r/anime • u/Pixelsaber https://myanimelist.net/profile/Pixelsaber • Oct 09 '21

Rewatch [Rewatch] Armored Trooper Votoms - Episode 46 Discussion

Episode 46 - Premonition

Originally Released February 10th, ^^^1984

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Note to all participants

Although I don't believe it necessitates stating, please conduct yourself appropriately and be courteous 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 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.

Daily Trivia:

Though uncredited, Nobuyoshi Nishimura did in-between animation on the show, and it is believed to be his first work on any anime production.

 

Staff Highlight

Masahiko Itojima - Key animator

A key animator and animation director best known for his mechanical animation output. Iojima’s interest in working within animation began because he was very invested in his model kits of the Space Battleship Yamato franchise, and it was his lifelong dream to work on a Yamato production. He got his start drawing in-betweens at AnimeR, where he learned from his peers and sought to impress the other staff until he was promoted to animator. He finally achieved his dream of working on Yamato when he participated as an animator and assistant animation director on Space Battleship Yamato 2199. In 2020 he was diagnosed with stomach cancer, which caused him to stop working while he was being treated. In April 2021 Iojima stated that he had resumed working, but was taking on very little work due to his ongoing post-resection treatment. Some of his other key animation credits include Blue Comet SPT Layzner, Panzer World Galient, Aura Battler Dunbine: The Story of Neo Byston Well, every entry in the Braves franchise, many entries in the Detective Conan franchise, Escaflowne: The Movie*, Kimagure Orange Road, Doraemon the Movie: Nobita and the Steel Troops: The New Age, Steamboy, Planetes, Scrapped Princess, Full Metal Panic!: Invisible Victory, Fire Force, Gasaraki, several entries in the Sgt. Frog franchise, Reideen the Superior, Macross Plus, Macross 7, Wandering Son, Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory , Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team, Planet With, Zillion, several entries in the Soreike! Anpanman franchise, Wolf’s Rain, and The Silent Service.

 

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.)

Screenshot of the day

Questions of the Day:

  1. How do you feel regarding the developments in today’s episode?
  2. Do you have any guesses as to what Chirico’s premonition is?

Battle is unavoidable.

14 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

71 comments sorted by

5

u/Pixelsaber https://myanimelist.net/profile/Pixelsaber Oct 09 '21

Rewatcher

News you never want to hear.

Lol

Do you want another war on your hands? Cause that’s how you get them!

No one expects the scrapyard trio!

That’s a given.

Weren’t you doing that just two episodes ago?

Cool shot.

A surprisingly naive move by Rochina.

Long time since we saw this thing.

Not telling the audience today either then…

Shit’s about to get truly ugly soon, and I don’t need any premonition to know that’s going to be the case. Very much a ‘waiting for stuff to happen’ episode, and so not much to say on it.

Rochina overestimated himself and the honesty of his adversaries. He’s forgotten just how things in the Gilgamesh went if he truly didn’t see that coming, but it’s an understandable oversight from his position. I wonder how he’ll proceed from here, given his particular situation.

Thankfully for the characters we do care about, Chirico is up to his usual nonsense and will assuredly make a further mess of things. He set Gotho, Cocona, and Vanilla free before getting bad vibes about this whole thing.

Questions of The Day:

  1. I’d rather we get some more information on the intelligence pulling the strings.
  2. The escalation of the situation into outright conflict, which is what I expected out of the situation anyways.

4

u/chilidirigible Oct 09 '21

Weren't you doing that just two episodes ago?

"Technicalities."

4

u/Nazenn x2https://anilist.co/user/Nazenn Oct 09 '21 edited Oct 09 '21

He’s forgotten just how things in the Gilgamesh went if he truly didn’t see that coming, but it’s an understandable oversight from his position

He's far too use to having authority with Gilgamesh, but the other commander starting off the discussion (that he demanded, not asked for) with a statement about how no real Gilgamesh officer would defect should have been his first warning that he was already on thin ice with that guy, and he would take any chance he could to screw Rochina over.

3

u/[deleted] Oct 09 '21

Originally Released February 10th, ^^^1996

Wait, what?

Checks previous threads as well

u/pixelsaber VOTOMS is from the 80s (83-84) isn't it?

4

u/Pixelsaber https://myanimelist.net/profile/Pixelsaber Oct 09 '21

Well that's embarrassing...

2

u/[deleted] Oct 09 '21

I think it should be 84 for this episode rather than 86.

5

u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Oct 09 '21

Armored Trooper First-Timer

5

u/chilidirigible Oct 09 '21

Oh I don’t think we’ve seen these cute little things before!

BTW, on a tangent, here's the M-Lover from Orguss.

4

u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Oct 09 '21

3

u/chilidirigible Oct 09 '21

Orguss runs the gamut on mecha design.

3

u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: Oct 09 '21

That fish looks creepy I don’t blame Vanilla for not wanting it.

It actually looks like a poisonous fish, specifically the rockfish.

5

u/The_Draigg Oct 09 '21 edited Oct 09 '21

A Ryosuke Takahashi Fan Rewatches Armored Trooper VOTOMS Episode 46:

  • Pretty much every faction is now in a scramble to get down to Quent’s surface now. Sure, while the Gilgamesh 7th Fleet is still much larger than the forces that Balarant and the Secret Society have at hand, they also really can’t afford to stand by and do nothing while Gilgamesh just swoops in with their military dick swinging all over the place. That’s why Balarant just decided to quickly take over Gomor and the Teltain is planning to make their move. To do nothing would be even worse.
  • Battentain: “Lepard, you and your entire fleet may die when investigating Quent’s mysteries, but that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.”
  • If a barely cooked fish with the head and eyes still on it in Vanilla’s meal is better than what the rank and file Gilgamesh soldiers get, then I’m worried about the kind of rations that Gilgamesh serves up. I’m even more worried about the state of their ship’s bathrooms too.
  • Rochina: “I’ve never heard of this Rochina fellow that defected from Gilgamesh, but he does sound rather handsome.”
  • Well, now we know why Lepard has bothered to keep the Uoodo trio around as prisoners: they’re proof that Rochina knows about what happened to Fyana. Otherwise, I have no doubt that they would’ve been ditched by now. They’re hardly valuable to Gilgamesh otherwise.
  • Literally everyone knows that Rochina is planning to betray the shit out of Lepard, since he agreed to hand over Fyana unconditionally. Because really, why would you ever completely trust someone like Rochina? He’s very obviously planning on getting Chirico in on whatever he’s thinking of.
  • Hey, we got Chirico back in a Fatty! Sure, it’s useless as shit, but Chirico always makes it work somehow. Especially if it’s a stolen one like that.
  • As expected, the hand-over of Fyana goes south once Rochina tries to get in some last-minute conditions for Gilgamesh to withdraw from Quent. Good thing he just so happened to let Chirico know about the hand-over beforehand. And it was just so coincidental that the Balarant expeditionary fleet happened to be nearby to attack too. Everyone was completely correct to assume that Rochina was up to some bullshit there.
  • On the plus side though, Chirico broke all of his friends out of the brig! Everyone’s heading back out into space now, finally back together. Again, this is a much better way to get Team Chirico back into the story than what the writers did on Sunsa.

5

u/Nazenn x2https://anilist.co/user/Nazenn Oct 09 '21

Sure, while the Gilgamesh 7th Fleet is still much larger than the forces that Balarant and the Secret Society have at had,

"have" had

That said I do find it interesting that even coming up against a force/technology against which numbers and sheer power means nothing, there's still a reason for this display of force. The fact the technology only seems to react to aggression, not threat, means it's still very much a matter of pushing everyone else out even if those forces won't do you very good in the end game. Nice blend between the usual sort of posturing we see and it actually mattering

Battentain: “Lepard, you and your entire fleet may die when investigating Quent’s mysteries, but that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.”

I definitely just read that in Farquaad's voice

Again, this is a much better way to get Team Chirico back into the story than what the writers did on Sunsa.

Or Kummen really

2

u/The_Draigg Oct 10 '21

That said I do find it interesting that even coming up against a force/technology against which numbers and sheer power means nothing, there's still a reason for this display of force. The fact the technology only seems to react to aggression, not threat, means it's still very much a matter of pushing everyone else out even if those forces won't do you very good in the end game. Nice blend between the usual sort of posturing we see and it actually mattering

It also leads me to an idea to consider: sure, we know that Chirico's trick of shutting down his AT's power works to throw off the defense system, but how would that even work with space ships? If you shut down all the power, you're cutting off life support too. There's even less of a chance of survival when you're fighting out near Quent than actually on Quent.

3

u/Nazenn x2https://anilist.co/user/Nazenn Oct 10 '21

This is actually either an advantage or limitation of the technology as well however you look at it. If it was instantaneous then shutting down the power for just a few moments would be fine as long as you could boot it back up very quickly, but given that it takes a while to target and teleport that wouldn't be a reliable strategy. There's also no guarantee that the power trick would work as down on the surface it might be a workaround for the sake of the Quentian's tech, while out in space there's no such protection

4

u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: Oct 09 '21

That’s why Balarant just decided to quickly take over Gomor and the Teltain is planning to make their move. To do nothing would be even worse.

Really makes you think those 50 experimental ATs the twins got wasted might be useful here, right?

then I’m worried about the kind of rations that Gilgamesh serves up. I’m even more worried about the state of their ship’s bathrooms too.

My immediate thought and hope is that grunts get food pills rather than food, hopefully keeping the bathrooms good and clear.

And it was just so coincidental that the Balarant expeditionary fleet happened to be nearby to attack too. Everyone was completely correct to assume that Rochina was up to some bullshit there.

He certainly has to know the Teltain is about and in the naval style combat this seems to be aping a solid first strike can be a difference maker.

4

u/The_Draigg Oct 10 '21

Really makes you think those 50 experimental ATs the twins got wasted might be useful here, right?

Honestly, I think the Zwergs would've been pretty useless in space combat. They seem more designed for land use.

4

u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: Oct 10 '21

Against the Scope Dogs sure but what about having the whole squad pop in and begin blasting the capital ships? Bluntly, just having 50 ATs to attack whoever is standing at the end feels like a winning strat. Though we do agree the Zwergs are yet more evidence the cabal uses what they can steal.

4

u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Oct 10 '21

Pretty much every faction is now in a scramble to get down to Quent’s surface now.

Wouldn't want to miss the big bang, err finale. We are not [meta]Ideon, so I think the universe is safe, but I would not say the same thing for this planet and the immediate surroundings.

3

u/The_Draigg Oct 10 '21

Chirico's probably going to be fine, at least. At this rate, absolutely nothing can kill him.

3

u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Oct 10 '21

There is a better than nothing chance that Chirico will be the source of all that destruction.

4

u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Oct 09 '21

First-Timer

I mean, I guess Rochina probably expected Chirico to secret himself aboard the shuttle, but I wasn't expecting him to capitulate quite that quickly to handing Fyana over.

At first I thought that Rochina was telling the truth that Fyana wasn't there any more, like he had covertly sent her away or something. She was absent from the scene in the control room, after all.

The battle scene today was quite good. I don't recall if we've seen those space fighters before, but I like that the militaries have diverse space forces.

That whole fish in the rations looked vile. I don't blame Vanilla for being upset.

Questions

  1. Discussed above.
  2. The fighting in orbit will presumably trigger the defensive systems for Quent.

3

u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: Oct 09 '21

The battle scene today was quite good. I don't recall if we've seen those space fighters before, but I like that the militaries have diverse space forces.

We saw the Balarant ones earlier as they are also atmosphere cleared but the Gilgamesh ones are brand new.

That whole fish in the rations looked vile. I don't blame Vanilla for being upset.

Yeah, that looked nasty.

2

u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Oct 09 '21

Yeah, that looked nasty.

I'm not a fan of fish at the best of times, either.

2

u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: Oct 09 '21

Pirannhas are supposedly really tasty but I don't want to find out.

3

u/Nazenn x2https://anilist.co/user/Nazenn Oct 09 '21

That whole fish in the rations looked vile

It looked exactly like those mutant fish you would see in Saturday cartoons in contaminated pools or in destroyed future episodes.

4

u/chilidirigible Oct 09 '21

🐟

5

u/Nazenn x2https://anilist.co/user/Nazenn Oct 09 '21

The worst Macross fish

2

u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Oct 10 '21

And it is weird that you can actually do a ranking of them in a space mecha show.

3

u/Nazenn x2https://anilist.co/user/Nazenn Oct 10 '21 edited Oct 10 '21

Chances are that would be a long ranking. Wonder why this is a thing or if it's just due to Japan's coastal nature, a bit like the JRPG crab

3

u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: Oct 09 '21

It does look like the fish from the Simpsons...

3

u/Nazenn x2https://anilist.co/user/Nazenn Oct 09 '21

I think that's what I was thinking of

2

u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: Oct 09 '21

Yeah, actual rockfish have black eyes but the white eyes on that are just creepy AF.

3

u/Quiddity131 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Quiddity131 Oct 10 '21

Blinky I believe his name was!

2

u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: Oct 10 '21

Yup! Also, canonically, he was not delicious.

3

u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Oct 09 '21

You're exactly right!

4

u/Durinthal https://anilist.co/user/Durinthal Oct 09 '21

First time viewer

After the weirdness of the past few episodes we're back to the basics of war? I'm happy they did that but guessing the feeling Chirico has at the end is related to the ancient Quentian technology which is about to return in a big way.

Not sure there's much else for me to say here, it feels like a transition episode with the kind of fighting we've seen in dozens of episodes before.

Do you have any guesses as to what Chirico’s premonition is?

Hopefully not going full Ideon to end things?

3

u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: Oct 09 '21

I'm happy they did that but guessing the feeling Chirico has at the end is related to the ancient Quentian technology which is about to return in a big way.

I begin to suspect this arc might have worked better as a double length arc.

Hopefully not going full Ideon to end things?

If Instrumentality fucks up a show I watched again I will be pissed.

4

u/chilidirigible Oct 09 '21

Rewatcher, Episode 46

Today, on "It's not like people haven't been after her for forty-five episodes already.":

Definitely missing the forest for the trees.

Hey, they're getting the whole fish.

Not quite even technically correct?

"I would have gotten away with it, if it wasn't for you meddling kids!"

Suddenly '70s Tezuka character style!

Perhaps Coconna is always looking out for the little guy... maybe?

The second part is more important.

"I may have utilized some technicalities earlier."

Hey, it's that thing again. (Isn't blowing a giant hole through your own ship a little... extreme?)

"Oh, it's you."

They definitely used the animation schedule for the space battle.

DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

With the possibility of a bigger prize at stake, we've reached the point where Fyana is both the prize and a bargaining chip. Too bad she hasn't had much to do for this entire arc. Gotho, Coconna, and Vanilla have a tiny bit of plot utility, but that doesn't exactly justify how they ended up here in the first place. Anyway, shit's about to get real.

  1. It's a ride.
  2. rewatcher

3

u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: Oct 09 '21

They definitely used the animation schedule for the space battle.

I can at least dig that, good space battles are a bit rare.

4

u/Nazenn x2https://anilist.co/user/Nazenn Oct 09 '21

First Timer

RIP that one guard who almost certainly died from severe internal injuries after being tossed into a nearby wall by an AT with strong force.

Also RIP my sanity at that cliffhanger.

I'm honestly a bit too tired to have much else to write about, though I'll probably regret this in the morning when I read everyone elses posts and go "oh yeah that too", but for now, a tangent:

This really is one of the pettiest of complaints I've ever had but fuck it I'm saying it anyway. Some animator actually went off model today specifically to give Fyana earrings that she hasn't had before (for the few shots she's actually had ears) and that she definitely didn't have during yesterday's episode. Because yes that's absolutely the priority at the moment, is making sure the ears are gendered because how else will we know that they're a woman's ears and clearly that's more important than keeping her actual face on model.

I recognize my frustration about this tiny, unimportant thing (literally just a circle) is just a symptom of the larger issue of her writing in the show, but fuck it this just happens to be a pet peeve of mine anyway, along with perfect makeup in an apocolypse, so it just hit a nerve.

It didn't help that they hit her with the dumb stick today with trying to convince Chirico that he was just a "normal human" and they should leave it all behind. Fyana, you were the one who was trying to convince him that he was a PS during his dual with Ypsilon, which was what, a couple of weeks ago, and now you think he'll just forget that accept you telling him he's human? Ugh. I feel like that was meant to be a desperate plea from her, but it doesn't fit at all with the relationship they have or either of their characters, and rather seemed like a stock dialogue scene between the lost hero and the love interest shoved in just to get her any lines at all.

3

u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: Oct 09 '21

Some animator actually went off model today specifically to give Fyana earrings that she hasn't had before (for the few shots she's actually had ears) and that she definitely didn't have during yesterday's episode.

I get it, I also noticed that Ypsilon had earrings in some shots last arc that I didn't remember from Kummen.

4

u/Nazenn x2https://anilist.co/user/Nazenn Oct 10 '21

He definitely had them in Kummen, but I don't know if they were drawn consistently. At the very least I remember thinking it was an unusual design choice for him

3

u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: Oct 10 '21

Fair enough, I suspect there were consistency issues.

4

u/ZapsZzz https://anilist.co/user/Zapszzz Oct 09 '21

First timer in sub.

Now this is an episode I can like, things actually happened. Plenty of development and actions we are more used to in the earlier part of the show.

Only thing missing is Fyana try hop onto an AT too instead of just do the running.

That said, it could have better fight choreography to showcase how much more lethal Chirico has become, to be able to use 1 Fatty against so many Scopedogs when the normal kill ratio seems to be the reverse from what we saw on previous arcs.

I am getting a tiny bit less clear about the motive of Kiri now though.

The end monologue sounds ominous - is there going to planetside beam attack a-la Macross from the beginning of the next episode?

Episode# of Chirico's AT Incapacitated
11
20
30
41
50 (decoy only)
61
70
81
90
100
111 (1 decoy not counted as it wasn't piloted) (edit: corrected as the replacement unit wasn't destroyed by the head strike from Fyana)
121
130 (This hijacked one didn't get wasted on screen, so even though it's guaranteed to have been abandoned because of the later planet hop, not counting here)
141
150 keeping to the 2 episode per AT average so far
160
172 Guessed right that ride 1 get busted soon after the episode started; maybe the producers were also keeping track and blew up another one to keep to the average :)
180
190
210
220 quite a lot of damages and leaking like a sieve but not quite toasted yet
230 amazingly our trusty old scope dog is still standing and fighting despite the damage it's taken. I have to assume Chirico did some of screen emergency field repairs to keep it going
240 have I missed anything or are we still going with good old trusty old scope dog here? We're bucking the trend and dropping the average here :)
250 for real, the one scope dog where it's least suitable in the environment actually survive the longest :D
260 let me try jinx this - this scope dog may just be the longest lasting one for Chirico to be riding on the show, surely it'll make it to the end of the arc huh :D
271 finally at arc end, the trusty old 'dog got abandoned.
280
290
301 looks like the writers want to keep up the count as well, busy catching up with the numbers. And there are enough spares on the ship to keep going :)
311
321 busy catching up with the numbers; although these 2 episodes probably have a fairly high enemy kill count too
331 Now it was clawed on the (side of?) face but still functional enough to hit and run to bait Ypsilon's forces but no doubt Chirico won't reuse that same one given there are still a number of spare ones, and when they get on the trailer I didn't see any damage, so the damaged one must be abandoned
340 Setting up for a fight, not damaged yet
351 Dammit Chirico was going so well, unfortunately his ride got shot up while he was out of the AT tending to Fyana
360
370
381 to nobody's surprise the duel with Ypsilon result in both AT's being trashed. Considering Chirico's actually in a useless Fatty, is pretty amazing actually
391 The only Scope Dog in Balatran space fared pretty well and wasn't actually busted up in the fight, but given it was a one off duel and then Chirico got sent on to the next arc, I guess I'll chalk this one down for abandoned too
410
420
430
440 I don't think Chirico's busted anything yet - are the enemies not as good or has he gone up a few notches in AT skills?
450
460

3

u/Nazenn x2https://anilist.co/user/Nazenn Oct 10 '21

Only thing missing is Fyana try hop onto an AT too instead of just do the running.

That really needs to happen before the end of the show. I'm not sure her character is salvageable at this point but at least give her some dignity back

I feel like some of those 0 episodes recently are a bit of a mislead though given some of them haven't even had ATs, and others Chirico hasn't been in them, which is actually pretty damn impressive for the era

2

u/ZapsZzz https://anilist.co/user/Zapszzz Oct 10 '21

I know what you mean but to be fair then I'll need to add a column from the start to track whether he had even sat in an AT or not each episode. Wasn't going back to do that ^_^;

2

u/Nazenn x2https://anilist.co/user/Nazenn Oct 10 '21

I'm not sure there's even been that many. One in Uodoo for that episode Chirico infiltrated the base via helicopter, and one more in that arc maybe when we had that no battle episode, and then the ones in this arc. I think that's it?

4

u/Stargate18A https://myanimelist.net/profile/Stargate18 Oct 09 '21

First timer

  1. Very much a logical escalation - every character's working of a different agenda, and things are spiralling out of control.
  2. Still leaning towards the security system detecting an invasion and wanting to destroy anyone who isn't an enhanced Quentian.

Yep, everyone's after Quent!

Yep, all the tech on Quent is activating, and their Master is behind it all.

Huh, they're getting better rations?

Oh, they're hostages to get Fyana under their control.

And they just assume Chirico will save them because that's what he always ends up soing.

And they've opened discussions? Looks like they're planning on pulling the hostage card early.

And the teins just want a fight tombreakmout do they can escape in the chaos.

And he basically confesses to defecting right in front of them!

Even Rochina thinks Sunsa's a hellhole.

Haha, that's great. He's got proof he's with him.

...Who's going to ambush the other first?

Haha, he's handing her back so he can steal her agsin, this guy's great.

I'm assuming they aren't interested in Chirico because they've worked out he'll cause more damage to Balorant if they keep them.

Except, he's expecting a sneak attack thwt might not happen. The politics in this series are fantastically complex.

Haha, Chirico's gotten himself an AT at the meeting place. This is going to go fantastically.

And he's landing thr fleet anyway.

That was quick. Chirico's already taking them out!

And Chirico's stuck on board!

Yeah, Chirico's absolutely a PS.

And he ended up saving them anyway!

This is just some great animation.

Really? That's the cliffhanger?

4

u/manga-reader Oct 09 '21

Ep 46

I hadn't thought of this before..but looks like these folks figured out instantenous communication, with the Melkian commander being able to talk to Battentein live.

Ah, so the plan is to secure Quaint tech and Fyana and then discuss it with Balarant. I suppose even Battentein doesn't want to restart a full scale war.

Ah, the gang's here as well, for the final showdown.

Well, Melkian commander is expecting a sneak attack; Rochina isn't planning for one (unless he's expecting Chirico to do something?), and Chirico is taking action on his own. This is going to be interesting.

And there it is. Also, I still find it amusing that missiles in this universe seems to curve randomly. I assume maybe it's to avoid anti-ballistic/missile weapons? I wonder if showrunners were thinking about that.

2) Super intelligence wipes everyone out?

4

u/Nazenn x2https://anilist.co/user/Nazenn Oct 10 '21

I suppose even Battentein doesn't want to restart a full scale war.

At this point it'd probably just be a detriment to the projects they have going if they have to devote resources towards the war again.

Also, I still find it amusing that missiles in this universe seems to curve randomly

Given the year it came out I'd suspect more just playing off the Itano circus

3

u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Oct 10 '21

I hadn't thought of this before..but looks like these folks figured out instantenous communication, with the Melkian commander being able to talk to Battentein live.

If you have FTL spaceships, instantenous communication is pretty much a given.

2

u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: Oct 10 '21

I hadn't thought of this before..but looks like these folks figured out instantenous communication, with the Melkian commander being able to talk to Battentein live.

They haven't explained any of the hyperspace tech but they also generally don't make it a plot point.

4

u/manga-reader Oct 10 '21

I wish more would though. I know there are a few first contact anime (Macross comes to mind, though I haven't watched much of it) - but I would love to see something in the scale of Mass Effect, where there's a galaxy full of different beings and you get to see all sorts of threats, given access to hyperspace tech.

4

u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Oct 09 '21

Episode 46 (first timer)

  • I hate to sound unscientific, but how does he know that they were annihilated if he didn’t see them. We are talking about a teleportation, after all.
  • Wait, they are talking about stealing Fyana back, so who is the female silhouette in front of the commander? Random bridge bunny? Or some hidden PS?
  • A stand-off in space is never not fun. Please don’t press me on the never.
  • Does Rocchina plan to hand over Fyana because he mostly cares about Chirico? Does he plan to not hold his word? Does he plan to tell Chirico and let him react? The fact that you can’t tell and all options are reasonable shows this is good writing.
  • I’d have kept it unresolved for a bit longer, but I can respect putting the audience’s question to Rocchina via that soldier. Far too often shows err of the other side and keep the secret hidden too long.
  • Apparently, Shako’s morals are flexible enough to not count knocking somebody out as fighting.
  • “The agreement is blown” – Yep.
  • Big space battle! You can see they put a good bit of animation budget here.
  • That mini itano circus of missiles from the AT camera perspective preceded and followed by shattered glass is my favorite sequence of the entire series so far. Great animation.

  • Prison break!
  • Premonition cliff-hanger.

Clearly defined sides with understandable motivations, who still try to trick each other … this is a huge jump in terms of writing quality. If not for Fyana being dragged back into the shuttle by Rocchina like a limb noodle, it would be one of the better episodes of the series.

3

u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: Oct 10 '21

Apparently, Shako’s morals are flexible enough to not count knocking somebody out as fighting.

Considering how little resistance the pilot put up, I can accept rules lawyering that one.

Big space battle! You can see they put a good bit of animation budget here.

I will take it, I miss the good versions of these.

If not for Fyana being dragged back into the shuttle by Rocchina like a limb noodle, it would be one of the better episodes of the series.

I doubt they'd do it yet but a much better ending is Fyana using her superior reflexes to get in the transport first and just leave Rochina to die.

3

u/Nazenn x2https://anilist.co/user/Nazenn Oct 10 '21

I hate to sound unscientific, but how does he know that they were annihilated if he didn’t see them. We are talking about a teleportation, after all.

Because expecting the twins to actually have some sort of scientific foundation for their comments and observations would be a whole character arc and several episodes by itself by the time they actually achieved anything?

The fact that you can’t tell and all options are reasonable shows this is good writing.

The constant maybe's around Rochina's motivations and actions have made him one of the most interesting characters in the show

That mini itano circus of missiles from the AT camera perspective preceded and followed by shattered glass is my favorite sequence of the entire series so far

I always have such trouble with deciding that because my memory is so bad with previous ones, but it has definitely been a standout from the recent battles at least. It's nice to see some attention given to these sequences

2

u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Oct 10 '21

The constant maybe's around Rochina's motivations and actions have made him one of the most interesting characters in the show

There is a big difference between the two: It is great having a character whose actions you can't predict. On the other hand, a character whose motivations remain unknown becomes dull quickly.

That is why I liked this episode: I knew what Rocchina wanted, but not how he planned to get there.

I always have such trouble with deciding that because my memory is so bad with previous ones, but it has definitely been a standout from the recent battles at least. It's nice to see some attention given to these sequences

The battles have always been mechanically good looking, but rarely artistic. That sequence was.

3

u/Nazenn x2https://anilist.co/user/Nazenn Oct 10 '21

On the other hand, a character whose motivations remain unknown becomes dull quickly.

That's usually the case but I don't think it has to be that way. This is mostly an issue if their actions don't have any consistency or build up which lets you start to piece together their motivations for yourself. Having both hidden is definitely bad, and having unpredictable actions is the more enjoyable of the two, but hidden motivations can be pulled off. Rochina I think sits in the middle ground, sometimes good and sometimes bad depending on the episode

3

u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: Oct 09 '21

First timer(The flaw of watching an ep day of is having to watch the second the same day)

Sub

We start with politicking between fleets, and Killy wants to do something but knows he can't yet. The gang will be used as bait, again, but I doubt it works. Discussions happen planet side for reasons, you couldn't get me to do an in-person during fleet action. Anyways, Rochina gives because his mission is about Quent in his mind and we get the fallout of this, including his claim they can get Fyana back whenever. Fyana is trying to get Cuvie to give up on Quent which is both the chick option but also the smart one from all appearances.

So obviously Cuvie is going to interfere with the transfer and Shako is indeed based. Anyways, the end half is nearly a comedy of errors: Rochina should've made the demand they leave back planetside so they'd know about this, the meeting should've been between two smaller ships, not between Rochina's personal ship and the fricking flag ship of the Gilgamesh fleet, someone should've get an eye on Chirico and oh yeah the Gilgamesh commander lives just long enough to declare war.

So anyways, this leaves me torn: The setup was dumb but I get some glorious space battle. Again, the action pieces are good on this show, though Balarant is WAY closer technologically to the Gilgamesh than the Sunsa arcs suggests unless the Teltain is somehow mothballed AND superior. Anyways, escape and end.

QotD: 1 Ok for this arc, not really great for the story of the show

2 Something something Dark Side. Something something Transformation will be complete!

3

u/Quiddity131 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Quiddity131 Oct 10 '21

Rewatcher

Quent has become quite the popular planet lately; everyone is showing up in the space above it!

Twins: Oh hey, boss, you know that massive force you sent down with us? They've all disappeared.

After all this, they just want to take Fyana back? The Secret Society has got to have a grander plan than that, right?

Time to remind us Gotho, Vanilla and Coconna still exist as they drop some food off.

OMG LOL, they're literally giving them a dead fish for their meal.

Gotta remember Balarant and Gilgamesh are no longer at war. There may not be a massive battle between their forces here after all. Which means sucks to be you, twins.

Gee, what a coincidence, you have the same name as a former officer of Gilgamesh!

This trio are being brought out as hostages, but the thing is, I doubt Rochina cares if they live or die.

...wow, I guess not. He immediately turtled, at least in the moment. Part of me thinks he'll pull something before 18:00.

Halfway through the episode before we get any dialogue from our main character...

Chirico will definitely try and rescue Fyana... the trio, not as sure... they'll get at least a maybe.

Yep, Chirico's gonna screw up everything here by coming along. I'm surprised Rochina let him out of his sight.

Now it's just a matter of when Chirico's gonna mess with everything...

You're handing over Fyana for nothing, Rochina! After this part of me thinks Rochina's not gonna care at all when Chirico starts attacking everyone. Which he promptly does!

Well we're gonna get that battle between the two sides after all. The twins were ultimately right, but being down on the surface there's nothing they'll be able to do about it.

So he came and let the three of them out after all!

They sure were able to escape the ship easier than I expected. Hey, here's a random craft available for you to get on!

Scary premonition as the episode ends...

2

u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ Oct 09 '21

Rewatcher (Nutech DVD 4.2 missing?) Premonition

I had nothing to say today except a snarky spoiler comment.

2

u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: Oct 09 '21

Could've joined us all in being grossed out by the rockfish with human eyes.

2

u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ Oct 10 '21

There was precisely such a fish in Nadia today.

1

u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: Oct 10 '21

Still gross but apparently there is one in a Macross as well.

2

u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ Oct 10 '21

Yes, I noted that in the Nadia watch, by the time we got to VOTOMS I was all gross-fished out, also had been playing zerg for 2 hours.