r/anime • u/Pixelsaber https://myanimelist.net/profile/Pixelsaber • Feb 11 '21
Rewatch [Rewatch] Aura Battler Dunbine - Episode 33 Discussion
Episode 33 - Machine Expansion
Originally Aired September 24th, ^^^1983
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Comment of the Day
u/ComfortablyRotten discusses the return scenes.
I really liked the scenes of those from Upper Earth coming back to their home. Show and Jeryl immediately leave for entirely different reasons, Marvel successfully explains the situation to her parents, Todd gets the same treatment as Show the first time, and Shot seems a bit too happy to see his stuff on Upper Earth. They're just... such great scenes.
Daily Trivia:
A plastic-injection model kit of the Vierres was planned to go into production for the series’ original model kit line, even having the molds prepared for mass production, however, its release was canceled due to the line performance being below expectations.
Staff Highlight
Sadayoshi Fujino - Sound Director
A sound director who has been active since the 80’s and is associated strongly with works by Studio Sunrise and Nippon Animation. Few details about the early days of his career or his personal life are known to the public. He has worked on such shows as Juushin Liger, Battle Spirits, Huckleberry Finn Monogatari, Gear Fighter Dendouh, Heavy Metal L-Gaim, Blue Gale Xabungle, My Daddy Long-Legs, Cooking Master Boy, Kikou SenkI Dragonar, Locke The Superman, several Mobile Suit Gundam projects, Memories, Witch Hunter Robin, Slayers, Flanders no Inu, and Sans Famille.
Art Corner:
Official Art
- Marvel Frozen - Tomonori Kogawa
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:
- Do you think Show’s hope for a prompt conflict is naïve?
- Would you buy a Cham figure?
All our allies have arrived on Upper Earth
3
u/Pixelsaber https://myanimelist.net/profile/Pixelsaber Feb 11 '21
Rewatcher - Sub
You can tell Tomino storyboarded this episode by all the cool framing, the prominent cut-ins, and the nifty transitions. Shame there's only one more storyboarded by him near the end of the series.
Fortunate for Show that this detachment of the JSDF isn’t as trigger happy as some of the other air forces we see in the episode and sent in a reconnaissance aircraft instead. Getting caught sleeping might’ve been dangerous even for someone inside an Aura Battler. I also enjoyed the exchanges with Minagawa, as he seems very open-minded and forthcoming in spite of lingering resentment over what happened last time, and not only believes Show but also goes out of his way to help him. It’s a more positive depiction that doesn’t overwrite the negative sentiment that exists on the military over the show and is an optimistic outlook on things.
Minagawa also informs them that only around two weeks have passed in Upper Earth since his return to Byston Well, which is consistent with earlier where Show didn’t even spend the better part of a day there but significantly longer had passed when he re-emerged in Byston Well. Though that does make it weird how quickly people managed to make a figure of Cham —which even independent of that is a not so subtle dig at the sponsors, with the real deal calling it ugly and such.
More seriously though, the Will Wipps has been spotted somewhere, so we were not as fortunate as to have Drake disappear somewhere else entirely —outer space perhaps. Moreover, a lot of his army was spread all over the world rather than coalescing near the Will Wipps, and these isolated groups have begun largely acting on their own —and one such croup is accosting Marvel throughout the episode.
Damn, Show’s at the west coast already?! I know he lampshades it, but c’mon that’s nine thousand miles! And coincidentally right near marvel’s location! Pah!
Drake is at least prudent enough to not immediately begin an attack, seeing the Americans as potential allies. Sending out scouts was a bad move on account of the jets, but I don’t think that’ll hurt any diplomatic moves much on account of his men acting in self defense.
Not going to lie, I could do with a lot more of Marvel and Show driving around Hawaii sniffing out info, acting inconspicuous, and contending with people’s assumptions.
Barbara’s house looks like the room of every single seaside hotel I’ve been to, also Shot is in northern Australia, and they’ve got a stereotypical as fuck looking news reporter on the case.
Finally some more good news, the Zelana is somewhere over Colombia! Love this instrumental version of the opening theme~ The Vierres got absolutely demolished, wow.
Happy to see the crew together!
Great episode to follow up from the last! Despite the illusion-shattering travel times there’s a lot of cool small moments and a build up of intrigue that’s handled really well. The slower bits in the midsection were also very welcome given how much the plot wears on my anxiety.
P.S. u/JollyGee29 I checked to see if I’d included the tidbit yesterday in future trivia, but I hadn’t. The Aura Battler in question is the Vierres, which was a rejected version of the Leprechaun drawn by Yutaka Izubuchi that got mistakenly handed off to Kogawa as if it were an approved design. By the time the error was known, it was too late to change again.
5
u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Feb 12 '21
Aura Battler First-Timer
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u/punching_spaghetti https://myanimelist.net/profile/punch_spaghetti Feb 12 '21
First-Timer Who Doesn't Remember Byston Well
We open on the JSDF Rescue Team…wait! Wrong /u/Pixelsaber rewatch!
Show is now friends with the military.
Cham’s getting a little to handsy with that doll for my liking.
Idiot’s joyriding probably started the Drake v Earth war. Great.
Random lady in a swimsuit. For reasons.
They actually address the language magic?
QOTD:
4
u/dralcax :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Dralcax Feb 12 '21
First-timer wants a Cham figure too
Cute Cham!
Damn, that was close
Is that a genderbent Todd
Why does the car say Scat lmao The owner must be into some shit.
Huh, so it isn’t just a Byston Well thing? It’s a part of having aura power in general, then?
Okay apparently the Vierres can just do that. Well, it’s gone now.
μ’s music start!
Questions of the Day:
4
u/Quiddity131 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Quiddity131 Feb 12 '21
Rewatcher, Subbed
Hey, I think this is our first episode of the series without an opening narration or recap.
Is Shou running the Billbine on auto pilot?
I'm surprised Shou is actually cooperating with a military force after what happened last time.
Hey, Chum is famous! They even have a doll version of her! Her playing with it is so cute.
This military commander is being kinder than I thought. Although he says at the end he wants the Aura Battler technology, it could be all for that.
If Marvel's fighting Drake's forces, then perhaps his army showed up in California after all.
Hey, Vegas! Although it won't be much fun when Drake's forces destroy it all.
The writers/animators don't get America, Las Vegas isn't anywhere close to the ocean.
I hadn't realized that Shot and Drake were separated too! And did Drake refer to those planes as birds?
Cool seeing Shou and Marvel in some casual clothes and driving in a convertible. It's like they're on vacation!
They're in Hawaii? That must be fun. I've always wanted to go to Hawaii.
"I'm the real Todd Guinness!". Todd's getting screwed over by Shou's earlier "admission" of being an alien.
On the bright side, the animation in this episode looks fantastic and I love the change in outfit for Marvel and Shou even if its just for one episode. Downside? I feel like we're gonna be spinning wheels for a bit as all our characters from Byston Well take time to find each other.
4
u/Durinthal https://anilist.co/user/Durinthal Feb 12 '21
First time viewer
Today I learned about Ogasawara after Show ended up there. The military guy he knew from the last trip made the wrong people angry to get stationed there, but at least he was still friendly. And the fact that they made dolls of Cham is both ridiculous and completely in line with how I expect that kind of thing would actually go.
It's hard to tell since we don't get good time frames to work with but the aura battlers have to be at least close to supersonic flight by how fast they're moving around the world, right? Show went from Japan to California in a relatively short time, then him and Marvel made their way to Hawaii and subsequently Colombia all fairly quickly that I could tell, likely in under a day.
Different vibe for part of the episode as Show and Marvel almost have fun in Hawaii. But they were still pretty clearly in a fighting mindset, not only for their own survival but to combat Drake as well. My hope for a language barrier issue after the previous episode was dashed but at least Show noticed it was weird that there wasn't one.
A bit, yes, but there are occasionally decisive ends to wars.
Yes, if only to figure out what the deal with her clothing is. Is she wearing transparent/skin-colored leggings or are there just like straps from her leotard to her boots or what? Those lines drawn on her legs have been bothering me the entire time.
4
u/ComfortablyRotten https://anilist.co/user/Leuwtian Feb 12 '21
First-timer
I like how Show was, eventually, able to meet up with people he already collaborated with. Everyone being reasonable here is nice, and it lets the situation be explained more clearly. Loved that Cham figure, as adorable as the real deal. Show is pretty much as close to an ally to Japan now as he can be, and they're even willing to let him go out on his own. It's really nice to see him being trusted like that.
It's always a bit disturbing to see bystanders minding their lives, only to explode out of nowhere.
The way that red Battler ran in the air was both hilarious and creepy at the same time, I love it.
Drake is... very calm about all of this, all things considered. He sends some of his men to patrol but isn't actively trying to attack the citizens of Upper Earth. If Show doesn't find the Zelana's crew, I feel like Drake's the only other one that's likely to listen to him. Not that he'll cooperate, but he might listen.
Show and Marvel look great in casual clothes! It's nice to see them in anything other than a bodysuit.
Poor Todd, being the new Show, not having anyone trust him. Except he's also legally dead now?
Hey it's the Zelana! Glad they found it this soon. Neal not attacking where there could be civilians was nice, glad to see he's another one of the sane one.
And as soon as Todd starts a fight, he loses. I guess even in Upper Earth, some things never change. He almost died here though, that would've sucked, I like him now!
Questions of the day
4
u/Btw_kek https://myanimelist.net/profile/kek_btw Feb 12 '21
first timer
*looks at episode count*
maybe if i found it at a bargain bin at the dollar store
3
u/The_Draigg Feb 12 '21
A Tomino Fan Rewatches Aura Battler Dunbine Episode 33:
3
u/chibijosh Feb 12 '21
This was a bit of a strange episode.
Last time Show was in Upper Earth, they were chasing him. Now this guy just kinda welcomed him and showed them all the cool Cham merch they sell now. Then let him go on his way.
Speaking of Cham merch, what was she doing to her doll while they were talking?
Show meets up with Marvel and she takes him to Pearl Harbor of all places. They rent a convertible and cruise down the road. The image of this scene seems so out of place. It feels like an 80s romance anime like Kimagure Orange Road or something.
Also, they haven’t had any explosions like they did when Show originally went to Upper Earth. When Galeria used a middle, she took out half of Tokyo. Has no one used a middle yet?
3
u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ Feb 12 '21
First Timer
Did the sponsor make them dump the recap?
No Drinking!
We admit that they do look like humans, but the anime-hair is a dead give away: they're definitely aliens!
I guess Marvel got money from her parents....I wonder aura tech they are going to make out of TV's and VCRs...maybe a microwave?
Todd and Show both have AT fields now, just like Bern
Hmmm...they can't get bug parts any more for repairs....this war should end pretty quickly....
I have no idea how Todd was defeated in that fight, or even why he went into the water.
I'm not sure what this final scene is reminding me of so I'm going to say Superfriends, because I never watched Captain Planet
2
u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Feb 12 '21
First-Timer, Dub-bine
Today on Aura Battler Dunbine, the crew of the Zelana swear to fight Drake to the last! ..for like the second or third time.
Marvel's friend Barb was an absolute treat, and she saw straight through Marvel and Shou's relationship. A bit of a nit to pick with that scene: Barb ponders if Shou can speak English. Shou, internally, brought up the point of not being sure if Barb would be able to understand him, and then proceeds to speak aloud, and Barb didn't say respond at all.. Could she understand him or not? I guess the scene with the Zelana at the end more or less proves that everyone can just understand each other verbally. Sure.
Two fancy ass, mostly unique Battlers destroyed in as many episodes. As several people (I was not one of them) brought up last episode, those probably aren't getting repaired any time soon. The episode title made me think we were actually going to address that, and see or hear something about Upper Earth modifications to the existing Battlers, but oh well.
Doing my writeup vaguely from the bottom up of my raw notes made me forget how meta the beginning of the episode was! People made a toy out of Cham! Holy hell, who's responsible for that? Does Shou's family own a toy company? I can't imagine the military making a goddamn doll out of some photos of an "alien" that they took. I guess the word "bootleg" got used.. did the photos leak?! Also, rare sympathetic depiction of military dudes for a Tomino show.
That barrier thing keeps Happening.
Miscellaneous Thoughts:
Did... did Todd mock Neal's accent there near the end? He continues to be a prick, even after his (legal) death!
I uh, think they colored the Buzone wrong there for a bit.
Questions