Oh god! WHAT?
What?! No! Stop it Ange!! STOP!
Last week, Hannah gave a convincing argument on how and why Ange waking up naked in a bed next to some guy from the opening credits could work — could shake her out of the routine she was finally able to build — and that she such an event would let her reassess what’s going on in her world.
Instead, Cross Ange: Tenshi to Ryuu no Rondo episode 5 takes Tusk, a new male character with a mysterious past, and forces his mouth into Ange’s crotch as many times as it can… for laughs!
Thank goodness he’s a mechanic that can get her off this island!
In previous weeks, Hannah and I have defended Cross Ange’s use of sexual violence and exploitation as a bold (if not brazen) statement about oppression, racism, and keeping a people down through self hatred.
This week is indefensible.
The constant, absurd put-Tusk’s-mouth-on-or-near-Ange’s-crotch scenes, followed by a MONTAGE depicting how they slowly became friends, is mind-blowing.
The only reason I’m giving this a 2 ( instead of the 1 I gave Vanadis’ boob-sucking episode) is because none of the girls are asserting their relative social status and value as people through comparing breast sizes.
Even then, I’m very tempted to give it a 1 anyway.
Episode 5 is a true, complete failure of story telling and the choice to MONTAGE together random events to show Ange’s growing feelings for Tusk is as cowardly as it is lazy.
We even get to see Ange is a terrible cook in the most cliché, pot-exploding way, which facilitates yet another crotch-mouth for Tusk. Ha’yuk!
The total irony here is that Hannah and I were talking just yesterday about what it would take for Ange to ruin the goodwill it has built and I foolishly said, it’s built enough goodwill that I’ll give it a full review even if it fizzes out over the season.
Who knew the character around the corner was a ‘klutz’ who would fall on Ange’s crotch accidentally more than once, that Ange would be bitten near her crotch by a snake and he’d need to suck out the venom, and that everything would be better and happy with no actual scenes or dialogue spent to actually make it so?
Who thought it wouldn’t be creepy as hell that Tusk can leave the island at any time during this episode’s development?
Who thought it would be okay to have Ange whimper in an orgasmic way as Tusk “eats out” her poison??
What madness led the writers to have Ange fall for Tusk, her captor and possible sexual predator, by the end?
Oh my god WHAAAAAATTTTT?!?!?!?????
RABUJOI - An Anime Blog 
Why aren’t you dropping this?
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I can’t speak for Ser Franklin, but I’m willing to give the show at least one more chance to right itself, like Preston did with Vanadis, especially considering we’ve found this show considerably better than Vanadis week-to-week…until this week, of course.
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because I’m embarrassed that it did almost the same awful thing as Vanadis and I don’t want to believe that it’s thrown all it’s value away yet…
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To be fair, there are many parts of this week I could have done without…Tusk’s multiple forays into Ange’s crotch chief among them. Absent those forays, this wasn’t a total loss.
– Without those crotch incidents, I can believe Ange falling for Tusk relatively quickly. He saves her life…twice. She’s just come from a place where she feels like she’s hated by everyone (even though she’s not). She’s a healthy young woman. Tusk is not unattractive. The surroundings are beautiful. It’s not totally unreasonable that these two would hit it off. Again, without all that crotch nonsense.
– I like how nonchalantly Commander Jill and the Arzenal CIC responds to the loss of Ange. I also like how Ersha and Vivian join Salia in the search for her. Even though Ange was a bitch to them, this gesture cements Ersha and Vivian as the most kind and decent members of the first troop. Both want to forgive Ange and give her another chance, which means finding her first.
– Ange’s arc of not getting along with anyone and enduring the hazing is at least partially resolved by episode’s end, in that she’s now able to be nice to Ersha and Vivian, thanking them and even asking for help decorating her cockpit. As horrible as Arzenal was right up until she crashed, the fact she was first saved and cared for by Tusk, then sought after and found by her comrades, conspire to bring about a change in Ange’s attitude moving forward. She’ll still have enemies, to be sure, but she won’t have to deal with them alone.
– Had he not been introduced to us so…ridiculously, I’d have probably gotten on board with Tusk. In fact, knowing he’s a male Norma (a clear rarity) who pilots the paramail once piloted by his mother helped us get over that very unfortunate introduction…somewhat.
– Ange’s little “island retreat” was thankfully just this one isolated episode. It ends with Ange back with Arzenal, and Tusk going his own way. So I can’t say this outing shook my faith in the show, because we’re in store for something completely different (and likely better) next week.
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Oh wow was this some kind of weird coincidence? Pretty much the EXACT same thing with the snake happened in Vanadis just last week! The only difference being thigh instead of boob. Cross Ange continues to be a lolololol anime and within expectations hahahaha.
Hm although oigakkosan did give it a point over Vanadis. I have to say I honestly didn’t see where the whole “hating woman” thing comes from, but I do admit that since I read the LN first my perceptions are kind of molded. I guess the anime emphasizes certain things (BOOBS). I don’t think the author or the studio actually hates on woman though. To me it’s more like they’re portrayed in a manner that depicts them as sexual objects instead of people.
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Coinsurance: want one weirder? Hak, princess Yona’s body guard, was bitten by a snake a week before too! It was only on the foot and no one had to suck out the poison but still!
Vanadis: Portraying women as sexual objects is, by definition, misogynistic, which is, by definition, ‘hating women.’ Additionally, Elen sexually objectifies Ludis and uses her ‘smaller boobs’ to put her down. This is misogynistic. Nothing else to say about it.
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Lmao in Akatsuki no Yona too huh? Though that incident sounds much more borderline. The snake thing wasn’t used as an excuse for blatant fan service so thank god for that haha.
Welp turns out I should have consulted a dictionary first. My bad haha. I still believe that the creators of Vanadis don’t actually “hate women. Like they aren’t thinking “omfg woman are stupid cow tits best used only for the sexual pleasure of men lololol” and are just doing stupid anime industry cliches. However I found out misogyny also encompass the mistreatment of woman, which most defiantly was displayed in that episode of Vanadis.
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oh sure! I agree they aren’t thinking about it like that or have an agenda at all. Vanadis is just very juvenile in a way that leaves a very bad taste in my mouth. (What with the Gamergate chaos going on in the US)
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This is very much your typical Sunnrise “trapped in an island” ep, which they have done dozens of times in the same way. As such, this is just plain boring. And it has none of those interesting parts that make me have a love-hate relationship with Cross Ange.
Would have been much better if Ange’s little Island retreat and subsequent character development was done differently instead of that cliched storyline of her meeting the love interest. And I still stand by my view that Tusk is just an unnecessary addition here just to shoehorn a cheesy romantic subplot and give Ange a morality pet.
The only points I found interesting was the reveal that Jill is the original pilot of Villkiss, which is why it seems to be a critical part of her plans.The other one is Ange killing that dragon mercilessly. This one is particularly intriguing in that it harks back to that little “motivational” speech she gave to that mother back in ep. 1 about Normas being barbaric and violet, and Zola’s taunting remarks about her being no different from them and getting all excited about battles. Now, these are finally starting to haunt her, as she is unconsciously beginning to have, for the lack of better terms, orgasmic joy in slaughtering that dragon.
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I was so annoyed by the bad story telling mechanics and absurdly out of place ‘eat my crotch’ humor of the episode that I didn’t bring up the Jill reveal. That was interesting and, if Tusk hadn’t been such an awful cliché, the reveal that his mother (and father?) were Norma could have been interesting. Actually, if 80% of the episode were edited out, Tusk had a lot of interesting things going on. He’s obviously not been alone all his life: he knows too much about mechanics, has a working mech, and a sense of duty to his fellow soldiers, as seen when he buries some that were just shot down. But MAN! What a train wreck that other 80% was!
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Re: Jill/Villkiss and Ange going nuts on that dragon — Good points I also noticed but neglected to mention earlier, thanks.
Also, the fact Ange got to keep her ring, which activated Villkiss in her moment of need.
But while she herself is now exhibiting some of the barbaric qualities that give credence to Zola’s remarks, she’s also experienced the kinder side of the Norma, exhibited first by the now-dead Coco, but also Ersha and Vivian in rescuing her, a side she never expected Norma to be capable of while she was princess.
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