Joukamachi no Dandelion – 07

It’s a strict two-parter this week, with stories so different, the siblings at the focus of the first half barely appear in the second. First, Akane has a fever and the King and Queen are going out, leaving Kanade in charge. (Where’s Aoi? Who knows?) When cold compresses and porridge can’t get Akane’s temperature down (and dare not use her powers to conjure the undiscovered cure), Shiori risks catching Akane’s cold by giving her a kiss. The King is also a bit of a worrywart, and so kept a team of special forces on alert. Their accidental storming of the house is nicely handled by Kanade, and Akane and Shiori aren’t the worse for wear.

The second half is dominated by Hikari, whom I’m on record as not being the biggest fan of because I’m not the biggest fan of Ogura Yui’s squeaky voice. Fortunately, Hikari is aged up to idol-age, and her conflict arises when she’s paired with the super hard-working, no-nonsense veteran idol she admires, Sachiko, who resents Hikari for being talented but sloppy. When Sacchy is asked to play second fiddle in a double concert, she’s a pro about it, but she won’t acknowledge Hikari until she shows she can work hard too.

Sacchy not only inspires Hikari to ace a test in school after failing a previous one, but to also train harder in preparation for the concert. When it arrives, the two perform well, but Sacchy meets with a spot of bad luck and twists her ankle on stage. Hikari goes out there alone and finishes the show, with Sacchy watching from the dressing room, impressed and realizing she misjudged Hikari. In all, the segment is an interesting study of the different worlds Hikari can inhabit when she ages herself up.

Akagami no Shirayuki-hime – 07

Last week threatened to keep Shirayuki away from Zen in just the moment when she wanted to see him the most, but this episode washes that threat away by revealing Zen on the balcony above where she was looking. Somewhat surprisingly, rather than using the stairs Shirayuki climbs a tree in order to be on the same level as Zen, and they share a warm embrace neither is in a hurry to end.

After they touch base about what was said at the banquet Shirayuki wasn’t invited to, Zen tells her a story about Prince Izana that paints a pretty succinct picture of the kind of man he is. One minute, he’s a 17-year-old playboy who has a palace built between two feuding countries, who proceed to send him riches to ingratiate themselves with him, to the detriment of their own people. The next, he’s a princely mastermind, expelling both lords, replacing them with the envoys he’s come to know and trust, and returned all the gold the old lords gave him to the countries to help their people. Thus ended the feud.

Thus, we learn while Zen can sometimes use and manipulate people for his entertainment, the primary goal is the betterment of the people he rules. He knows what it means to be king, and believes Zen is staying from that path. When Izana takes the throne, should anything happen to him, Zen will succeed him.

Seeing him infatuated with some red-haired commoner is, like that feud between lords, something he feels responsible for solving. At the same time, he respects that Zen has grown a spine, and isn’t so quick to bow before his brother. Zen believes he can still be a good prince and a good king without leaving Shirayuki’s side. Izana is dubious, but allows Zen the chance to prove it.

Meanwhile, Raj is still a guest of Izana’s, and as he tours the castle grows increasingly stressed about seeing Shirayuki. Last week he called her Zen’s fiancee, and the rumors have spread furiously throughout the castle. Knowing the power of his careless words all too well, Raj isn’t all that gung-ho about crossing paths with Shirayuki. It’s a great inversion of the power dynamic that formerly existed between these two.

Naturally, while seeking a medicine for his upset stomach (caused by all the stress), Raj does indeed cross paths with Shirayuki, and their equally awkward tense, and courteous encounter is punctuated when Shirayuki slaps away a topical medicine Raj is about to drink. She also tells Raj to become the prince of her homeland that she can be proud of, even if she isn’t living there anymore.

Izana witnesses the entire exchange, and just as Shirayuki learned about him through Zen, he learns more about her. She makes it clear to him she isn’t leaving Clarines, or backing down, or even averting her eyes. Izana even kisses her above her eye (beating Zen to the punch in the facial kiss area), but she doesn’t flinch or recoil. Seeing how she dealt with Raj and himself, I’m certain Izana’s opinion of this red-haired “nuisance” has improved considerably, and may be coming to understand perhaps she won’t bring ruin to Zen’s prncely path.

GOD EATER – 05

I won’t mince words: this episode of GOD EATER brought it. Perhaps not from start to finish, as it started rather slowly, but even that slow start focused on the seemingly insurmountable task before the titular God Eaters. Aegis is only 0.06% complete, and will require tens of thousands of cores from the kind of Aragami they defeated last week. Even the bigger Vajra only cut that number to thousands. And this is as bodies are dropping all over the world. The episode title “All In Vain” would seem to apply.

Even so, these guys have to try, and if they’re going to go out their and risk their lives, all of them want to go after a bigger prize; the Vajra. Sakuya seems heartened by their enthusiasm, but in Lindow’s absence it’s her call, and she decides to allow the Vajra hunt.

From there, the hunt is on, and it goes swimmingly at first, with Lenka and Alisa taking out the Vajra’s legs while Kouta and Sakuya blast them. Kouta is a little shaky, but Sakuya tells him to trust in the excellent God Arc he wields, and in himself.

When they hit the Vajra lair, they quickly find themselves surrounded by three Vajra, as well as having about a dozen or so bystanders who come out of nowhere. No matter; the three Vajra are killed by a fourth, a “black Vajra” that even unsettles Alisa. There’s something different about this guy, and it’s not just his looks: he’s much faster, much stronger, and much smarter than the other Vajra.

The God Eater’s day just starts to plain ol’ suck from there, in a big way: no matter what they throw at this guy, he’s ready with vicious counterattacks. No matter how many pills Alisa chomps or how much Lenka yells, they both get brutally smacked around and sliced up. It’s the first instance where the Aragami legitimately scared me.

Our outclassed heroes’ only hope is to retreat, but Lenka and Alisa are so badly-wounded the former can only crawl along while dragging the latter, and the Vajra isn’t about to leave wounded prey alone. Lenka finally appeals to a higher power, if there’s one up there, and it would seem that his last-ditch prayer was at least partially answered, as the Vajra doesn’t simply stomp them into jelly, but steps over them. The bad news is, doing so collapses the rock formation upon which Lenka and Alisa lie, causing them to fall from a great height.

The cut to black, along with the dramatic music with a distinct air of “This Is It” make for a stirring ending…if only that was the end. Rather curiously, after the credits we get another extended flashback with Professor Shicksal and his two colleagues as they celebrate the continued funding of their research, only to be visited by a general who briefs them on the appearance of vicious beasts that have evolved from the “oracle cell” they’re studying.

These flashbacks running parallel to the present-day story continue to not be my favorite, and the timing this week after a present-day cliffhanger was a bit…random. Still, the dark Vajra battle packed quite a punch, and has me eager to see what becomes of the God Eaters.

Gatchaman Crowds Insight – 07

Gelsadra gave everyone the choice of “yes” or “no” for smartphone votes, but he is increasingly frustrated he’s unable to “unite all hearts as one”, as there’s almost always an opposing minority of around 20%, and no matter how hard the other 80% work, that ~20% won’t be convinced. Meanwhile, Gel-san is growing paler, and JJ prophesies that the “scarlet angel” will soon “transform”, and “gentle beasts” will appear “whose names are many.”

Things have also taken a turn for the dark with regards to Tsubasa, who grows ever more militant and unyielding in her belief Gel-san is humanity’s savior, and anyone who questions her is both wrong and “thinking about too much difficult stuff.” Most outwardly guilty of that is, of course, Rui, but a part of Sugane also thinks things aren’t quite right, as does Hajime. Tsubasa forceably changing Hajime’s scissor sign to a Gel-sign is part-in-parcel of the troubling “with us or against us” atmosphere.

Berg-Katze, who has insight few others do, tells Hajime that Gel is a “piece of shit” who can “go die in a fire.” His usual manic hyperbole aside, it’s a pretty clear warning to watch out; humanity has yet to see Gelsadra’s other form(s) yet, and when Berg first met him, he didn’t fight him, he ran.

Tsubasa’s fanaticism reaches its peak when Rui begs Gel-san to reconsider the implementation of a third choice for the phone voting: “leave it to Gel-san,” warning it will cause people to stop thinking for themselves, or at all. When faced with the choice of standing by an increasingly fat and unwell-looking Gelsadra and sticking with the Gatchamen, Tsubasa resigns, tossing her book away.

Finally, when Rui is visits Suzuki for advice, Suzuki says it’s too late, he’s just another ape, and very soon—in a flash—everyone will turn into apes for real. Gel-san vomits out all of the thoughts he’d devoured, and they all infect everyone’s present moods, changing color and ejecting the strange, oddly-shaped and colored “gentle beasts” JJ spoke of. Gel seems scared and unaware such a thing could happen, so perhaps he isn’t doing anything with malaice of forethought.

But that doesn’t change the fact that the prime minister of Japan just unleashed a potential storm of pestilence that will devolve humanity rather than save it. How will Gel’s right-hand-woman Tsubasa spin this new development, I wonder?