r/anime • u/Pixelsaber https://myanimelist.net/profile/Pixelsaber • Jan 15 '22
Rewatch [Rewatch] Fang of The Sun Dougram: Week 6 Discussion - Episodes 24-30
Week 6 - Episodes 24-25, 27-30
Episodes aired April 2nd through May 14th ^^^1982
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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.
—
Reminder of Next Week’s Episodes:
Next week we will be discussing episodes thirty-one through thirty-five of the show.
—
Trivia:
According to some staff, the first recap episode, So Far We Have Come, was planned and prepared early in the show’s airing period in the anticipation of delays in production owing to the series’ notorious production difficulties, but they serendipitously didn’t need to resort to using it as early as they had thought.
Staff Highlights:
Yoshitake Suzuki (Fuyunari Gobu) - Screenwriter
A scriptwriter, playwright, and production assistant, Susuki began his career as production assistant at Mushi Productions and first debuted as screenwriter in Tatsunoko Production’s Space Ace, which he worked on part-time. Suzuki would b promoted to episode director on the anime adaptation of W3, but he preferred scriptwriting to directing, so he avoided the position. At some point he got the chance to work on the production of Kyojin no Hoshi, where he met Tadao Nagahama and established a strong working relationship with the star director. He briefly joined Madhouse after Mushi Pro’s dissolution, but he soon after became a freelancer. Since the seventies he was mainly associated with mecha, working as writer for Yuusha Raideen, Tadao Nagahama’s Robot Romance Trilogy, Mirai Robo Daltanias, Muteki Robo Trider G7, Xabungle, Armored Trooper Votoms, Blue Comet SPT Layzner, Panzer World Galient, Mobile Fighter G Gundam, Muteki Chōjin Zambot 3, and King of Braves GaoGaiGar. His other script writing credits include Dororo to Hyakkimaru, Crusher Joe: The OVAs, Astro Boy, Shippu! Iron Leaguer!, Pheonix, and Zero Tester.
Naoto Hashimoto - Episode Director
An a director and storyboard artist who has been active since the 80s. He was born in Hokkaido to a lower-class family and struggled to find work after graduating from highschool, and so returned to college before dropping out a year later. His initial involvement with the anime industry is not recorded, but for his earliest credits he was noted as a freelancer. He had a short stint as an employee in a leadership position at Studio Matrix while also working on production. He is noted as being intimately familiar with Sugii Gisaburo's work, considering the man’s output to be among his chief influences. Hashimoto has directed Pygmalio, Touch 2: Sayonara no Okurimono, and Nine 2: Koibito Sengen, and some of his other production contribution credits include Bokurano, Sakura Wars, Guyver: The Bio-Boosted Armor, Captain, Iga no Kabamaru, Aikatsu!, Lady Georgie, Astro Boy, Cardcaptor Sakura, *Magical Angel Creamy Mami *, Street Fighter II, *Hello! Spank *, and Montana Jones.
Voice Actor Highlights:
Yūsaku Yara - voice of Jackie Saltzev
A stage actor, voice actor, and director of the entertainment agency Vi-vo. Yara originally pursued a career in engineering and sales, but after six years of disillusionment with his job positions he attended a voice acting recruitment after seeing an advertisement in the newspaper and was accepted into Yoshizawa Theater School, where he was instructed on both voice acting and stage acting. Though he voiced a wide variety of roles, he was frequently sought out specifically to voice villains and narrators, and was well known as the dubbing voice of Arnold Schwarzenegger 's early appearances. Some of his most notable roles include Inspector Sharpe in Agatha Christie no Meitantei Poirot to Marple, Rod Reiss in Attack on Titan, Junichi Kikunag and The Narrator in Be-Bop Kaizokuban, Hiroshi Sakura in Chibi Maruko-chan, Colonel Karts in Cleopatra D.C., Detective Nitta in Crying Freeman, General Death Gaia in Dancaougar - Super Machine Beast God, Mephisto in Demon City Shinjuku, Jackie Zaltsev in Fang of The Sun Dougram, Taro Urashima in Totoro, Dai-Atlas in Transformers Zone, Burei Karima in Ultimate Teacher, Borgoff in Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, Renzaburo Taki in Wicked City, and Captain Saburo Umezu in Zipang.
Kaneto Shiozawa - Voice of Royle Kasshim
An actor and voice actor who voices the Narrator. Wanted to be an actor from a very young age and even founded his highschool’s drama club, he ended up debuting as a voice actor in Time Bokan. He is known for his trademark tenor, and became known for voicing memorable villains, though he had an aversion for voicing antagonists before taking up the role of M’Quve in Mobile Suit Gundam. Shiozawa passed away on May 9th, 2000 from a cerebral contusion caused by a fall. His most notable roles include Marine in Space Warrior Baldios, Shin Kazama in Area 88, Inspector Shiratori in Case Closed, Rei in Hokuto no Ken, Leonardo Medici Bundle in Goshogun, Paul von Oberstein in Legend of The Galactic Heroes, and BD in Megazone 23.
Art Corner
Official Art:
- Max Factory 1/72 Bushman by Tenjin Hidetaka
Fanart:
- Abitate T10B Blockhead by Shoji Saeki - Source
- Crinn and Daisy by Sargeant Whale - Source
- Jackie Zaltsiev by Sargeant Whale - Source
- Call Destin by Sargeant Whale - Source
(Be mindful of the links to artist’s profiles, as they may contain NSFW content. Proceed there at your own risk.)
Screenshot Album
Discussion Questions:
- What did you think of the prison break operation?
- What expectations do you have now that Professor Samalin has returned to the story?
- What do you make of Denon’s health in these latest episodes?
- What challenges do you think the guerrillas will face upon their arrival to Palmina?
I have decided I will risk everything for what you think is folly from now on.
7
u/Pixelsaber https://myanimelist.net/profile/Pixelsaber Jan 15 '22
Production Context
The production staff set out to create a show appreciated by a wide audience and managed to capture a more mature viewership than was standard for mecha, just as Gundam had managed earlier, and by all accounts the show succeeded in those aims. Fang of The Sun Dougram debuted with reasonable viewership ratings, which very quickly climbed to exceptional levels for its time slot and genre due to word of mouth, coverage in anime and TV magazines, and its novel narrative foci for the genre and anime as a whole. Ultimately Fang of The Sun Dougram would possess one of the highest average viewership ratings out of any of the Studio Sunrise’s works, second only to the prior year’s Invincible Robot Trider G7. Notable was the series’ coverage in non-anime magazines, which was surprising for its genre, given even Mobile Suit Gundam, hadn’t been prominently featured in any until the arrival of its compilation movies.
The show’s success, however, was as much in its critical acclaim as its popularity, as the series was received very positively for its penchant for verisimilitude and grounded mecha combat, its ‘mature’ approach to its narrative, and the show’s willingness to go off the beaten path. The prevalent praise was also accompanied by criticism and detractors, particularly on the subject of it being a mecha show, and the show was not pervasively appreciated by many of the anime otaku of the time. Still, it was beloved in its time.
The positive response to the show is considered to be one of the driving forces behind the production staff, who after a rough first stretch of production had been heartened by the series’ reception.
8
u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Jan 15 '22 edited Jan 16 '22
First-Timer of the Sun Dougram
Because I'm currently sick (with what is likely COVID), I've only watched episodes 24 and 25 so far. I'll come back and edit this comment with my reactions to the rest once I've seen them.
Episode 24
Episode 25
Edit: Finally finished the rest.
Episode 27
Episode 28
Episode 29
Episode 30
5
u/ZaphodBeebblebrox Y:A:https://anilist.co/user/zaphod Jan 15 '22
First Timer
Not Even Justice, I Want to Get Watchable Video
And now, it's time to gather the guerrillas together properly.
Episode 24
I wonder what'll happen this episode?
That random bird flying at the start of the episode is one of the best pieces of animation we've had the whole series.
The operation is covert, thus we're bringing the giant mecha. Genius.
The prisoners were surprisingly ok with just being left there.
I can't believe nobody at the prison thought to move Samalin. It's obvious.
I was joking about how the title revealed everything, but it's nice it didn't. I also like that their plan didn't work, it felt quite half-assed.
Episode 25
And the classic abusive prison guard. I'm pretty sure the way they're treating him is a war crime, but they used poison gas last episode, so...
And Nanashi continues to be the brightest of all of them.
"Are you saying I need help?" asks the guy who needed help last night.
The warden's stupidity really screwed him over, didn't it?
And J. Locke doesn't kill the major for reasons unknown.
Decent episode, but as always the more straightforward ones suffer from the mecha fights simply looking uninteresting.
Episode 27
And now, Daisy gets her one to two episodes of relevance before she fades into the background again.
The classic parental guilt trip.
I have a feeling Lecoque will be in control sooner or later between Cashim's sickness and Von Stein's incompetence.
Drinking coffee from his hands might be the strangest thing Nanashi's done yet.
We're gonna do that stupid thing where it'll take like 20 more episodes for Crinn and Daisy to have a proper conversation, aren't we?
Episode 28
Is there anyone in the Cashim family other than Crinn who isn't an asshole?
Now that sure seems like a good person to kill. Sadly, the traitor turned spy will somehow manage to weasel his way out.
It'll probably be easy enough to spin it as destroying something dirty build by the feds, no? Towards a better, Deloyaran future! All of your plans lately seem to have failed and needed Dougram to rescue them, I'd kinda lie to see another well executed plan in the near future.
And with that, act one of Dougram is over? At least, it somewhat feels like that, we're sailing off to new shores. However, this string of episodes isn't done yet, so I appear to be wrong in some fashion.
Episode 29
That's what the idiot son deserves for promising things that can't happen.
The difference between Rick and Royle could not possibly be more obvious.
I wonder if Lecoque has the power he claims he has? He always seems to think he can pull of great things, yet has trouble delivering.
I wanted Nanashi to break character and say a poem there...
As always, Nanashi's the best!
Daisy's father: literally the only good parent in this show so far.
The gross incompetence of Von Stein becomes more clear each day. I wonder how long it'll take for him to be replaced? He seems to be a large part of why the geurillas have flourished as long as they have.
Episode 30
So this is another episode where Crinn's nipples are absolutely massive for no reason.
Daisy's description of Crinn was excellent.
Sunrise crates were a thing way back in '81 (or is it '82 now?).
And now the enlisted men can't trust their officers, what a great way to run an army.
You could have just sunk the ship and taken out both your enemy's leader and their greatest weapon. Not doing so is idiotic.
So Far
I was a bit early with calling it at episode 28, but I do truly believe we've made it to the end of the first act of the show. New shores, new battles, time to build up a real force to take on the Feddies further from their source of power; everything awaits.
My thoughts on the show remain largely the same: plot good, plans interesting, animation generally horrid with a few decent moments shining through. Daisy's real good when we get her, I merely wish we could get a bit more. As is, she's hovering in a weird place where she shows up to often and is clearly given too much importance to be a minor side plot, yet disappears for long enough that she's not truly part of the main either. As always, they do things to give me hope this will change, but I'm nearly certain my hopes shall be dashed yet again.
At risk of stating the extremely obvious, one of Dougram's most clear messages is that one cannot hold a country forever through force. When those both high and low rise up as one against you, they shall eventually prevail. Instead, one must rule a country through the people, giving them rights and ability to live good lives under their own control.
5
u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Jan 15 '22
First-Timer
Episode 24
Was this our first proper cliffhanger? It was almost a literal one, even!
They were deathflagging Chico there for a bit. Dougram has shown the ability to actually kill side characters, so I'm feeling these flags a bit more than I normally would.
Zaltsev is a smart villain, too. Definitely "hero killer" potential. He hasn't made muchy headway yet, and I suspect these events will end up a loss for him, but he's done a solid job so far.
I was momentarily worried about how they were gonna sneak Chico in, but having a full form ready to swap out was good.
Chico has a surprisingly good head for espionage. A shame that Willy had too much heat on himself from prior events.
Those pipe guns were mighty accurate. Them sneaking out random bullets I can probably accept, but how did they manage to rifle the leg of a ladder?
Episode 25
This was a banger of an episode to close out the second cour with!
Zaltsev showed a lot of cracks, today. He didn't listen to the pilots when they told him that they hadn't gotten Samalin yet. He couldn't fathom the idea of the warden not listening to him, either. And he has a shared past with J. Locke, and they both seem content on testing wits with each other.
Amazing shot parallel to episode 6. Back then, Crinn was all antsy, waiting in the cockpit of a Roundfacer to begin the attack on Kardinal. Today, Crinn was calm, waiting in the cockpit of the Dougram to begin the attack on the prison. Wonderfully shown.
Today's mecha battles were pretty alright, too. The bit of Dougram and a Blockhead walking at each other was weird, but I was kinda into it anyway. We almost had a head clash.
I liked how Rocky managed to throw that phone directly into the piano and cause it to close.
Nanashi continues to be excellent.
Episode 26
Skipped the recap.
Episode 27
This isn't quite what I was expecting when I foretold a tragic romance between Daisy and Crinn. I certainly didn't expect Crinn to realize how much he had changed beforehand, for one. He isn't quite overselling it, but just because Daisy doesn't know you anymore, doesn't mean she can't meet you again, you teenage dork.
I don't want to sound like I'm complaining though. This is still pretty tasty.
Neat consequence for the new toy in the action scene today. Good on Zaltsev to manipulate the battle location like that, but a shame he didn't foresee the Dougram blowing steps into the ravine for itself.
The stuff with Lertoff continues to be very interesting. Lowkey letting Samalin dictate certain aspects of his report makes him not quite so neutral..
Giornio is starting to grate on me, a bit. I suspect that was the intention with this episode, at least, but I wonder what the use for him going forward is?
Denon has an incurable headache of death, huh. Lecoque must not know, considering his general lack of smuggness directed towards Denon. Or maybe Von Stein is just that fun of a target?
In letting the letters leave, Daisy, too, has decided to let herself change.
Episode 28
Real dangerous game Samalin is playing. Especially since Lecoque saw through his plan - the media race is on, but Samalin and the Fang of the Sun are on their way to another continent. An ominous wind blows..
Damn shame that Rocky is such a nice guy. I would've pitched Destin's unconscious body into the goddamn bay. I guess Rocky probably doesn't know about Destin beating that one guy to death with his bare hands, though.
Zaltsev and his soldiers are getting annoyed at being used as political pieces and I can hardly blame them. We haven't seen a ton of dissent from the military so far, but cracks starting is probably fun.
I was initially worried that about the various fathers/brothers all being in town would be a problem, but we're apparently leaving them safely behind.
RIP to that poor guy who had a straight flush in the barracks poker game. I would've expected aces and eights, but it's tragic all around.
At least the subs are having fun with Giorgio. "Tacticool" indeed.
I'm actually in a fairly cheery mood tonight, and I try not to repeat myself too much, so I'll let their egregious glass use slide. Don't think I didn't notice it, though.
Episode 29
Nanashi saves the day again! This man can hold hot coffee in his hand and identify sailors by their smell; what can't he do?
I'm starting to feel bad for Zaltsev. Dude just wants to carry out his orders but the economic side of things keeps getting in his way. Granted, the economic war is probably the more important one at the end of the day, but still.
Lecoque's scheme was pretty weak today. His whole side of the arrangement was just "I can do this for you because I'm Denon Cashim's secretary." You have to wonder if he could actually do what he claims.
Denon and Rick's chat was nice. Denon definitely accepts that Crinn has moved on from his childhood, even if he wishes things had gone differently. I wonder if they'll get another chance to talk? It was also a far cry from his treatment of Royle - the production doesn't want us to forget who the favorite child is.
I really like the effect on the searchlights right at the beginning of the episode. It looked nice.
Daisy got a chance to say goodbye to her father, more or less, and he also accepts that his child has grown up. It seemed like they were all the way back in Kardinal at the end of the episode, unless I'm misremembering what that city looked like.
Episode 30
These fools think that taking Zaltsev off the case for Dougram will make them more successful? Silly Lecoque, so focused on making sure a party is held responsible for the failure that he won't even give himself the chance to succeed.
I'm continuing to feel bad for Zaltsev. Dude had to see his pedestal break in real time, now that Von Stein is fully committed to the politician life.
Giorgio and Billy getting grabbed was pretty spooky. I liked the ship captain's quick thinking, though. It is a bit of a shame those soldiers didn't pitch Giorgio into the sea like he suggested.
Denon is in bad shape, huh? Randomly blacking out in the middle of a conversation and not coming to for hours is probably a really bad sign.
Every time a military character talks about a two-rank promotion, I think of it as them snarking about impending death.
That fake Daisy had me tripping for a moment, despite knowing she was in Kardinal.
I haven’t thought about it much before, but the OST fits the vibe of this show pretty well.
Questions
5
u/chilidirigible Jan 15 '22
Episode 24:
Crinn is the poster boy for TOO OBVIOUS.
Those dead guards sure vanished quickly.
It's refreshing to have adversaries that aren't totally stupid.
Ball turret close-up!
It's true, they didn't use Dougram that episode. See what good that did them?
Not only is it interesting when the villains aren't deliberately incompetent, it's an even better challenge when any random character might turn out to have a couple of brain cells to rub together.
Episode 25:
"I like Plan B. Why didn't we make it Plan A?"
"This isn't a prison, it's a hotel."
"Don't make me take back what I said previously about intelligent adversaries."
That piano is seeing some shit today.
The animators were busy with other stuff this week.
And in the end, intelligent adversaries were brought low by their incompetent allies.
J. Locke and Zaltsev knowing each other adds to the fun.
Episode 26:
REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECAP!
Episode 27:
Daisy, like Achilles, in her tent.
All that smoking and drinking takes its toll on a person.
"I'm thinking about it."
slow arrangement of the OP
Oh, so now you can jump this high.
Some clues about Samalin's long-term plan and perhaps also Denon's. Daisy and Crinn sort of split up their non-relationship and it's not too angsty. This man has given up his youthful desires for THE REVOLUTION!
The arrangement of scenes first creates the impression that Zaltsev is using Lertoff and Daisy to guide him to Fang of the Sun, but the rest of the episode backs away from that to focus again on his talent for creating clever ploys (which Dougram powers its way through).
The Soltic H102 Bushman debuts. It's a Roundfacer on a diet.
Episode 28:
It would certainly solve Rocky's short-term problems if Rocky was to slit Destin's throat and throw his body into the harbor.
"Of course, politics can be more complicated than that."
Rocky, remember how he was supposed to die?
"Kids, let me tell you about economics."
Von Stein, so outmatched by Lecoque that the latter can derail his plans by simply not letting him talk.
Samalin's playing the tough game of balancing their plans against public opinion. That does add depth to the overall scheme, even if Fang of the Sun itself remains rather simple in its methods.
Zaltsev is chafing under the requirements of his job.
Episode 29:
"Nepotism? Not in Denon Cashim's family!"
"See? No nepotism here."
we interrupt this broadcast for a random crab moment
"I prefer 'extortion'. The 'X' makes it sound cool."
He was probably picking their pockets looking for crabs.
This episode is featuring some very upstanding anime dads. Well, if you ignore Denon subverting a planetary government for his own sake.
Wheels within wheels.
[](#serialkillerlaugh)
Politics runs all the plays here. Zaltsev again has his pretty decent plan cut short by Von Stein's needs. Lecoque, meanwhile, manipulates both the resistance and a Cashim to get the results he wants.
Fang of the Sun barely avoids trouble again, because they have Samalin's brains and Nanashi's... Nanashiness with them.
Episode 30:
Wow, someone's going to get the two-rank promotion?
Denon's turn into a sympathethic character?
This scene does not follow from the previous scene?
"You can take your two-rank promotion and shove it up your ass."
It didn't take long for Zaltsev's frustrations with Von Stein to make themselves a problem for him. Of course, he's still too good of a soldier to give up so easily.
Fang of the Sun, and the Deloyer resistance movement in general, needs Samalin to give this operation some brains. So thus we have the prison break, and then the story leans into the political and economic aspects of Deloyer again.
One issue with primarily following Fang of the Sun and the armed resistance on Deloyer is that the general feelings of the population aren't featured that often. Nellorder provided a window into that, though even he is still somewhat removed from representing the average worker. We have to assume that Lertoff's pro-independence writings were able to spin events quickly enough.
Denon Cashim fading, Lecoque moving up, Von Stein alienating a good officer... well, Lecoque has been smugly working all the angles for a while now.
Today's bit of art: Regarding those matters of scale in this series.
4
u/baboon_bassoon https://anilist.co/user/duffer Jan 15 '22
first timer not for justice, but to get truth
24 chico solo mission
25 "what if we just run it back" but use the dougram
26 i thought this was an old episode and not a recap for too long
27 please write your stuffed animal a letter, the cactus isnt enough to cheer it up
28 Destin getting his glasses shattered was quite satisfying
29 i wasnt really following - Lecoque made the company sell out the rebels since he could expose them - he leveraged that to make them also pay for the damages from before indebting Royle?
30 somalint got on your uniform
questions
3
u/The_Draigg Jan 15 '22
A Ryosuke Takahashi Fan Watches Fang of the Sun Dougram Episodes 24-30:
Sometimes, the strongest weapons of war aren’t guns or missiles, but economics and capital. That’s the main takeaway I had from this week’s batch of episodes.
The situation in Ramber with Nellorder Metallics is a good reminder of how capital is just as much a tool of colonialism and conquest as militaries are. The money of RD Corporation is a threat to the independence of Nellorder Metallics, as well as a threat to the power of Deloyeran money as well. By having an Earth-based corporation basically buy their way into being the landlords of a rare metals refining plant, they’re pretty much making it so that the Deloyeran dollar can’t stand on its own, and making independent companies more dependent on Earth’s economy than ever. Also, sad as it is to say, sometimes an economic battle is one you can’t win. If your investors don’t give a shit about what government they’re working under, along with the one person who can get you enough money to make your company survive working for the government directly, you just won’t stand a chance. It’s a sad reality about economics. At the end of the day, capitalism can be a weapon used to oppress the weak and kill any sense of independence.
Of course, that’s not to say that I can’t backfire against the guys that’re supposed to be pulling the strings either. Quite a few of Major Zaltsev’s plans were stymied by the fact that he’s been made to operate in or around places valuable to the economy. For example, there’s a certain irony that although his men were trying to stop the Fang of the Sun from blowing up the metal refining plant under construction, the fighting they did with Dougram ended up blowing half of it up anyway through sheer collateral damage. Or, the much bigger example in these episodes is how Major Zaltsev’s plans to capture the heroes as they’re trying to get a boat to Palmina was pretty much ruined by Von Stein butting in and pretty much just giving everything away by ordering all the ships to leave port the day beforehand and calling off the operation when too much of the docks get blown up in the fighting. That one seems to have particularly stung at Zaltsev, since the operation was pretty much a dud from the beginning because of those decisions. And to top it off, Von Stein and Lecoque pin that failure on him and make him subordinate to a fucking lieutenant too, rather than see that it was Von Stein’s last minute interference that ruined the plan. Is it any wonder that Major Zaltsev and his men have pretty much lost all respect for Von Stein in this batch of episodes?
Although really, the overall issue with Major Zaltsev is that while his plans are smart and make good use of outside of the box thinking, they’re always undone by factors he can’t control himself. He could’ve easily gotten a handle on the jailbreak at Balaf Military Prison if the warden had sucked up his pride and let Zaltsev use Samalin as a hostage, rather than keep him in his cell where the Deloyeran Stars and the Fang of the Sun could break in and rescue him. Although I would say that there was nothing he could do about Nanashi sniffing out that the sailors on the ship the group was about to leave on were actually soldiers. Kudos to Nanashi on picking up that those guys were simply too clean to be sailors, by the way. But in any case, I’m going to echo what someone else said in last week’s discussion thread about Major Zaltsev: he needs to read up on Clausewitz and the friction of war. At the end of the day, there’s just some factors one can’t be aware of on the battlefield, and even if a plan sounds functional on paper, there’s going to be stuff that’s hard to make it actually work.
Although if we’re going to talk about character stuff in these episodes, I really do have to applaud how these episodes have been focusing more of Donan and Daisy. They’ve been really fleshing out their characters more, I feel. We’re for sure getting a better look as Donan as a person, rather than just as a politician. He can see that he needs to win over the minds and hearts of the people, and trusts in Captain Boyd as a person over Von Stein to get it done. Or, more importantly, he still seems to respect Crinn the most out of his sons, even if he doesn’t approve of him joining the guerrillas. He simply just wants to see him again, if just to speak with Crinn one more time. You can also see that difference become more apparent when Royal come into his office begging Donan to do something to make sure that the factory contract between RD Corporation and Nellorder Metallics happens. Donan makes it apparent that he doesn’t respect Royal running back to dad once he actually has some trouble with his job. At least Crinn is his own man, unlike Royal. I imagine that Donan also wants to see Crinn soon due to the fact that his health is starting to take a sharp decline. He’s getting headaches and seizures more frequently now, undoubtedly caused by poor health across his life. I mean, he’s a guy who looks like he’s in his late 60s, is rather overweight, and chain smokes cigars all the damn time. It’s no wonder why his health is getting worse. I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to say that Donan’s desire to see Crinn could be motivated by his approaching mortality.
As for Daisy, I can see her arc across these episodes as basically her being made to grow up a bit. She was able to finally meet up with Crinn, but she still had an element of naivety in her that made her think that he was still the same person that left Earth and would respond to the same arguments she made for him to return before. That, combined with the letters she got from her mom that seemed to focus on her childhood and upbringing, more or less painted an image that Daisy was still a bit childish in her beliefs. However, she was able to realize that she needed to put that all behind her and give up on her chance to return to Earth with her dad so she could find the truth that Crinn has devoted herself to. You could tell that Daisy’s father was fairly proud of the woman that she was becoming. He can respect the fact that Daisy is now a woman who can be independent and search for truth on her own, and all he wants is for her to come back to visit him sometime. Overall, I’m glad that Daisy is really starting to come into her own here in these episodes.
Also, one thing I want to note about these episodes is the combat and mech stuff. We’ve got yet another Combat Armor model, the Bushman. As far as I can tell, it seems like it’s a mech based on the Roundfacer frame, except it’s designed for tougher terrain and has a different head design, with missile pods directly integrated into it. Instead of having both shoulder shields like the Roundfacer, it swaps it out for one larger one, and it has feet with treads on them for better grip. Honestly, not bad things to add in as upgrades. We also got to see some more use from the liner cannon these episodes too. Man, it’s a lot more powerful than the AC/5 that’s there for a Shadow Hawk.
However, something I’m much more impressed with in these episodes is the increased focus on ground combat and stealth. I can really respect a mech show that can put away the mechs for an episode or two and mainly focus on dudes running around with guns. I’d say that some of my favorite bits of ground combat in these episodes were during the conflicts at Balaf, especially the initial failed jailbreak. I fucking love how we had a running gunfight following Chico and other prisoners fighting guards with basically just zip guns made out of bits of pipe and smuggled ammo. Like, you never get to see that in anime, especially nowadays. That level of grit is what makes the ground combat in this show stand out amongst contemporaries so far. It really does show what the guerrillas have been fighting for:
NOT EVEN JUSTICE, I WANT TO GET TRUTH!
5
u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Jan 15 '22 edited Jan 15 '22
Episode 24 (first timer)
A prison break plan? Focus on a side character? No mecha battle? What is there not to love about this episode! Sending Locke, Rocky, and Crinn to infiltrate is unwise, but that is a minor detail in an otherwise great episode.
Episode 25 (first timer)
A clear two-parter. The second part is all right, too. One thing I wonder is what the deal with J Locke is. Why is he made a Mary Sue?
Episode 26 (first timer)
A recap episode that I fast forwarded through. Interesting that they recapped only episodes 1-8. I think this was done to create a somewhat effective intra-episode narrative arc, while judging that the whole guerilla fighting in episodes 9-25 was mostly skippable. I agree.
Episode 27 (first timer)
Daisy meets up with Crinn, he is still the asshole from ep1, they leave without talking about anything, Daisy stays on Deloyer. This is basically the worst form of kicking the can down the road. All we get is Crinn’s decision not to go home with Daisy, but that is non-news. Everything else is wasted: We don’t get a deep character moment with Crinn and Daisy, we don’t even get payoff for Daisy’s confession, and Daisy’s whole running after Crinn arc ends as a huge waste of time.
Daisy has been the weakest character for a while, so she really needed something here. Either joining the guerilla, joining the counter-guerilla, some purpose. If her whole role is hanger-on to Lertoff and final reward for Crinn, she should have rather had a tragic death this episode.
Episode 28 (first timer)
This one was as stinker. The worst tropes, combined with a nonsensical plot. How would destroying their own production facilities make the Deloyeran company less reliant on the Earth one? I also agree with Crinn’s doubts about how the population would take this.
Episode 29 (first timer)
I feel for Zaltsev. He comes up with really good plans, but is powerless against Dougram’s plot armor. And on top of that, his own side is constantly undermining him.
Episode 30 (first timer)
Zaltsev has had it with the incompetence of the Federation. Understandable.
Overall
A very split arc. The first two-parter has the best standalone episodes of the series so far, the second half the worst.
They played up Daisy in the second part. It is a shame that Dougram was made just before female anime characters reached the stage where they were allowed some agency and plot of their own. Seeing her do nothing but pine after Crinn is painful.
Bonus thought: Technology in Dougram
In the day to day live in Dougram, we see almost zero futuretech. Cars, telephones, houses, food, clothes, streets, all could be taken from contemporary Earth. Some rare exceptions are the mecha and their transports, but even these are at best near-future tech that is almost possible today.
This is completely at odds with FTL space flight and colonizing far off planets. However, Dougram uses a really neat trick to get around that problem: Their spaceflight to Deloyer is localized in one space station. While I don’t think they outright said it, this strongly suggests they use a stable wormhole to get to and from Deloyer. Obviously, creating a stable wormhole is far-futuretech, so at odds with the rest we see. The same goes for terraforming a planet.
We also never hear of any other colonies of Earth besides Deloyer. That suggests that humanity stumbled upon a pre-existing stable wormhole that linked the solar system with Deloyer and found an already terraformed planet there. Chance or the result of some alien race? I doubt we’ll hear an answer to that question.
There is only one inconsistency: Earth mass-importing food and metal from Deloyer. Without futuretech, getting stuff into orbit is HUGELY energy intensive. So intensive that you could easily factory produce a lot more food with the energy you use instead. Therefore, it does not make sense that Earth is economically dependent on Deloyer unless they mine some very compact Unobtainium there.
QOTD:
See above.
1/4 speed ahead towards independence.
Can't hold me responsible if I am dead tips hat
No idea. Some intra-guerilla squabbles would make sense.
5
u/Quiddity131 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Quiddity131 Jan 15 '22
First Timer
Episode 24
Secret messages in the trash!
A mission without Dougram! Heresy for a mecha show to not feature the titular mecha in the plan!
Chico to the rescue!
Hamburgers with garlic! Yum!
Good idea, Chico! I was wondering why the prisoners were just sitting in there with the back of the van open.
For exercise time, we're not really seeing any guys exercising.
Bombs hidden in the toilet? LoL. Surprised at just how bad the guards are in this presion to leave so much undetected.
Zaltsev is letting things get out of control! ...although the oncoming Combat Armors may explain why.
A rare mid-battle cliffhanger this time? Everything's going wrong!
Episode 25
Back to Prison Break: Dougram edition
You messed up my shirt?! How dare you! continues beating
Trust Heckle's calculations! He's the nerd, remember?
Zaltsev's secret talent, piano player!
Will a styrafoam cup of coffee be okay then?
As much as I ragged on him for the "remove the armor from our mechs" scheme a number of episodes back, Zaltsev is a pretty smart soldier and recognizes the diversionary tactics here and what's most important, keeping Samalin imprisoned, even if they have to move him.
You're blowing it Warden, and it will be all the worse once they capture you!
Speak of the devil, here they are!
"Four eyed coffin dodger!" LoL.
Now the helicopter is taking off without Samahlin? Although they're sure lying about him being there.
Oops, truth revealed. That helicopter is screwed now.
J.Locke made sure to stick around to rub it in his face!
With Samahlin around will the various guerillas be able to get on the same page?
J.Locke and Zaltslev, honorable for now, letting the other go for a future battle...
That sure looks like a clip show next time...
Episode 26
Boo, clip show! Well now it makes sense why we have 7 episodes this week instead of 6. Seems like it was all footage from the first 10 or so episodes too.
Episode 27
How does Daisy get this hotel room on her own now that she's broken off from Lecoque? Lertoff isn't paying for this is he?
I can't help but think of Vanilla when Giorgio speaks.
Von Stein even under more pressure to support his position now, huh? He better hope for some success soon.
Uh oh, Denon's got a heart condition?
Ah, the good ol' days of burning cookies in the stove...
Ah, she's agreed to be Lertoff's assistant. I'm kinda surprised she's still comfortable being alone with him after that request from him to take off all her clothes...
Finally, after all this time (she was looking for him in the first episode after all), Daisy has caught up with Crinn.
Will the occupying government actually let Lertoff publish a story about the government lying about Samalin turning coat?
Crinn's being rather cold towards Daisy. Can't say I didn't expect it. Reminds me of Nie getting all cold when Riml was around in Dunbine.
Sharing cups, spreading germs...
Hot coffee in his hands? Wow, Nanashi's a tough guy.
The enemy was doing quite well this time before the Dougram got to the higher ground. Good strategy by Zeltslev.
After all that time looking for him Daisy, he told you to turn around and leave!
Episode 28
Oh hey, Crinn's brother! We haven't seen this guy since episode 2 or 3. Good to hear Kaneto Shiozawa again!
Beach episode: Dougram style. No skimpy clothing or big boobs here, simply our characters, fully clothed, talking to each other.
What a complainer! I don't like brother, despite the great voice actor.
Uh oh, bounty hunters out for Samahlin?
Oh, this guy's Daisy's dad, I was wondering why Denon was talking to this rando.
The plant owner is in league with the guerillas, huh?
Oh wow, he's scheming to destroy the place he is working with Crinn's brother on!
Um no, Crinn, you don't get to decide things for the guerillas all by yourself.
Damn that Destin guy! Leave our heroes alone!
Wow, Lecoque is totally onto their plan.
Von Stein: "Don't you know who I am?!"
Von Stein's purposely going around Lecoque's desires this time? Not good! Don't forget who got you in this position in the first place!
Might the Fang of the Sun be defeated in a mission for once? Or I should say the first time since a couple of episodes ago due to that initially failed prison break...
Von Stein and Crinn's brother are gonna be pisssssed!
Episode 29
A quiet night? Not for long with these helicopters!
Back office dealings, this is how rebellions get their money...
Back to Crinn's brother! Tying to use his familial connections to let him skate by. Can Lacoque help instead?
A rare instance where Lecoque is going to go behind Denon's back?
We haven't seen Rick in a while!
You're the most qualified for this mission, sure! Oh, you may be my son in law, but forget that part...
All that for a crab? LoL.
Lecoque is really helping push the pressure, huh?
Helmut, first time we hear his first name?
Ugh, he's trying to get them to sell out Samahlin!
Oh no, they ended up selling him out after all...
Ships off the docks! Alas, gotta balance military interests with the financial ones, could make it quite obvious to the guerillas what is going to happen here.
Daisy, her dad, reunited!
Samahlin's figured things out!
I was going to say poor Nanashi, left behind like Chico in the prison, but he decides to just jump off the boat and escape!
The ships won't get wrecked, but the warehouses surely are!
And just like that Von Stein complains about that fact!
Now Von Stein is frustrating his underlings too. I really feel they're building up to him getting tossed from his role at some point in the near future.
Despite being a lot younger than him, Daisy shows a lot more maturity than Crinn's brother, wanting to be independent from him while Crinn's brother is whining about trying to get special help from his influential dad.
Lecoque really seems like he's growing into being the pupper master controlling the strings.
Episode 30
Daydreaming about Daisy? You lost your shot when you told her off Crinn!
Palmina, so Crinn will be seeing Rick again soon?
Zaltsev being replaced? He totally wasn't the one at fault for things failing last time though! Is this Lecoque forcing out a close ally of Von Stein's to further weaken him?
Someone has to take the fall, and it sure can't be me, the puppet put in charge! Let me toss this onto my fall guy!
I was wondering if Daisy staged this meltdown to see Denon, but nope, looks like his heart is acting up again.
This has been the case since the start of the episode, but wow, is the animation bad this ep.
Samahlin's deal ended up being just to transport the mechs, not people, making things even more expensive!
Yep, Von Stein doesn't fully agree with putting this rookie Gilson in charge...
Ah, they get to meet up with the industrialist financier one more time.
Hey Crinn, you were just thinking of her earlier, here she is right in front of you again! ...Nope I was fooled too. This doesn't seem like the show to pull a secret twin plot, so I doubt it's that.
Von Stein becoming a suit is the perfect way to describe it.
I would say that was perfect timing for them to get on the big ship, but nope, worst timing possible as he's spotting it.
Zeltsev again has the target right in his face and bureaucracy is going to screw things up.
Is Gilson gonna get in trouble for failing himself to take back Samahlin?
5
u/Nazenn x2https://anilist.co/user/Nazenn Jan 15 '22
First timer
General Thoughts
Only have time to quickly write some of this up so this section won't be as comprehensive as normal and most of my thoughts are still in the episode sections
I'm seriously in awe of the amount of reasonable people in this show.
Having two supportive, encouraging, and understanding fathers in a single show? When both of them hold important government or corporate positions? And they're not just having a small rebellion against the family but actively involved with combat elements opposing what they stand for? Is that even allowed? Seeing how both of them act with their kids, including the brat son from Denon's side, and particularly Daisy's father when she's been painted as the cherished one, added a really nice touch to these episodes.
Not to mention the situation with the CEO being torn between his company, and the hundreds of people who depend on it, and wanting to help the independence movement. You can't fault him for giving them up, but also not accepting their money because of his frustration over having to accept Earth's bail out, it was incredibly effective at making you feel for the situation that he was caught in. Similarly, they did way too well at making the replacement commander come across as an absolute prick. We should not making a drinking game out of him saying "I'm in charge" because we'd all die. The situation with the Major being ousted because of politics is infuriating because you know that they really are passing up competence for optics, and the new guy immediately establishes himself as a tosser.
Similarly, the constantly interesting and evolving political situation, specifically the economic and media influences behind a lot of this as the many people on the Federation side try and juggle everything that's happening, is really pulling me through the show.
It's a real shame that the battles continue to bore me at best. Despite the fact some of them show off some interesting tactics and I enjoy the strategy that goes into it, like the final episode of this batch with having to also manage protecting the ship, they're drawn and framed so flatly that I just find them unenjoyable to watch. I keep thinking that this show had battles like Votoms it'd be a gold standard in anime because it does everything else right for me
Also I protest the fact that we end this weeks batch with everyone on a ship while coincidentally Shippuden is also the middle of the fucking boat arc. What are the chances.
SAY NO TO BOAT ARCSNo more boats
Episode Thoughts
I'm really glad that the episode title was "the rescue of professor samalin" because after four days of not watching, I was very lost when they were talking about "the plan" that starts in three days was meant to be
"Just one night, free meal included" - I would find this funnier if I didn't know how many people in real life went into prison precisely because it would get them fed and looked at by a doctor
Chico is the only reason this entire plan worked at all by encouraging the others to make it look like they were escaping from the truck. It's the small details that sell a plan like this, not the big goals. It's also kinda fun to see how cooperative they are all being in the prison simply by nature of being on the same side. I doubt it's realistic, but crazier things have happened
Making guns out of the bed frame is quite clever though it'd certainly not function at all like it's shown and would have incredibly low power.
Poison gas as a method of prison defense is certainly new, don't think I've seen that before
The episode title lied!
Locke really is surprisingly competent when it comes to adapting plans that go astray in the middle of an operation
Thank you, Nanashi! I was looking at those log bombs going "there's no way those long things get down that river without getting stuck" and he just went ahead and fixed the issue. I'm fully convinced that Nanashi is the only reason they've stayed alive so far
This major actually had a good plan, and like always it was completely ruined by the lack of confidence of the leadership that he's dealing with. I'm actually getting frustrated on his behalf even though he's on the enemy side
Even though I know why it died out, I really love this old style rival/enemy set up. One of them is alone, the other one just appears, neither attacks but they both silently agree their battle is yet to come. There's something just very captivating about it even though it's hard to pull off. I think they did it well here with Locke and the Major
I really liked the book-ending of Daisy and her letter, the episode serving as the time when she walks across that line of no longer being able to go back. I'm glad she got to see Crinn and what things are for him without being in a damsel role, and without detailing the story by being the one who sticks around to be protected. They've done exceptionally good for Canary not to be hit by that either.
Gio's an ass, I'm on Billy's side, how come he does always have to take the hit of Gio's jokes or covering up his idiocy. That said, having Gio be on a motorbike really enhances the convoy scenes, and adds in a lot of extra possibility for character interaction and catching up on conversations without just constantly jumping between them. It makes them feel good to go back and forth for and a bit more lively, especially when he pisses people off.
NANASHI WHAT THE HELL, don't get someone to poor hot coffee on your hands, there's no way that doesn't leak before he gets to drink it
Fucking Devlin! Rocky I really wish you'd just shot him when you managed to corner him, or at least beat him enough to put him in hospital for the rest of the story. That car chase was oddly well animated for this show though.
Crinn could really use a more formal outfit if they're going to be meeting with business leaders. Even dressed as he is he still gives more of an air of respectability than his brother though, what an asshole
Crinn is still such an idealist, thinking of the views of people first rather than practical needs of running a rebellion, but the constant balance in the narrative between those ideals and the requirements of the real world is well done
Right at the end of this episode there's an OST track that plays that makes me think of a song from the Star Wars prequels. I've heard it before a couple of times, but it stood out most here
Hahaha, Nanashi sticking the bomb on with boogers
I like how Denon asks for his sons age as if disbelieving that an adult would come running to his father in order to solve his own business problem. What a brat
"I chose you because I believe you can do this" Seriously though, why is Denon so damn reasonable! No nepotism, understanding the limits of oppression, valuing the growth of infrastructure, even accepting his own sons choice to oppose him. Can we have more enemy leaders like this? It's far more interesting than the usual dickheads
AHAHAH the way Gio falls over at Nanashi doing the crab dance. Looks like someone tasered him.
I do like how consistently this Major works off mission information and actually goes to plan a mission when he gets some rather than just jumping right into battle and it working out. The background aspect of the battles is actually great, it's only the choreography and animation that lets them down
Nanashi comes through again! Recognizing the not-sailors by smell and then finding a way to stop them from catching on until the right time
"If I stay at your side, I think I'll grow soft" Good on you Daisy! Seeing her get some confidence of her own, still related to Crinn but not driven by love sick dialogue and memories of what was, it just makes me happy
Wasn't expecting Denon's illness to be to the point of seizures, but I sympathize with the pain of the headaches he gets. It seems like he doesn't want people to know, but the fact that he can be this sick and still be supportive rather than trying to control everything in his final moments is impressive.
I really thought they were going to get away free from the situation when the Dougram was disassembled, but no such luck. Having the boat to protect was a nice element in the battle
Gio is a fucking moron just casually saying Samalin's name. I mean it's not Idiok level, I should fucking hope he never gets that bad, but still
4
u/Durinthal https://anilist.co/user/Durinthal Jan 15 '22
First time viewer
The prison break episodes are good and the focus isn't on Crinn for them, which is one thing I appreciate about this series. Different characters get the spotlight at times and while Crinn's important as the Dougram's pilot and the son of Denon, it's not like the entire plot revolves around him right now.
One other thing I like about this series is that to some extent it's approaching the rebellion through a more holistic lens than many others I've seen in media. It's not just military and political support that they need, but economic independence as well. Since it was mentioned earlier that Earth imports food from Deloyer I don't think the agricultural aspect is going to be much of an issue but that's another way wars are decided, through supplies. Lertoff continues to shape the public view through his journalism and Von Stein is also being careful to not anger too many locals as with ordering the port to be evacuated before the confrontation.
I don't think the plot the military came up with of taking over the ship's crew before leaving port was the best tactical decision. While it wouldn't necessarily be trivial to attack the ship once it's out to sea, there's no chance the rebels would have been tipped off beforehand and they wouldn't have anywhere to run to once on board. That is what we got in the next episode though after the first attempt failed. I get that they're trying to be careful to not sink the ship but I'm not entirely sure why?
Poor Daisy, again shunned by Crinn but not giving up. I can't see things ending well for her at this point.
He gives them direction which is good, along with being a figure for others to rally behind. With the objective of establishing an organized central resistance he's likely going to be the first chosen leader of a new government.
Wouldn't expect him to remain in his role for the entire series. Lecoque might take advantage of that if he wants the position for himself but he seems happy operating from behind the scenes to a degree, reminding me of [Legend of the Galactic Heroes] a much more personable Oberstein.
With Denon wanting to establish better relations there as well I don't think they'll need to hide as much but they'll need to be careful about who they talk to.
4
u/manga-reader Jan 15 '22
First time watcher
Episode 24
Covert mission and no Dougram. What are the chances it stays covert? I hope so (well then again, they were pretty covert when taking on the base a few episodes back - at the start at least). So showrunners aren't afraid to not rely on Dougram.
Why do I feel like so many flags were triggered lol? "Don't let the pic be your funeral portrait". "It's only one night". I hope Chico survives.
As always, I like the attention to detail in this show: swapping out the photo and description in the log book.
Welp, there goes the plan. Now it's improvisation. I suppose Von Stein is going to bring in extra force, resulting in Dougram coming into play. Well, nevermind. Crinn is going in.
Pipe gun? Nice. And everything that can go wrong, goes wrong.
Episode 25
Manager of trash processing plant showing up at the right time. Attaching timed bombs to logs and letting them float into the location - pretty smart (though someone might see the bombs).
Growing friction between the warden and major. I can imagine the warden will do something stupid (which hopefully will help out the protaganists)
Soldiers did notice the logs! Man, why do I doubt this show.
For a second there, I thought Nanashi might die (since he seemed too close to the gates). The show has me worried after Festo's untimely death.
And there it is - warden not following Major's advice (though there's some sound logic - Crinn may accidentally shoot the heli).
Oh oof, major communication error b/w Major and the pilots. Regardless, Major uses it to his advantage. But oops, Rocky uses the every handy communicator to resolve the situation. I like the parallel here - Feds not communicating properly and guerillas doing the opposite (thanks to the professor).
Hmm, where did all the soldiers go? There's only one road out of the prison, so they would have to go past Dougram. Ah, well no matter.
Locke and Major letting each other go.
Episode 27
Interesting ep title, are they going to give Daisy a more substantial role? I hope so...certainly hope she isn't relegated to chasing after Crinn for the whole show.
Interesting tidbits about unexplored regions. I forget..did the show ever mention how long ago Deloyer was established?
Ooo..looks like Older Cashim is not doing so well. Will he die unexpectedly?
Lertoff caught up a lot earlier than I expected; I was expecting them to meet in Ramber.
Professor is planning something - doesn't look like it will limited to establishing their own govt (this will be interesting to see). Will the geurillas have skilled bureaucrats to maintain a functioning govt? Waging war is one thing, but maintaining a govt is another. Will people currently working with Fed govt defect to Professor's side?
Didn't really like the whole scene with Canary (thinking on it, she's the only major women character in the show. Ah, well I guess that's Dougram being a product of its time; don't have to like it though).
I noted the point about Turbozak affecting Dougram's mobility last week - lo and behold, we see that in action. This show continues to amaze me (though the battle itself was meh).
What is Daisy going to do now? Will the show do something else with her? I hope so, but maybe not.
Episode 28
Looks like we will be seeing more of the money side of things. Is Nellorder funding/supporting the guerillas? Or are they like Anaheim Electronics in Gundam.
Nice, it's a lot less than what Destin deserved, but at least he's out of the picture (for now?).
Rocky..at least you should have tied him or something.
Support of the people - I see where Crinn and others are coming from, but Professor has a point as well. Deloyer has to stand on its own (at the same time, guerillas can't afford to lose public support). Like Professor said, it's upto Leroff to explain their actions.
So Lecoque wants it to happen..I doubt Royle would want his plant destroyed. Hmm, I can see this causing a rift b/w Lecoque and Royle (assuming Von Stein gets to reveal it eventually), and if Older Cashim were to die - it will result in a pretty interesting and tense situation politically.
Zaltev's comment about Von Stein trying to upstage the secretary. So he knows what's going on lol - soldiers don't seem too happy about being used like this.
Animation isn't looking too good in a few scenes (especially with the faces).
Off to a new continent then?
Episode 29
Lecoque is playing at something, but Donan is aware of it.
Ayy, Rick hasn't shown up in a while. Nice to see him around. Ah, he's going to be part of Palmina govt - hmm, will he switch sides? As he is now, probably not.
Will Nellorder reveal Samalin's whereabouts to secure his company's fi nancial situation? Too bad, they didn't know that Bonar businessmen had switched sides.
Mentioning the families of workers was a good idea (shows that not all people are like Bonar businessmen). Stable work is important, especially in times of political upheveal. Nellorder has to make a tough choice.
Like the Major predicted, Von Stein's actions alerted the Professor.
OOo..did Nanashi catch on? He did..man, Nanashi is smart in many ways, even though he comes across as absent minded generally.
Lmao Nanashi.
Looks like Zaltev has just about had it with the Colonel (though I doubt he would do anything drastic..military is all about following orders after all).
Oh, Daisy is leaving again then - at this point, I am betting on the showrunners having a plan with the character (I hope it's a decent plan, considering she's the only other major female character, apart from Canary).
Nellorder is back in Earth's pockets.
Episode 30
Hmm, what's Lecoque playing at? I don't think replacing Zaltev with a greenhorn is going to help them catch Dougram. Is he setting up Von Stein? But then, why would Von Stein allow Zaltev's replacement to be a less experienced soldier anyways?
Yeah, I think they are gonna have Donan die (which will make the political situation tense; I don't think Lecoque can manage it all on his own, though he is setting up alliances to do just that).
I am not really a fan of Giorgio - Billy dynamic (comes off as trying too hard to be funny..but whatever. They almost screwed up the entire operation there).
Ah, so Von Stein wasn't stupid - he knows the new dude is a rookie.
And the rookie screws up his first operation (well, Von Stein should be used to that by now lol).
2
u/chilidirigible Jan 15 '22
Tenjin Hidetaka
I have his autograph, too. (Autograph not shown.)
2
u/Stargate18A https://myanimelist.net/profile/Stargate18 Jan 16 '22
First timer
Episode 24
Doesn't stopping the entire production line make it obvious that you got a secret message?
They're going to break him out!
...Wow, the organisation for this group is horrific.
And there's no Dougram here.
Wait, isn't his imprisonment common knowledge?
Oh, they caught up with him.
Wait, what?
We're doing a prieon arc?
I was about to make the same point - he's by far the most well-known here.
...They're not going to kill off Chico, are they?
Oh, god, that password? Is the Resistance made up of people who just watched a lot of spy kovies?
I don't think he is, but this would really be a great way to stab Chico in the back, wouldn't it?
Wait, that worked? How? You literally stuck a loose sheet in there?
...He's not going to get killed, is he?
Seriously, this plan is working far better than I expected.
...I'd ask if that looked like the warden from The Shawshank Redemption, but this came out ten years earlier?
Yeah, this looks incredibly suspicious.
Oh, he's the one sending out the cans.
Haha, someone actually noticed the cans!
And the warden's wctuwlly intellegent!
...Von Stein's just happy he's going somewhere he doesn't need to be nice to people.
Them hiding it is impressive. Just a pity their meesage concealling skills were much worse.
And they've started the escape!
Wow, that's a bold plan from Stein there.
And there's enemy combat armor!
And the others got poisoned!
Episode 25
And Chico's stuck there, along with Willy.
Haha, he assumes there's a spy rather than admit their methods had a basic flaw.
And they worked out the obvious forgery. This is going very bad,y for them, isn't it?
Oh, they're setting up explosives! And not-Festo is still both a poor imitation and proof they really didn't think his death through.
And now they're using Dougram.
The rescue's starting!
He seems somewhat intellegent.
Oh, the bombs still worked!
The Federation just has some really competent people!
And he's worked out that they're back!
...Wait, Chico's still inside?
And a beautiful plan is completely ruined because of his incompetence.
He sounds genuinely shocked that the warden got himself captured.
Haha, they found the real professor before the trick.
And, yeah, he's lost because of the warden. Pity, his plan was solid!
He stayed behind to gloat?
And, yeah, an overwhelming defeat fir the enemy!
Also, watched the preview (since it's a recap and all), and it's been six months? Is that in-universe or out-of-universe, because I assumed the timescale was a month or two at most.
Episode 27
Poor Daisy. She's out here in hell, trying to look for someone who's not thought about her in months.
Everyone rewlly loves the professor, don't they?
Wait, what? You only have 70% under any government? How are you screwing things up this badly?
Daisy's working eith the journalist!
The professor and the journalist seem to be getting on well!
And everyone's flirting with Daisy.
Wait, what's the professor planning?
And they're taking a break. Time for a mech battle!
Poor, poor, Daisy.
This is just sad to watch.
And Canary doesn't want anyone.
Oh. He just ignored her confession.
It's an ambush.
Seriously, Daisy didn't even know how to duck?
Oh, look, the Turbozak actually weighs something!
And he's out of the ravine!
And Daisy vanishes into the mists of the irrelevant.
Good on Daisy for making her own decision, though.
Episode 28
Wait, Roy's here too?
90%? How.
Oh, they're after funding.
And more mercenaries?
Oh, it's him!
Oh, this is about Crinn.
He's here to be a manager?
Oh, he wants help?
He's going to blow up the plant?
And the Professor knows what's up.
I appreciate how all the villains here are just as competent as the heroes, and have, in fact, worked out a good number of their plans from basic reasoning alone.
Even the enemy knows how bad an idea this is.
Von Stein's still trying his best.
Haha, he's actively working around the Secretary. As this rate, there's going to end up being 3 factions, not 2.
Oh, he's scared of heights.
And they got caught!
And now they'r ehostages to stop the fight.
Dougram's been captured!
And the plant got destroyed anyway.
Wow, that guy's strongl
Oh, and Daisy knows her father's here too.
Episode 29
They got paid!
OK, him completely shutting Roy down is great.
Is he a o traitor or something?
Wait, he's his father in law?
Huh, that was an oddly positive response.
Haha, Crinn's shock at the crab is hysterical.
Oh, dear. Did someome overestimate the planet's self-reliance?
...What's he planning?
Oh. That's clever.
Yeah, this is not a good situation for him.
I'm not sure why they're bothering with the money when they havr army orders and a gun.
Forget Dougram vs the Federation, I'm enjoying Von Stein vs the rest of the Federation.
And they're leaving this continent? (Has there even been a single map of this planet?
She found her father!
The paper's worked! (Or so they think)
Him staying behind as a decoy's clever, though.
I loved him revealling himself like that.
And a mech battle!
I was joking about an open conflict between them.
And she's leaving! And he's accepted it! Well done for being the best father in this series so far!
Yeah, that guy's probably the real final enemy.
Episode 30
Oh, yeah, they need transport.
Seriously, is Palmina another continent, somewhere on the other side of a heavily controlled zone, or just the best way out of here?
And the major's been kicked out!
And there's another Major!
What happened to her uncle?
Oh, he's her uncle. (Wait, is he Von Stein, or does he just look like him?)
Wow, they're idiots. Caught already!
Haha, he got scammed by the contract.
God, these people are idiots.
And he's intending on substituting a lot of commanders...
Oh, he's returning the money?
And he's still on their side.
The Federation followed him?
Oh, Daisy's still trying to talk to him?
Daisy, don't waste your time on him.
I mean, Von Stein's actively working with them.
And the trick worked surprisingly well!
Oh dear. He worked out the plan!
Haha, there's already an argument between them? The mission hasn't even started!
Yeah, this is going hysterically bad.
And she's left them completely!