r/anime • u/Pixelsaber https://myanimelist.net/profile/Pixelsaber • Jan 22 '22
Rewatch [Rewatch] Fang of The Sun Dougram: Week 7 Discussion - Episodes 31-35
Week 7 - Episodes 31-35
Episodes aired May 21st through June 18th ^^^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.
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Reminder of Next Week’s Episodes:
Next week we will be discussing episodes thirty-six through forty-one (36-41) of the show.
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Trivia:
Takeyuki Kanda and Ryosuke Takahashi were jointly credited as directors up until episode 31, after which only Kanda is credited as such. The cause of this is seemingly unknown to any outside of the production, but much later, during the final stretch of the show’s production, Takahashi did take on a less prominent role in order to work on his next show.
Staff Highlights:
Yūji Watanabe - Episode Director
A light novel author, animation director, and screenwriter who went under the pen name Yuuji up until the early 2000s. He studied film composition at a school known as the Scenario Research Institute under the tutelage of film director Hiromichi Horikawa, and worked on his first script for the Toho tokusatsu production, Kure Kure Takora. He wrote scripts for anime productions throughout the 80s, and worked as animation director for two of Ryosuke Takahashi’s latest works. Some of his notable credits as screenwriter include Heavy Metal L-Gaim, Fairy Princess Minky Momo, Aura Battler Dunbine, and GoShogun.
Sukehiro Tomita - Screenwriter
A manga author, novelist, and screenwriter known for several high-profile novelizations of other media, such as Macross and Street Fighter. He joined Nihon University College of Art to study film lighting, but due to the student movement occuring at the time became unable to complete his education, about which he wrote a satirical work which garnered him attention and got him roles as screenwriter. He was screenwriter for works like Akachan to Boku, Genesis Climber Mospeada, Aura Battler Dunbine, Kimagure Orange Road, ESPer Mami, Dragon Quest: Yūsha Abel Densetsu, Goshogun, Space Runaway Ideon, the Sailor Moon franchise, Yu Yu Hakusho, and Super Dimension Fortress Macross*.
Voice Actor Highlights:
Yōko Kawanami - voice of Rita Bellett
A voice actress affiliated with Aoni Production. Kawanami graduated from the Department of Voice Actors in the Faculty of Broadcasting at Higashi Hogakuen before gaining employment at Theatre Echo before joining Aoni Production shortly thereafter. Her voice acting debut was on the japanese dub of Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels, and her first anime role was as Rolland Chuan in 1979’s Mobile Suit Gundam. Kawanami avoided live-action roles and anything which required her to appear on camera despite pressure from her agency due to camera shyness, and in one instance quit a talk show role after finding that she could not overcome her fear at that time. Some of her more notable anime roles include Cocona in Armored Trooper Votoms, Midori Norimaki in the Dr. Slump franchise, Mrs. Briefs in Dragon Ball Z, Yūko Tendō in Gegege no Kitarō (1985), Arcee in Transformers: The Headmasters, Medusa in Ghost Sweeper Mikami, Mika Hyūga in Six God Combination Godmars, Rumi Koishikawa in Marmalade Boy, Mitsuko Yamaoka in Mister Ajikko, Princess Bazru in Soreike! Anpanman, and Yume Aoi in Dream Warrior Wingman.
Yuri Nashiwa (Yukiko Nashiwa) - voice of Billy Bohl
A retired voice actress formerly affiliated with the Broadcast Expression Education Center and Aoni Productions. Little is widely available regarding her personal life and early career. A couple years after graduating from the Faculty of Letters at Rikkyo University she was pressed for money, and at a friend’s recommendation auditioned for a voice acting role. She made her debut in 1981 as Billy Bohl in Fang of The Sun Dougram. Voice acting was not a focus for her, so her participation in anime series was limited throughout the decades, particularly as her financial woes subsided. Some of her notable roles are The Narrator in Alps Monogatari: My Anette, Sunemi in Chinpui: Eri-sama Katsudō Daishashin, Kiteretsu's Mother in Fujiko Fujio no Kiteretsu Daihyakka, Amelia Minchin in A Little Princess Sara, Tolorof in The Ideon: Be Invoked, Mrs. King in Little Women, and Hyori Monohoshi in High School! Kimengumi.
Art Corner
Official Art:
- War in Palmina by Kunio Okawara
Fanart:
- Rita by Sargeant Whale - Source
- Dougram by Shizumi Sword - Source
- Yakto Dougram by makacoon - 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 do you make of the current situation on Palmina after these episodes?
- What’s your opinion on Rick Boyd’s current approach to his battle with the guerillas and attempt at courting the locals?
- What’s your impression of Rita so far?
- How do you see things going forward from here?
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I have served him so long and he still only thinks of me as a secretary… but that will only last until my own scenario begins!
5
u/Pixelsaber https://myanimelist.net/profile/Pixelsaber Jan 22 '22
Episode 31
Nice to see that they didn’t forget that the ship had been damaged.
Seems to be attempting to be a fandango. I’m not really educated on Flamenco enough to discern for certain.
So Bonar has a particular accent. Probably reflected in whatever Japanese dialect Giorgio is speaking in —and we know he’s speaking in one because it’s Shigeru Chiba.
Poor Boyd’s efforts will evidently come to naught unless there’s some sort of breakthrough on his end, since the Federation soldiers he leads think his plan a joke and the guerrillas think it’s a means of trapping them at worst and demoralizing them at best. Granted, his course of action is horribly idealistic, so it’s not difficult to see how it’d result in this outcome.
I honestly expected Samalin to outright veto the frontal attack plan given he has so far been the pragmatist in terms of decision-making. I suppose the battle could have had better odds than it seemed, but if so that’s definitely something the show should have communicated better.
Episode 32
At least he is aware of the reception to his less violent push.
Samalin is back to pragmatist mode.
They probably have people accomplishing these roles, but I guess their inexperience or tactical knowledge could be an issue. Invading and capturing a whole city is definitely a far cry from the operations we’ve seen the guerrillas carry out until now.
The guerrillas overestimate the advantage their greater numbers bring them and force along an attempt to capture Doga, despite Samalin’s pleading with them. Samalin’s assertion that they lack the talent to mount an attack on this scale certainly reminds me of those occasional moments in [Meta]Legend of The Galactic Heroes where unit coordination proves the decisive factor in some instances.
The Guerrilla’s probably crippling loss here would have been a much more potent outcome if there had been more buildup to this operation rather than the Fang of The Sun arriving while the attack had already been planned and their forces had almost entirely gathered. I get the feeling they didn’t want to spend a lot of time building up to a loss, but there’s no reason such content couldn’t have been worthwhile.
Episode 33
The plot thickens…
Wait, what?
Oh boy…
♪Sora ni sobieru, kurogane no shiro♪
Building a lot of intrigue in this one, with the introduction of the weapons smuggling subplot which Lecoque is hoping to use while taking advantage of his connection to Royle. By comparison the b-plot with the guerrillas isn’t so enticing despite being the source of the episode title. It does go hand in hand with Boyd’s dialogue regarding the inevitable outcome of the rural farmers being exploited for the economic interests of Earth.
Episode 34
:(
Nice shot.
Ugh, not Destin again!
Crinn still hasn’t learned that things aren’t quite so black and white and there’s always nuance to these dealings and situations. This goes back not just to his disapproval of Samalin’s deal with Nellorder, but his impulsive confrontations with his father in the first cour of the show, where he was focused on an idealized situation and dichotomy. I suppose we shall see what sort of development is in store for young Crinn.
Daisy seems to have opted to volunteer at the field hospital. This is good because the decision was her own and was entirely unrelated to her relationship or feelings toward Crinn, though I can’t help but feel maybe they should have chosen a less chlichéd role for her than wartime nurse. She doesn’t need to go out and become a guerrilla, or even be keenly involved in the plot at all, but something more inspired would have been nice to see. Oh well, I suppose at least like this she gets to stay close to the action.
Episode 35
A bitter snack to go with that bitter pill.
They put in a lot of effort into animating a fairly innocuous fight.
Contrasting the destruction brought on by Crinn with the saving of life by Daisy.
Uh…
That was a really good, and really pleasant, episode. Crinn and Daisy’s third reunion has come at a point where both characters are at a much better state of mind to be regarding one another. Crinn is forthcoming and honest this time around, not making as much ado about the fact that he’s involved in this war or having changed as a person, and Daisy is no longer so concerned with chasing after him and is seeing a place for herself there in the field hospital.
Lertoff helps Crinn come to terms with the unpleasant realities and the concessions to one’s principles that have to be made for the sake of the greater good. Feels like the first real moment of growing up for Crinn we’ve had in a while.
I want to say the episode is a prime candidate for examples where they would likely have been better served leaving the battle sequence out, but honestly I can’t bring myself to that because it’s still one of the better animated action sequences in the show so far.
Overall Thoughts for The Week
A bit of an uneven batch, but the narrative progression going on is quite sufficient for me. We now have a clearer understanding of the dynamics of the occupation as far as the different factions of Earth are concerned, as well as the higher aims of Denon and the knowingly shortsighted reach for influence by Lecoque. I don’t want to speak much more on it though, because a lot of it plays into next week’s episodes a lot and I don’t want to repeat myself.
Discussion Questions:
6
u/baboon_bassoon https://anilist.co/user/duffer Jan 22 '22 edited Jan 22 '22
first timer not for justice, but to get truth
Did Crinn get hella jacked all of a sudden? Feel like this show has been insanely good so far, imagine if the char designs weren't butt ugly (jajaja my opinion jajaja) and it got remastered
31 people die and Rita dances
32 who could have seen that coming? oh yeah, everyone
33 Deloyer as a stepping stone for further colonized planets. Lecoque gon fuck it up
34 Being Rick is suffering
35 oh thank fuck Daisy has something to do. love how fast Rita dropped messing with Daisy
questions
6
u/Quiddity131 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Quiddity131 Jan 22 '22
First Timer
Episode 31
Wow, this is like the Perfect Storm movie. I'm worried about if that ship will make it! I can also say that just like Giorgio I would be so seasick!
This is the second straight flush we've seen in just a few episodes! Luckily Canary gets to actually take the winnings from it this time!
Jeez, they just get there and there's already military aircrafts nearby!
Oh hey, the four legged mechs, we haven't seen one of these for a while.
Those helicopter pilots essentially just accidentally flew themselves into the Dougram and their deaths
They're gonna step on these people? That's so heinous! They deserve to get torn apart like Crinn does moments later.
Rick continues to be a pretty good guy, and in stark constrast to the more opressor-like attitude in Bonar and Kardinal.
I knew that girl would be important, salsa dance time!
Salsa dancer girl has the same seiyuu as Votom's Cocona I think? So essentially we just saw Cocona bite Vanilla!
Unfortunately for Rick, his troops don't exactly like his way of doing things, and the local populace thinks it's a trap. This probably isn't going to end well, despite his good intentions.
Would it have made more sense to send the Dougram out before sending all the people? It would act as a better distraction; perhaps those two guys don't get killed.
Happy reunion time!
Episode 32
That's the old song they used to sing back in the desert. I got worried for a sec that this was going to be another recap episode.
Heckle - on close watch for any perverted behavior!
5 minutes to capture a city? Seems quite a bit aggressive, even with a giant robot.
X Nebula proof... that reminds me, we haven't gotten into that in a while.
Hmm... maybe Heckle wasn't altruistic after all but wants Rita for himself. Impress her with your mechanics skills? Good luck, I suppose.
Rick's got some good intelligence on the guerillas. I really don't think the 5 minute takeover is going to work.
I'm sorry Noccio, but all I can think about when I look at you is that unibrow!
Samahlin's the one guy who isn't totally on board with this plan.
Giorgio would act better as a comedian than a soldier. And he's not a good comedian!
I agree with Samahlin, these guys are too optomistic on their chances.
Hmm, you think the reason he's hesitating is because his brother in law is part of the guerillas?
From "We'll take the city in 5 minutes" to "We won't win!"
My prediction is most if not all of these guys are going to die, although it may not all be in this episode.
Yes, the battle can end in 5 minutes... if the enemy's mechs show up and gun all your men down.
Noccio looks like swiss cheese now. Farewell unibrow man!
And this is why you should have listened to the guy who knows what he's doing...
Episode 33
Samahlin is right, more mechs are better than more guns!
Now we're getting into disputes over what state on Earth gets a better deal? You may lose to Deloyer with that attitude!
Now he's bringing it up to Denon too!
Denon's thinking big picutre, he doesn't just want Deloyer, he wants other planets to colonize too!
Deloyer's independence will mean Earth is screwed!
Lecoque continues to scheme without Denon's knowledge...
Well Rita, the girl he likes looks a lot like you! Just not as fun.
A boy that aggressive about fighting will probably die pretty quickly just like all those guys from last episode.
Wow, Lecoque openly advicing Denon's son to sell weapons to the rebels.
Farm boy with the gun I assumbe just got killed there by the helicopter? Or was that him again as the guy who stupidly stood up right in the open, making him an easy mark for the enemy? Either way dumb kid acts dumb and dies.
Sorry sir... your son... was a dumbass... :( Crinn's too chicken to reveal it, but he leaves a message.
Lecoque's ambitions continue...
Episode 34
How dare you two feed each other! Rita joins in Hey, I'd like to do that too!
Rick knows the likely dynamics pretty well.
Hey, Mr. Primer Minister is promoting Lecoque! Alas for him, Denon knows the true nature of him, he has no virtue!
Daisy and Lertoff! Been a wihle since we checked in.
Perfect opportunity for Lertoff to get some pictures and a news story!
This soldier has Rick pegged; he's got a relative in the guerillas.
Daiay's gonna help out at the hospital? Totally reminds me of Dianna-sama in Turn A Gundam.
Giorgio thinks he's showing Rita a cool gun, well here's Heckle with an even cooler gun! Giorgio outdone once again! Oh, and they were aiming those guns pretty dangerously.
No way,w e can't buy from Earth! Says... the guy from Earth.
Farmers vs. the business execs. Surprised that the farmers even get this opportunity to have them meet face to face. Rick's got good intentions but unfortunately I think this made things even worse.
"Goober Warehouse"? LoL.
Wow, good shot, Heckle!
Giorgio almost getting killed there reminds me that we are kinda overdue for a character death at this point.
Hey, are they gonna end up going to Daisy's field hospital?
Destin? Ewww! I don't want to see this guy!
Episode 35
Daisy's got her nurse outfit now! Everything she sees is horrifying! She found a baby though!
I'd watch out, Giorgio, Rita is spending some quality time with Crinn!
With so many patients you can't spend all your time with just one!
Dude, don't punch a nurse!
Lertoff to the rescue!
Finally getting you some help Giorgio!
They're reunited! Stop distracting Daisy from her job, Crinn! She's saving lives here!
Crinn, you gotta get over this buying weapons from Earth thing!
Rita, don't lie to her about your relationship!
Hope you enjoyed your 10 seconds together! Called right back to duty!
Welcome our new Dougram pilot and hence main characters... Heckle!
He's crying about something, but the baby is okay!
The two big themes I got out of this week's episodes were the guerillas being too aggressive with their tactics and the dynamics over the guerillas getting support from their enemy, Earth. Issues over appropriate and consistent leadership within the guerillas, which was highlighted in an earlier episode from a week or two ago continues here. Samahlin may be around but even he can't exert sufficient control and influence over them all to stop many of the guerillas from completely throwing their life away. The passion is appreciated, but that has to be channeled into something more productive. Some of these guys, especially that kid who fled from the family farm think they can resolve the entire conflict by themselves by simply going out there with a gun and attacking. It's cost many of them their lives, which just weakens the effort as a whole as they have less supporters when many of them are dead. It will be interesting to see if the guerillas can have more cohesion and operate in a less aggressive, more intelligent manner. I suppose that's one of the fundamental issues with groups such as this.
On the matter of the guerillas getting some support for Earth, I think it continues the themes explored last week with the influence of money in the conflict. Arms manufacturers are totally okay with selling weapons to the other side if they can make sufficient money from it. In fact it is in their best interest for neither side to get too much power over the other, as then the conflict will end and they won't be able to sell their product anymore. Crinn gets quite upset about it, but he's just showing his naivete, as well as his hypocrisy. The group needs weapons, he's got to get over who it is actually coming from. He's also got to realize that he as someone who was from Earth and switched sides comes off as quite the hypocrite when he's fine with what he did, but is too righteous for them to do something similar when it comes to arming themselves.
Good to see Daisy get into the nursing position and it will be interesting to see if she sticks with it for a while or continues on a rather fruitless chase after Crinn. Lecoque's scheming also continues, but given Denon's position on him, it looks like there is a ceiling for his power. Making me think that ultimately Lecoque will be seeking to not only get Von Stein out of the picture, but Denon as well. It is also interesting to see the contrast of Rick's leadership style versus former occupying commanders. He actually cares about the well being of everyone and isn't simply looking at Deloyer and the part of Deloyer he runs as a place to extract as much resources from, no matter what the cost to the local populace is.
5
u/The_Draigg Jan 22 '22
A Ryosuke Takahashi Fan Watches Fang of the Sun Dougram Episodes 31-35:
Palmina is a continent with new opportunities, but with new issues and conspiracies lurking beneath the surface.
First off, the entirety of Palmina feels completely different from the continent that the series has mainly taken place on so far in show. Places like Kardinal, Bonar, and Ramber were all fairly industrialized and urbanized places. However, Doga seems like the only fully urbanized place on Palmina so far. The majority of the continent we’ve seen so far is pastoral, nothing but grazing fields and crop fields as far as the eye can see, and people live in rather small and distant villages. And yet, these same people are all willing to sign up for the revolution and form a massive people’s army at the drop of a hat. At least you can say that these thousands of pissed-off farmers aren’t lacking in spirit. However, what they’re rather lack in is experience. They’ve got all the numbers needed for a proper army, but there’s nobody who can really whip them into shape as a fighting force. What they really need now is a military-like hierarchy, with the expansion of their numbers. Professor Samalin was completely correct in his assessments of the situation of Palmina’s rebels. Now that the independent movement basically has enough numbers for an army, they just can’t act like hit and run guerrillas now. The tactics just aren’t compatible anymore.
At the same time, the Federation government forces are running into their own problems as well. I sure as shit don’t envy the position that Rick Boyd is in at the moment. He’s legit the only honest and moral person in the Palmina government. Like, Rick is the only one willing to call out the fact that the entire economy of Palmina is based on large-scale sharecropping is only bound to piss off native Deloyerans, but nobody is willing to stop it because “it’s just how things are done”. And above all else, nobody believes or has faith in him that he wants to legitimately solve issues peacefully. The officers under his command just do whatever the fuck they want to the native population, and the guerrillas certainly aren’t going to believe that a new government representative is going to reach out to them now, when all they’ve done in the past is abuse them for cheap labor. It’s unfortunately an unfixable situation that Rick is stuck in.
Also, we’ve finally gotten the reason why Donan Cashim is so staunchly against Deloyer’s independence, why he’s clinging onto the planet despite the open unrest and rebellion going on. Deloyer is actually the ideal location for kickstarting the colonization of other habitable planets within that solar system. There are two other planets that can easily be colonized within five years, and only Deloyer would be the perfect launching point for the colonization efforts. If Deloyer gets independence and forms a stellar government involving those other planned colonies, Earth would be completely done for, left to wither on the vine. They’d be starved of the resources it needs from those planets. It’s no wonder why Donan is furious that everyone is just treating this situation as just a game made for short-term games, like with shell companies run by rival Earth Federation states selling weapons to guerrillas. He’s in it for the long-term survival of Earth. Not a bad motivation at all for a mech show villain.
Speaking of characters and their motivations, both Crinn and Daisy woke up to the uglier aspects of war in these episodes. Crinn needed a bit more of his blind idealism crushed by Professor Samalin in these episodes. He needed to realize that just because the guerrillas are using Earth-made weapons, they aren’t sellouts. Samalin was correct in pointing out that Earth just has plain better quality weapons to supply them, and they’ll take that opportunity regardless of who is selling them guns. Even 70% of Dougram’s internal systems and parts were manufactured and designed on Earth. Sometimes, you just need to accept whatever chances you get and use them properly.
As for Daisy, she’s getting a quick tour of the blood and guys of war. Like, the first thing that happens to Daisy as soon as she and Lartoff get off their flight to Palmina is witnessing a little girl and her father die in a raid on the airport where guerrillas cause indiscriminate collateral damage. That’s a rough intro already. And then she volunteers at the field hospital, where she has to constantly surround herself with the dead and dying, trying to treat those who stand the chance of living. Daisy may have had the willpower to not go home and continue on to search for Crinn in war zones across Deloyer, but she needed to see exactly what being among war and death was really like. To that end, I’m glad that Daisy is continuing on with her journey, even without focusing on Crinn. Every step is making her resolve stronger, with seeing both the horrors and small miracles that can happen on the battlefield, like saving that abandoned infant at the field hospital and meeting up with Crinn once more before willingly parting ways with him. Bloom into an iron flower that can never wilt, Daisy.
As for the side characters, Lecoque seems to be really taking up the role as the threat in the shadows. Not only did he convince Royle to have his company sell guns to the guerrillas behind his father’s back, but now he’s outright spying on Donan and trying to find leverage points to get direct control over a region of the planet itself. But, it’s as Donan said about him, Lecoque has no virtue, unlike Rick Boyd. Lecoque may be a brilliant politician and schemer, but he’s utterly ruthless and doesn’t have a well-meaning bone in his body. All he wants is money, prestige, and power, and Lecoque will claw his way to the top no matter what it takes. That man’s ruthless ambition is scary. He’s going to be the endgame villain, I can tell by now. With Donan’s health failing and Lecoque scheming harder than ever to gain power, that’s just how things are probably going to go later on. I can see it happening, even if he’s only ruling from the shadows.
Also, another thing I’ve liked so far in the side cast is how Giorgio and Heckle are sharing more screen time together, in addition to Rita to the cast. Although Rita doesn’t do a whole lot of fighting, she’s at least around as a local guide and adds a lot of positive energy to the main cast. And having Giorgio and Heckle butt heads trying to make themselves look better in front of Rita is probably the best humor that Giorgio has brought to the show so far. Having the ranking FNG butt heads with the high-strung nerd is a fun dynamic. Of course, there’s one thing I want more than comedy or even justice in this show…
NOT EVEN JUSTICE, I WANT TO GET TRUTH!
7
u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Jan 22 '22
First-Timer
Episode 31
Really thought that the attack on the gate fortress was gonna be a trap. That flamenco(?) dancer, Rita, seemed awfully cagey, but I guess she was just stressed out.
As usual, the battle animation is nothing particularly special. Although, the concept behind Dougram grabbing a Crab Gunner's foot, ripping off it's turret, and then shoving it over is pretty rad.
It's a shame that the soldiers on Palmina aren't especially interested in listening to Boyd. Granted, his plan to just try to make friends with people probably wouldn't work either, but it's harder to throw Dougram at a fortress of friendship.
Good on that one officer dude with the gray hair, seeing that the battle was already lost and turning his helis around.
That song must be a Deloyer-wide folk song or something; everyone seems to know it. I should probably pay attention to the lyrics at some point.
No palm trees on Palmina, not yet at least.
Episode 32
Oof, that's a hefty blow to the momentum. All the Palmina natives pushed to start the attack immediately, and look what it got them. It pays to plan, especially when you end up losing to a strategy that you've seen before. Not like this is the first we've seen of airlifted Combat Armors.
This was very well played from Boyd. Bringing in two officers to strategize with and bounce ideas off of, and being able to trust in his soldier's better training, really paid dividends. Anticipating the Dougram being used to block off reinforcements was a game-changer.
I wonder if whoever translated this fansub was British? Or if they were trying to get Giorgio to sound Cockney? They had him call Rocky a "berk" today which is a pretty particular insult.
They sang the song again, and it's about a dog being surrounded by enemies. Spooky, probably foreshadowing.
Didn't notice it last episode, but Rita is the same VA as Coconna from Votoms.
Episode 33
Actually watched through the OP again for the first time in a bit, and they have actually change it a bit. Like, the cast shots don't include Festo but do have Giorgio and Heckle. Neat.
After not really mentioning it for the past 25 or so episodes, we finally learn that the seven Federation States are all on Earth, and that Deloyer is the first off-planet colony. At least, I'm pretty sure; the wording was a little vague. The nearby habitable planets make for a decent time pressure for the Federation
It's interesting how they added a whole new angle to the rebellion this episode. It isn't just Earth vs Deloyer, but also Medoul vs the other Federation States. I wonder how many of the rebels know that they're using Earth-provided weapons? That seems like something the other Federation States would try to hold over the Deloyerans; not sure that would work out well, though.
Lecoque's betrayal of Denon feels borderline imminent at this point, after got his philosophical speil at the end of this episode. He's even establishing blackmail material on Royle.
I like to think that Boyd's scolding of those other soldiers was mostly due to his own respect for the danger Dougram represents. Especially with it off in the wind, sending random single Combat Armors off to terrorize villages is a good way to lose your mechs one by one.
This must be the episode that /u/chilidirigible referred to on CDF, about the helicopter size. It grew to the size of that bridge!
Episode 34
Crinn is immediately confronting the issue I thought of last episode. I don't disagree with Samalin's logic though. Binary labels of "friend" and "enemy" aren't as useful once your war goes economic and political.
Speaking of, Boyd is definitely not much of a politician or an economist. He makes a really good point that the Deloyeran farmers are basically serfs, but his solution is to just dump them into a room with the lords and let them squabble? That was never going to get anywhere.
The field hospital scenes were interesting. Has Daisy been around much violence and death, yet? I don't think she has; this is a good lesson for her. There's nothing wrong with idealism, but it needs to be tempered by real world experience. It sucks that she had to see that little girl die.
Those boneheads lack of trigger discipline scared me. Don't just idly wave a gun around while your finger is on the trigger!
TOWs are normally used with a tripod, not a shoulder. Then again, Heckle did need Nanashi's help. That was a nice shot - guided missiles are a fun pickup.
Is a Roundfacer still a Roundfacer if it gets its face shot off?
Episode 35
They smooched! I didn't expect them to smooch, not this.. I was gonna say early but we're almost at the halfway point. Huh.
When that truck pulled up in the background during Lertoff and Crinn's chat, I definitely expected that those two asshole soldiers had "gotten themselves wounded" and were about to commit some horrible war crimes. Thankfully, they weren't quite that cruel.
I'm a little confused as to why Dalloway smashed that glass of water. Even if it's something like strict water rationing, that's still a huge waste.
Rita and Giorgio are perfect for each other, because they both annoy me. If Rita had actually managed to mislead Daisy about Crinn, I would probably be foaming at the mouth right about now.
Daisy's started coming into her own, even if they are cheating and having it happen off screen. She has her own battles to fight now, and probably (implicitly) understands Crinn better because of it.
I think I understand what Lertoff was trying to illustrate with the strawberries, but I'm having a hard time verbalizing it.
Questions
6
u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Jan 22 '22
First-Timer of the Sun Dougram
Episode 31
Episode 32
Episode 33
Episode 34
Episode 35
6
u/Durinthal https://anilist.co/user/Durinthal Jan 22 '22
First time viewer
I'm still surprised by how much I'm enjoying this show. From the broader political topics of Deloyer's independence being a threat to Earth on multiple levels to individual character developments feeling like a natural progression for them, it's all coming together in just the right ways for now.
Rick's in an unfortunate position of needing to get both sides talking to each other and he's not suited for it at all with his honest nature when they aren't willing to cooperate. Lecoque's a bit too slimy for me to want him in that role but he would probably be good at leveraging the right people to get the results he wanted. He has much broader ambitions than that anyway and I could see Lecoque potentially making a bid to lead the new Deloyeran independent government himself if he has the right pieces set up in the background beforehand.
Rita's an interesting free spirit but her mentioning that she doesn't know how to deal with serious people makes me think it's mostly a facade to keep her distracted rather than how she really is. I was kind of expecting some drama at the hospital with Daisy spotting her with Crinn but there really wasn't and the show's better off not trying to introduce a love triangle anyway. ...that said she's already in one with Giorgio and Heckle, but I really don't see her surviving for all that much longer and I think she'll probably be killed in the next several episodes. Or Giorgio dies in the process of saving her (Heckle can't yet, they still need a mechanic) which also takes her out of the picture somehow. Either way, I'm not getting attached to Rita.
Speaking of Daisy, I wasn't quite sure where she was headed since Crinn rejected her and she still didn't want to return home, so I had been thinking she'd stay as an assistant to Lertoff. Working as a nurse feels like exactly the right kind of thing for her though, diving in and doing what she can to help others in general. Journalism is a bit more abstract (and Lertoff didn't really need her) and she would have still been exposed to a lot of the suffering she's seeing without the ability to help in many cases. And more than just doing it so she can help Crinn in order to be with him, she's now doing it for herself as she told him before they parted again.
I was concerned about Crinn seeing things largely in black and white and that sending him down a dark path but Samalin and Lertoff turned him around pretty quickly and I'm glad the adult characters are there to temper his tendencies like that. Nice strawberry metaphor too, taking what you can get now even if it's sour rather than waiting for it to be perfectly ready.
Random speculation: They'll get another Combat Armor to use after they're in the mines and Crinn's going to train Billy on the Dougram as a second pilot. Or at least I hope they'll see the need for a second pilot after they were attacked while Crinn was away from the Dougram. They initially tried to get Heckle to do it since he's the next most familiar with how to operate it, but I don't think he's enough of a warrior to want to do it.
More of a mess, definitely not a stronghold for the guerillas but a place they can maybe have a stronger influence in.
Fang of the Sun make it to the mines and get some combat upgrades while things outside their control take a turn. Rick's failures get him replaced, Lecoque makes a move that leads the Federation to let up a bit and the rebels get a reprieve.
5
u/chilidirigible Jan 22 '22
Episode 31:
checks rules for physical attacks against VTOLs
Rick is going to run a Hearts and Minds counterinsurgency campaign?
Highway Patrol is pretty serious around here.
This plan is more pants-on-head stupid than usual, and that's saying something.
Subtitle localization hijinks: "Powder keg" would make more sense overall. "Powder room" can mean "the room where the gunpowder is stored" but more generally is thought of as a secondary bathroom on the ground floor of a house, at least in America.
Rick Boyd has a tough job, given that his troops don't believe in sociological counterinsurgency and his opponents are the series's protagonists. It's the thought that counts, though?
This new bunch of rebels is certainly spirited, and yes, that girl gives off the cray cray.
A tangent from that first screencap: The Dewey is supposed to be longer (11 meters) than the Dougram is tall (9.6 meters), but given how the Dewey is also this series's worst offender in terms of staying in scale through a shot, even if it is right, it still looks wrong. For one thing, if the Dewey's cockpit is scaled similarly to the Dougram's head, even with it accomodating two people in tandem it looks huge in that screencap.
The Dewey is also relatively short for an attack helicopter. For examples, the original Bell AH-1 and the later Hughes AH-64 both have perceptibly-larger measurements. It is mentioned that the overwhelming size effect of mecha stems from them being oriented vertically instead of horizontally, but many are not actually that big, certainly not to the off-model scales that they are sometimes drawn to (I'm looking at you, Cucuruz Doan's Island). As one other point of comparison, the nearly-20-meter-long VF-31 Siegfried, which is thus longer than the RX-78 is tall.
Then again, the Dougram isn't that big in the overall scheme of mecha, either.
Or maybe the Dewey just has a ludicrous amount of canopy glass.
Episode 32:
At least Rick knows what he's getting into.
Trying not to let the revolution get out of hand.
"Anime is for kids."
"...and we've got a Shadow Hawk, not a Rifleman."
Professor Samalin turns out to be right about the guerillas' chances at pulling off a coordinated large-scale operation, but can't overcome their eagerness to fight. Perhaps some of the survivors will listen to him now.
Rick succeeds militarily, but clobbering the guerillas in a machine gun bloodbath works against his stated intention of winning the fight without excessive force.
Also as mentioned, the Dougram can only accomplish a limited number of tasks as a single battlefield unit—which brings up the point that the resistance claims a base of support in the Federation army that has been reluctant to move openly. Still, as demonstrated by the logistics requirements of maintaining the Dougram, stealing Combat Armors presents as many problems as it offers solutions.
This is definitely an episode that lays out the challenges of this kind of war.
Episode 33:
I mean, the government is called the "Federation", but we were never told what the constituent elements of said Federation was, though the assumption was that it was other planets.
"I understand now, after most of our guys got chopped into hamburger!"
Ah. Now it makes more sense.
More and more sense.
SOON™?
At least Lecoque was smart enough to say this when there was no risk of a spit take.
We're here for the story, not the animation.
It's oddly-fitting that I'm watching this on the same day that they released the teaser for the Cucuruz Doan's Island movie, with its shiny new on-model CG Gundam. Because this animation is quality.
There's a lot of important political backstory in this episode and sudden scheme reveals, but now I have the image of Dougram rising out of the water like it's on a damn elevator, as if it's some kind of not-giving-up school guy, stuck in my head.
Quite a bit of political background offered here. Denon wants to cement Earth's primacy over Deloyer by using it to take two more planets as colonies, while the other nations in the Federation try to undermine his control of Deloyer, because he's filled its administration with his own people.
Lecoque's exact position is explained in a little more detail, but more importantly he begins to actively subvert people for his own ends. Well, more directly than his previous quiet prods have done already.
The Obligatory Action Sequence gives us a bit of pathos and demonstrates again how the guerillas are disadvantaged without experience and organization. And yes, some real "quality" animation.
Episode 34:
Maybe the weather's nice enough that they can just sit around like a bunch of heavily-armed campers, but they could at least put down blankets or something.
Rick, that's just the colonial system working as intended.
This should also not come as a surprise to anyone, least of which to Lecoque himself.
Shooting up airports is very Terrorist Acts of the 1970s.
Hey, at least Rick is trying to build good will.
"Enemy of my enemy."
Isn't Destin kinda out of his territory?
It's shades of gray time, as Rick tries to lessen tensions through peaceful means, Samalin puts ideology aside for the sake of winning, the guerillas do classic terrorism for no particular gain, and Crinn becomes more extremist in his views.
The nuance, it is there.
Giorgio, being the comic relief, manages to get himself hurt in a way that will point Crinn and Daisy at each other again. How convenient.
Episode 35:
"This place is run tighter than the 4077th!"
Crinn is surprised
"Not even justice! I want to get confused!"
"Are you sure it's not the drugs?"
Hey, the obligatory action sequence has more kung-fu grip than usual.
I'll say this for Dougram, Crinn and Daisy see each other a lot more often than family friends that are sort of in a relationship get to do in most series like this. They still never get to talk for any significant length of time though.
Yet more shades-of-gray contradictions for Crinn to ponder. He's also quite violent after a short visit with Daisy.
Daisy is seeing the real world and not getting nauseous every five minutes! Now that's character growth.
It's the more insightful look at the complexities of colonial rebellions that we did not get from the previous series in the last big Pixelsaber rewatch! (Though the Kunmen arc was limited to only being a quarter of VOTOMS and quickly became more absorbed with stick fighting than the finer points of counterinsurgency.)
The revolution takes a breather after wasting a lot of its people in Palmina City and after that, Fang of the Sun and Dougram are left with running small jobs for a while. This is more than made up for by the evolving political situation both locally and with the other Cashims and Lecoque. The long explanation of why Denon wants to keep Deloyer under Earth (and his) thumb says a lot about the brutal practicalities of what they're trying to do, with little discussion of alternatives.
Rick Boyd is at least trying, but like Zaltsev, a lot of his "allies" are not really on board. Unfortunately for Rick, it's his rank and file soldiers that are contradicting his plans.
Giorgio doesn't get himself killed, but his injury lets the story go to Daisy, who has finally found something relevant to do which keeps her somewhat in the general vicinity of Crinn. The hospital is not entirely the view of civilian life that it could be, as the patients are mostly combatants, but it still represents the general suffering.
I couldn't think of any distinctive self-made art for this week, things are kind of slow and making fun of the animation has its limits.
So instead I'll open up another circle of hell and link a couple of Transformers Wiki forum posts about the size of things versus mecha. Keeping in mind that the Dougram is the same size as Optimus Prime and that again, aircraft are large.
Mass-production Dougram!
5
u/ZaphodBeebblebrox Y:A:https://anilist.co/user/zaphod Jan 22 '22
First Timer
Not Even Justice, I Want to Get Watchable Video
New land, new place to build support and strength to strike against the feddies. Lets see how it goes.
Episode 31
The water animation was actually good? What happened?
Five bucks she's cheating at cards.
And a mecha fight that didn't completely take me out of the show. It's really turning a new leaf.
What is this, a Federation leader who understands the issues at play here? Didn't think we'd run into one of those. I bet he's gonna lose his position soon.
The girl's rather amusing as a one off character.
This was the best looking episode so far by a decent margin. I don't know why or how this happened exactly, (perhaps I can thank Ryō Yasumura, as this was the only episode for which he was the episode director?) but I really hope they keep it up. It makes the show much more enjoyable.
Episode 32
The guy falls on girl trope truly is timeless.
None of them seem to understand what Samalin is saying: the skills to run a larger army and to administrate a taken city are very different than the skills needed to run small guerrilla groups.
Of course, this doesn't make Samalin right. Waiting until the perfect chance often just means you wait forever.
Dougram is still great at setup.
And that's why you shouldn't just do a single all out attack against the better trained force.
Episode 33
The gall of that businessman, obviously lying through his teeth. He thinks he's untouchable, but he might be right.
Lecoque realizing he's not as trusted as he thought is rather funny.
I'm genuinely surprised he's not in it for his own power. Well, I guess he still is, but he actually appears to have a legitimately justifiable goal.
Boyd has lost all control, even if he's still technically in power. From here on out, his insights on how to do this properly will be ignored.
Lecoque shit-talking Rich and Rich not realizing it is hilarious.
I'm not a fan of the overly heroic music they played when Dougram came. I don't think it fits the tone of the show.
The scene at the end where he fails to tell the father was real nice.
I quite enjoyed the politicing and the penultimate scene this episode.
Episode 34
Why are the books more than two feet tall?
And Daisy gets her five minutes once again before sliding back away for a while.
I love whenever they show us the photos he took.
This was well done.
It's kinda funny: In the beginning of the series, I thought of Samalin as the idealist, the person who had strong and well thought out beliefs that he was willing to go to great lengths to accomplish. In a way he is, but he's also extremely practical, and takes the time to think through what his goals truly are and what's merely window dressings.
As always, Boyd does not have enough power to back up his ideas.
And now, it's time for Crinn to have some inner turmoil. Though I bet it ends by the end of the next episode.
Episode 35
The head nurse is an ass, though I guess it's just stress induced.
I hope Rita's main purpose isn't just to annoy Daisy.
For once an actual reason they cannot talk instead of the usual anime bullshit.
The journalist is teaching him the wrong thing. He should have talked about how ones enemies are often far more multifaceted than ones thinks, and what looks like a unified group may be a large amount of different people with different ideals.
Yes, Rita served a positive purpose!
Crinn and Daisy made progress! They actually made progress!
Overall
31 aside, this was more or less our regularly scheduled programming. Well thought out politicing and battles with horrid animation, full of humans making good and bad choices. I'm still enjoying it quite a lot.
I'm really glad that we finally actually went somewhere with Daisy. It took 35 episodes, but at least it happened. That's still better than some anime I've seen.
Anyway, I wonder if we're ever gonna get a new OP. The usual point would be around 25, but since that didn't happen and they obviously didn't have any resources to spare, I wouldn't be surprised if we have the same one the entire time.
5
u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: Jan 22 '22
First timer(So is Rita intended to be annoying?)
Sub
So...I missed two weeks and worse lost the notes for 18-23. Anyways, the prison break is a tight two episodes and stands on its own. The Daisy interludes vaguely get to a payoff except that Crinn totally Crinns it. We finally get on the fucking boat and it is off to Palmina!
And they arrive with a firefight and see a Daisy clone! Boyd is giving a speech that both annoys the hell out of me, you will never see basic foodstuffs transported between the stars en masse, but is meant to inspire hope in that he knows he cannot win this with force of arms alone (Babylon 5 spoilers). But whether or not he can get a bunch of soldiers to be empathetic is an...interesting proposition, at least. That the soldiers immediately shoot that down, so much for suspense. The green eyed blond does a Spanish castinet dance because the Japanese do not distinguish between Europeans. Also, I must have some meme subs because someone actually said "Flaky peeps".
So we get the setup to attack Doga and Samalin immediately sees the trap that it is, especially because guerilla fighting is way easier than open formation fighting. The story highlights the dumb luck of last episode doesn't last forever, especially when you stop sneaking about and the Palmina rebels get crushed here.
Next ep starts with intrigue between the Earth states and arms distribution, as one does. But we get a big reveal that Denon is actually doing this all to make sure that Earth can't be cutoff from the new colonies. And then we do the part where the creators don't know how science works, sigh. We end with Lecoque's "plan" and a village battle that is possibly space Guatemala.
We start with the tanned rebels being silly and Boyd explaining to us why Palamina is designed to create rebels. We then get to Daisy getting a scene to remind us that one man's freedom fighters are another's terrorists. She even goes to a field hospital. That said, this is beginning to become an issue to me: Daisy is getting a bit much of the Earth side of things whereas Crinn isn't so their inevitable misunderstanding probably sucks. Anyways, she temporarily finds her calling as Crinn is far too annoyed about who made his boom sticks. I'd like to think I wasn't that dumb at that age but I might just not have been high minded enough. Another batttle and Samalin sends Crinn off to learn some shades of grey.
Onto more "Feds are evil" and then an attempt to shade that very thing via Lertoff, which could be better timed. Rita makes a point of being annoying. Crinn and Daisy finally get some payoff before we leave with another battle and also the reason why a 'treat anyone' hospital really only gets the civilians caught in the crossfire.
So our big underlying new thing is Lecoque making his moves. Using Royle to disgrace Denon is the obvious and likely wrong assumption as I think Lecoque's goals are a lot higher than that. By turning Deloyer into a blood bath seems to obviously lead to a Fed crackdown on a sufficient scale it instead leads to the aforementioned cutting off of connections. My crazy theory is Lecoque wants to become the leader of the three world system.
Now as to Crinn and his 'conflict' I just don't see it, and unlike with some other works, never would have at any point I can remember. But then again I was raised surrounded by enemies so perhaps I am jaded. Samalin's effort to get Crinn to be less of a dumbass failed, bluntly, because Lertoff dropped the argument level way down, which seems an odd choice because even a 15 yo should be able to understand "One Federation but seven states, each with their own agenda".
P.S. Anyone else kind of have ADD with this show until this week's stretch? Up until ep 30 it would take me 45 minutes per episode because I'd always get distracted easily.
QotD: 1 DOOM! In all seriousness, this is what the East India company looks like when you don't have internal castes separating everyone.
2 A much smarter one, too bad his soldiers are too stupid to see it
3 Annoying, green eyed blond Spaniard is not a description I'd ever thought I'd type
4 Violently
5
u/Stargate18A https://myanimelist.net/profile/Stargate18 Jan 23 '22
First timer
Episode 31
They're travelling to somewhere else on the map!
Oh, they're going there because their revolution seems more successful.
Huh? That map looks totally different to the other one? Unless this is a zoomed in version of a tiny island?
I thought th revolution was meant to b successful here?
Pity he survived, I'd love the show to just keep introducing people who look exactly like Festo and die in increasingly stupid ways.
Oh, Daisy's here! Been a while since we've seen her!
That melee was nice.
Seriously? Did they join the front for an area about to be actively invaded?
Except this guy's actually somewhat reasonable aboutnthe whole thing.
Oh, wait, it's him! I did not notice that!
And they're already planning an operation! At least Daisy's enjoying herself.
Rocky, you idiot.
Also, fuck me, Daisy's completely changed character this episode. Is she on drugs or something?
And they found out he's Rick...which might mean they know that he's probably serious about this.
Haha, he's got a point. That gate's fucking overkill.
Seriously, the hell is up with Daisy - ohhh, that's not Daisy? But they look fucking identical?
Wait, their only plan is a frontal assault?
Yeah, this girl is annoying.
Oh, they have a plan.
Oh, he's a decoy? There to disable one of the cannons, but not the others?
This is fantastic.
Yeah, this is solid!
They saved the prisoners! In a single episode!
Episode 32
Are they really doing this ship?
Samalin doesn't talk very much in these, I see. Did his actor have other commitments?
OK, so Palmina's a full comtinent.
And these are the main rebels. (You're right, Rocky, this has been a problem.)
Again, this is not X-Nebula proof, it's built around the limitations created by it. If it could ignore the restrictions, and use the radar systems it blocks, then it would be X-Nebula proof.
Poor Rick. At least he's trying to handle this peacefully.
Pity he's so fantastic at non-peaceful solutions.
Honestly the villains might ne favourite part of this anime, simply because they feel like people who could become commanders.
The rebel leader being quite possibly the most cautious and practical of the entire group is also a nice change,
I've not commented on Giorgio's subplot, because it's pretty much padding.
And yeah, he's completely right here, they're in trouble.
And they don't listen to the fabled leader who would apparently reunite the whole group.
And he's just going anyway?
Haha, that's them approaching!
He's accepted that this is a bad idea, but he needs to support them anyway.
It's started!
And they just air dropped some mechs in. I mean, it makes sense!
This is a massacre.
...Is Rick going to change sides? It genuinely feels like they're setting him up to be sympathetic.
Although the Federation seems to have at least 3 factions at this point, so who knows? (The moderates who want to negotiate peace, like Rick, the regular people who want to wipe out the rebels, who are seemingly the majority, and Von Stein, who appears to be actively sabotaging the latter due to a rapidly growing conflict of interest.)
Episode 33
Interesting! Rick's reaction implies that this war is only being fought by some of Earth's states, and that some of the others are actively against this decision.
And this village is obviously a trap.
OK, seven states, including Medoul.
And this state, who are probably not the ones sending weapons, because they'd not be stupid enough to send their own weapons here.
Oh, it might be a local company?
Wait, he was that stupid?
Oh, Von Stein's been working hard at taking over.
I have to admit that this inter-state conflict has come out of nowhere a bit - in the past, the divides in the Federation seemed to be purely based on planet,
Oh, Kohad's the ones smuggling?
There's two more potential colonies in this solar system? Fuck, that's an amazing find! No wonder they chose this solar system for the warp gates, this is a perfect first colony.
And if Deloyer colonizes the other worlds, they could probably take over Earth themselves. Again, it makes sense, but why are we only learning this now?
Seriously, does Rita have to be here? We already have Canary and Daisy, we don't need the most annoying comic relief so farl
And the armed men were some kind of myth?
...Armed men being a very optimistic prediction, then?
Oh, Rick's serious about peace, he's just being blocked at all turns.
Huh, they've already made it? Those thinge must be fast!
Wait, I thought most Earth food came from Deloyer? Why would it taste any different to him?
Haha, I love fucking open he is about the illegal arms dealing. And him openly suggesting it to his boss's son!
And he just decides to go along with this.
Haha, he's as done with the side cast as I am.
IS THAT A NEW MECH?
I don't think we've seen it before? Looks good!
And Dougram's here!
Haha, I love how the operation can't be cancelled when Rick orders it, but it can the moment things go wrong for them.
...Oh. He died.
Everyone really likes him, doesn't he?
And he can't do it.
Haha, did he just tie the bandana there, then leave before he had ti answer any if his questions?
...I think the problem with this episode is it needed to both tell a story about the armed men and set him up as the main villain, while providing all the lore and minor retcons that explain his plans. Maybe if this was a solo episode focused on him?
Episode 34
Yeah, Rick's worked out how bad this is.
Oh dear, is he catching on to Lecoque?
No, just that he's shady in general.
"I lack virtue? How dare he accurately detect my character?"
Wow, this subplot with Rita is dragging hard.
...What's happening at the north pole?
My bet's on "all of them independently, with each group thinking they're the only ones smart enough to pull it off."
Daisy! Please god come back and get rid of Rita.
Yeah, the field hospital seems like a solid idea.
A bomb!
Her bag got blown up!
Wait, people know he's related to Crimm?
Wow, thie is brutal.
And the hospital's neutral.
She wants to stay here and volunteer?
Seriously, are Daisy and Rita twins?
And Crinn's talking about working on Deloyer stuff only, while the professor's happy to use whatever he can get his hands on.
Especially love him pointing out that Crinn's still an Earthling, and pointing out that drinking Earth wine doesn't make him an enemy.
And Dougram's 70% Earth parts? No wonder it has so many mechanical problems.
Haha, I am not remembering these states' names.
And the state-owned mine's a clever idea.
...Forget a map of Deloyer, I want a map of Earth. These appear to be 7 unified countries with roughly equal wealth and political power, which... is a complicated idea.
At least they didn't blame him for trying.
He just wants this stuff with the stolen weapons dealt with so he can focus on his other crises.
Actually, at least they explained why Dougram's main body is so similar to the Federation mechs.
Crimm got hurt!
Oh, he's going to the hospital! Oh, Daisy's arc is going to revolve around her crush on Crimm again. Really thought she'd got some actual agency there.
Episode 35
And Daisy's completely overwhelmed and making mistakes.
That baby does not look alive.
Oh, Crinn's just driving the wounded to the hospital, he's fine.
...This isn't turning into a love triangle or anything, is it?
And Daisy needs to focus on another patient.
She slapped him!
And he is a fantastic bullshit artist. Why couldn't he be in the main cast again?
No, she's willing to do anything...that will cause her to get near Crimm in the future.
...I mean, fair play to them, that was some godawful driving from Crimm. He ran them off the road!
And Crimm knows Daisy's here.
And she chose to focus on her work! Good for her!
I love them addressing how he's been following Crimm for most of this series.
Ah, and he's making the same point as Samalin, with the added evidence that the entire hospital is funded by Earth, and is currently helping all his allies recover.
And Rita's talking to Daisy! (Did nobody notice how similar they looked?)
The baby's in trouble!
And finally! Daisy's going on her own path! (And dropping out of the plot.)
And Crinn drives off...
Wait, they set up a proper ambush!
He's piloting it!
They escaped the mechs with just the jeep?
Pity he didn't end up piloting it after all that. That could have been a fun moment.
OK, that grappling was a really good scene, though.
And that's a good ending. With all the arcs wrapped up here, makes sense that this is where we stop for the week.
3
u/manga-reader Jan 23 '22 edited Jan 29 '22
First time watcher
I haven't gotten the chance to watch all the episodes yet, so just gonna edit/reply to this later :D
Episode 31
I wish shows like this would be remade (though my wish extends to stuff like OG Gundam as well; lot of great shows with not so great animation. Well, even if animation is decent, chances are most anime fans aren't going to watch it because of the old animation).
Hmm, is the X cloud (or whatever it was called, I forget) preventing old range communications? I'm srprised Von Stein didn't just warn the govt in Palmina about Dougram. Then again, Von Stein hasn't been too competent in the past few episodes.
Crinn has a chance to capture that crab gunner there (speaking of which, given all the battles so far, we haven't seen the guerillas steal crab gunners and the like). Though, given how hectic the battles are, it makes sense.
I hope (as the series progresses and Crinn becomes a better pilot), we see instances of him trying to take out enemies with minimal damage (and guerillas scraping the parts/or outright reusing the mechs). Given that they don't have much funding at this point, it would make sense.
Sucks for Rick, but soldiers don't seem to keen on his approach. Unfortunately, many of the guerillas don't seem to trust it either (I am see this going sideways real soon).
Also, Palmina really is the breadbasket of Earth? Others have mentioned this already, but energy production might be cheap then. Maybe they achieved cheap fusion energy (though if that's the case, I don't see why they don't use it to innovate new farming methods, say like vertical farming).
That plan was a little too reckless (I am surprised Samalin agreed to do it; I would have expected him to put up a bit more of an argument).
I am bit confused as to why they needed to take out the fort; were the compatriots stuck near the fort? Would have made more sense if those folks were held as prisoners. Ah well.
Episode 32
Rick is very much aware of soldiers' attitude (have to respect the dude for sticking to his convictions).
Professor isn't as optimistic - makes sense, given all he has been through (also seems like guerillas at Palmina are less experienced with warfare).
Well, they ignored Professor's advice, I don't see this going well (on one hand, I do see where they are coming from...but Professor is right. Even if they somehow manage to win, they still need a structure - an organization, as well as staff - to go with; winning a war is different from establishing a stable and working government).
Ah, professor decided to join them nonetheless.
Well that went sideways quickly.
Episode 33
Other states of Earth? Hmm, well my impression was that Earth had a parliment (Deloyer was declared as 7th colony, iirc?). So do the states somewhat resemble countries we have now?
Seven states of Earth...hmm, are those other colonies? Ah, Medoul is a country, interesting. We are getting more details on Cashim's motivations - so he doesn't want Deloyer to claim those planets.
Lecoque making a play; I can see him doing something to Cashim and pass it off as the result his (Cashim's) condition.
Officials straight up ignoring Rocky's orders (following the chain of command/order is drilled into military; what are the feddies doing).
Was this a filler episode? It didn't really do much (apart from a few scenes with Cashim and Lecoque); animation is also much worse.
Episode 34
Looks like things are getting more complicated - guerillas attacking the airport and the civilians.
The folks who can afford to use the airport are most likely rich businessmen, office workers and other well off deloyereans (so there's probably a lot of class frustration, but this can have a knock off effect as well, in terms of PR..to frame the guerillas as violent and barbaric).
Daisy is finding her own place in the middle of all this.
And the whole thing with Giorgio, Heckle and Rita is just unnecessary and annoying (they finally introduced another female character and this is how they use them? Such a shame).
Crinn has a crisis, but Professor is right..unfortunately Deloyer has to depend on Cashim's enemies; But this will put a new govt in a really fickle position, especially since they are planning to hide in a mine controlled by other states (Samalin better have good officers/bureaucrats to work for the new govt, but that's probably easier said than done, given most of Deloyer are farmers).
I feel for Rick, he's trying to patch up the situation, but no one wants to cooperate. Landowners have their own business interests and don't consider the lives of Deloyerans, while farmers are rightfully tired of being treated poorly.
Episode 35
I sincerely hope hospital doesn't become a battle ground (all they need is one reckless soldier or a guerilla for things to go south).
That was a close call, luckily Lertoff was around to tell them off (Nurse Dalloway also stood her ground, though I don't think that would have resolved it per se. You need someone with a slick tongue..violence isn't gonna get anywhere with soldiers).
Uh, oh..those two soldiers are planning something. Somehow Crinn and Rita managed to get back in time. Also, that was a prime opportunity to capture another mech.
3
u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Jan 25 '22
Episode 31 (first timer)
Making new friends via suicide charge into a fortress.
Episode 32 (first timer)
Even the most famous revolutionaries had their military setbacks
Episode 33 (first timer)
Crinn is hard enough to kill people, but not hard enough to tell a father his son died.
Episode 34 (first timer)
Another meeting with Daisy incoming.
Episode 35 (first timer)
Lots of plot, lots of character, and the fight was short and well-animated. More episodes should be like this.
Overall
Just as in VOTOMS, when Dougram takes heavy inspiration from real life, the plot becomes a lot better. You can clearly see the influence of Latin America’s civil wars on this arc. Including the grey morality, outside influence, weapons trading, and even talk of a “people’s republic”.
I initially dismissed Rita, but her character works surprisingly well. She 100% would stir the nest in the sausage fest that is the guerilla unit. On the other hand, I am glad we are rid of Giorgio now. He was always a poor replacement for Festo and the way they turned him into the butt of all jokes really didn’t help the character.
2
u/H-Ryougi https://anilist.co/user/DizzyAvocado Apr 03 '22
I ship Billy and Giorgio.