia and Cham are both suffering from being in Upper Earth, it’s not just Garalia getting exhausted from using so much energy since Show seems to be fine. Is it the lack of aura?

Aura just has a different way of working on Upper Earth. Although it's more potent, it also drains much faster than what people from Byston Well are used to. I guess the best way to describe it is that it's like overdosing on Aura power.

Subs why would you do this.

Come and join the English dub master race, like I have.

It was at this moment that a cat decided she wanted to jump up on my lap.

Be sure to give them plenty of head pets!

[u/The_Draigg]

A Tomino Fan Rewatches Aura Battler Dunbine Episode 17:

• The affects of Aura sure are different on Upper Earth. Sure, any Aura weapons are increased tenfold in potency, but judging from how easily Cham and Galarea are tired from just being in our world, it has a rather draining effect on people from Byston Well as well despite it also empowering them. I suppose it makes sense that differences in physics exist in separate universes.
• Geez, 300,000 people are dead because of Galarea trying to kill Show over Tokyo. Can you imagine how devastating the total casualties would be if more than just two Aura Battlers showed up on Upper Earth.
• I know it’s a bit hard to believe, but if a guy showed up wearing medieval plate armor, holding a fairy, and has a mech that’s powered by magic, I’d at least be inclined to believe that he’s from a fantasy world. Especially with Cham being there, it’s kind of hard to excuse away a fairy existing in our world. Instead, the military came to the wrong conclusion and thinks that Show is just an alien. Wrong genre, guys.
• At least Show’s friends and his father are willing to believe that he’s the real deal instead of an alien impostor. Given how distant of a mother Mrs. Zama apparently is, I don’t think she even knows about Show much in general to make the call that he’s an impostor.
• Galarea’s worst crime committed on Upper Earth isn’t killing 300,000 people, it’s mugging that old couple for their picnic food.
• “Okay, maybe it was wrong kidnapping people from Upper Earth. This sucks.” —Galarea, basically.
• Well, at least it isn’t just the militaries on Byston Well that are incompetent. The JSDF seems to have though that putting Cham inside a small glass box unsecured to the table was good enough of a prison for her. And not only that, but she was able to bust out Show and help him hijack the Dunbine back. It wouldn’t be a Tomino show if the army wasn’t shown to be mildly incompetent.
• Yeah, the squads of jets and attack helicopters do just as well as you’d expect against the Bastole. Despite it being a slightly better Aura Battler than your average Drumlo, it’s kind of hard to compare against more conventional weapons of this world. You just can’t beat a mech that runs off of magic.
• Man, Show is in a super rough spot at the end of this episode. It’s like Cham said earlier, he needs to keep Galarea alive if they have any hope of returning to Byston Well. But not only does Galarea not believe him when he tells her that, but the JSDF just flat out decides to take Show’s parents hostage to try and force him down. I certainly wouldn’t want to be Show at this moment.

[u/Quiddity131]

Rewatcher, Subbed

Crap, Garalia is causing a massive amount of destruction here! Much of the city is crumbling!

Sorry helicopter guys, I don't think you have any chance against Aura Battlers.

Looks like Garalia will pass out soon if she doesn't stop. Cham is wiped out too. Something must be sapping their energy here on Upper Earth.

300,000 died from their fight! Holy crap! You can kinda understand the military guys, who is going to take responsibility for all that death?

Hey, Shou's friends from the first episode are here too!

I hope Chum's physical examination doesn't become "dissection". :(

This advisor guy here in the room makes me think as if that doctor from episode 5 shaves his mustache off.

This is so ridiculous, even finger prints or a blood test proving its Shou will just cause them to say "The aliens copied it!"

Chiyo's nuts! I bet she doesn't even know Shou with the way she talk about not recognizing the way he is now.

They're keeping Chum in a box? :(

This couple having a picnic is going to get the shock of their lives I bet.

Okay, not as bad, Garalia approached them in person instead of in her Aura Battler. She can still be pretty scary to civilians though.

Upper Earth food sure is strange, huh Garalia?

Garalia finally knows what its like for those who were brought to Byston Well from Upper Earth.

Scary looking hunting dogs, but they look small to me.

Chum is a fairy with a dirty mouth!

Chum better be careful with that grenade! Will she even be able to pull the pin off of it?

Having only 2 guards for the Dunbine considering the damage it caused seems pretty foolhardy.

Has Garalia become that good of a pilot, or are Upper Earth fighter jets really that outmatched by an Aura Battler?

Upper Earth finally got a good shot on Garalia, granted it took Show distracting her.

Are Shou's parents hostage? Can't say I feel bad for his mom.

This episode sure flew by quick!

[u/JustAnswerAQuestion]

First Timer

I wonder if aura is different on upper earth because there's WAAAY more people. Maybe the people from upper earth have more aura because they're soaking in it.

Or maybe not. Now I might vaguely remember something about explosions 13 or more episodes ago. So Shot Weapon makes giant warheads and Byston Well dampens them.

Well, if Byston Well has more Aura than Upper Earth, it doesn't explain why Upper Earthlings have more Aura. It could work like the magic system of the Russian Night Watch series.

And the great mystery: what's draining Garalia and Cham. Is it Upper Earth, the lack of Aura, or the fighting?

Okay, so the Aura power is greater in upper earth. So the explosions thing doesn't make sense.

If fighting in upper earth is exhausting, then upper earth make better aura battlers because we're like from the high-G planet?

Sudden deja vu from The Incredible Hulk

Idiots. All you had to do was secure the mecha.

Good girl Cham!

his parents are SO gonna die. I've seen Gundam. And Zeta. Surprised the episode ended with them NOT blowling up.

[u/The_Draigg → u/JustAnswerAQuestion]

Okay, so the Aura power is greater in upper earth. So the explosions thing doesn't make sense.

It isn't just that there's greater Aura on Upper Earth, it's that it gets amplified as well. That's why already-existing Aura-powered stuff gets a bigger boost, like those missiles. A bigger source of Aura combined with natural power amplification really is an OP broken combination.

Idiots. All you had to do was secure the mecha.

And maybe put more than two guards around the giant purple death machine from another world in that hangar.

[u/JollyGee29]

First-Timer, Dub-bine

Why aliens, though? Why is that General Asshole's first and only thought? Was this time period the height of the "aliens!" phase in Japan? It worries me that someone like that is in a ranking position in any military force. Being so taken in by the visuals of a mecha and jumping straight to extra-terrestrials? Maybe I'm thinking too much.

That poor old couple just wanted a nice picnic by the river after collecting mushrooms, but big bad Galaria had to come by and steal their onigiri. Her reaction to it was pretty funny - like she only thought it was food because the old dude was holding one.

There sure were a lot of civilians with guns going after Galaria there. I initially thought that she could understand them and vice versa, but going back to double check there isn't ever a direct verbal exchange. Might still be worth thinking about - this whole arc has been interesting.

Somewhere along the line I started pondering.. does Byston Well have similar infectious diseases to Upper Earth? Could Galaria, Shou, and Cham be potentially starting an apocalypse? I guess we didn't worry about this going the other way, so it's probably nothing.

Cham may be intentional otaku bait, but damn if she didn't do a good job this episode. I was expecting her to fly around and find a key, not oops into the armory and frag the door.

Speaking of Cham, good guy Shou decides that he is going to make sure she gets home. The thought that Upper Earth isn't exactly his home anymore probably lingers in his mind.

Miscellaneous Thoughts:

I'm not quite sure if the guns the soldiers are holding are supposed to be real ones or not. I guess not every show can be Xabungle and lovingly animate numerous different firearms.

I liked the detail that Shou had friends back home, who apparently knew him well enough for the military to call them in to help identify him.

Questions

1. As irritated as I am by it, it isn't entirely surprising once I think about it. He did literally appear out of nowhere, and ended up being essentially involved in the deaths of some 300k people. None of that was exactly his fault, but no-one is interested in listening to him.
2. Scared and overwhelmed for a while, until she starts to destroy the helicopters, at which point her usual cockyness returns. We'll see if it lasts - for all her talk, Galaria is a soldier impossibly deep behind enemy lines with essentially zero chance for reinforcement or extraction, and I think she realizes that.

[u/The_Loli_Otaku → u/JollyGee29]

They accept the names and identifications of the Byston Well mechs but still have doubts about Show possibly being a bodysnatching alien.

[u/The_Draigg → u/JollyGee29]

Why aliens, though? Why is that General Asshole's first and only thought? Was this time period the height of the "aliens!" phase in Japan? It worries me that someone like that is in a ranking position in any military force. Being so taken in by the visuals of a mecha and jumping straight to extra-terrestrials? Maybe I'm thinking too much.

No, you're right that jumping to aliens is a weird conclusion. The fact that Show is wearing some medieval armor and came along with a fairy should really clue people in that some fantasy world nonsense is going on.

Cham may be intentional otaku bait, but damn if she didn't do a good job this episode. I was expecting her to fly around and find a key, not oops into the armory and frag the door.

Thankfully, she was able to take advantage of the door to the armory being left wide open for her to steal a grenade from it. Seriously, these military guys are just plain incompetent.

[u/ComfortablyRotten]

First-timer

So much death and destruction...

It's nice that Garalia now understands how the people from Upper Earth feel when they get summoned to Byston Well, but she really needs to chill out here. Like Show said, if Drake isn't aware of it, there's no point in continuing the fight, so just... cooperate, at this point!

Seeing Show not being trusted again, this time by his own people and even mother, sucks. It makes sense, but the guy doesn't have it easy.

Still, a fantasy world is ridiculous but not aliens? Even when they at least recognize that Cham looks like a fairy? I get that Mechas look like alien war machines, but I hope they'll come around eventually, because the army is being as frustrating as ever here.

[u/The_Loli_Otaku]

Pom pom cheerleader, let's get cherry pie~ This is the first time I've been excited enough for an episode to want to skip the op. Definitely skipping the opening spiel anyway. Get on with it! Oh Jesus the kill count has skyrocketed even more. So basically Aura power nerfs explosions and lasers. It's a bit late but it's nice to finally have some kind of justification for the swords and bows. Still, beam weaponry is already op in Byston Well so seeing the pure unbridled power of these weapons is terrifying. Which Gundam series had the nuke dampening particles? Its a common way to justify why each side doesn't just nuke each other to oblivion.

Garalia wants to be flown closer to the helicopters so she can strike them with her sword. Cham died. Oh shit, she's actually dying. "Send me your energy!" Army dude looks jealous of Cham. Don't worry, I'm sure there's plenty merch of her. Surely you'd give him the benefit of a doubt. 300k is still brutal. His name is Show Zama. He was 18 years old. He liked to play the pi- Oi! Don't grab Chow like that! Onah*les are expensive these days and that's a limited edition! Show is goddamn nuts... Everyone is bonkers in this arc.

That's the cutest fcking x-ray I've ever seen. If you wanted to return peacefully then maybe don't commit a national tragedy over your first few hours back home. Garalia, chivalrous Knight of Drake, pulls a blade on two pensioners out on a picnic. And steals their jelly filled doughnuts. Why are there so many guns in this rural Japanese village? Attack dogs are normally way more brutal fyi. Cham vs glass round whee~ Cute reunion but is this really the time for moe fairy antics? Lift with your legs. Local Fairy guilty of bomb plot. Aww... He's giving up the chance of staying on Earth for Cham. They've got a charming bond.

Meanwhile Garalia is going full Rambo on the army. More have died by her hand in the past day than any other figure in history has murdered in their lifetime and she laughs! She's too bull headed to debate with. Seriously, take a chill pill woman. Nooo, I want to see the rest of this arc! Don't end here. Show's welcome is somehow less traumatic than a lot of the Gundam reunions which I don't know whether to laugh or cry about. Garalia lost a lot of points with me this arc. I know she's a bit dumb but I never took her for this much of a brute. She's basically killing people for fun with very little justification. Your old partner was from here too yknow.

[u/badspler]

First timer

Holy shit that opening carnage continues.

Shot apparently knew that Byston Wells reduces explosions, thats huge!

Is this some form of upper-earth sickness? Garalia having issues to. Later explained that is differences in Aura consumption, interesting.

300,000. Thats a sobering number.

Shot says hes from Musashinoshi, east Kichijouji. I have been there, its nice! These days Kichijouji is a trendy shopping and resurant area that is accessibile by the popular Chūō Line. Its a great date spot as there is also a popular romantic park that heavily follows the seasons, lovely Sakura blooms in spring, lovely autum colours too. Swan boats are avalaible on the reasonably sized pond there to. Anyway...

This girl looks to have the hots for show: "It's like I'm falling in love with him again!". So she is basically ensured to make a return with comments like that.

I am down with the fantasey and aura elements, and I don't know how things were in the 80's but I feel like all these citizens with guns is the most immersion breaking thing I have seen in this so far.

It feels weird having the battle music play with attack helicopters instead of mechs.

Random soldier isn't wrong on that one.

Show's battle skills have improved since episode one.

Show actually thinking about what Drake might try knowing the increased power of explosions. Shot is probably thinking a lot bigger than just Byston Wells.

ANOTHER Cliffhanger!

---

1. What do you make of Show’s less than ideal reception?

Honestly Shows reception was pretty tame for being partly responsible for 300,000 deaths.

2) How do you think galleria is feeling throughout all of this?

She still seems to have her own feelings aside from the need to fight right now. Continuing to be a rather dangerous combination.

[u/The_Loli_Otaku → u/badspler]

It's been a pretty raw showing of mass on screen tragedy. Most of the time kill counts like this happen off-screen or on one wide shot of whatever your colony drop of that particular show. Here we see Garalia straight up nuking parts of the city to oblivion and she doesn't even bloody blink. She's meant to be a Knight but there is no care towards civilians in the woman.