SAKUGAN – 05 – UNBROKEN CHAIN

At first, it looks like Merooro is transporting Gagumber and Memenpu to some off-site labor facility as punishment for their crimes, but that site turns out to be a lush forest brimming with flora and fauna known by the Bureau of Regulation as Windy Hill, which sounds like a Sonic level. There’s only one problem: the forest is dying. The genius Memenpu soon diagnoses the problem: not enough wind in Windy Hill.

That wind is produced by a labyrinthine ancient industrial metropolis that looks like a cross between Midgar and the world of Girls Last Tour. It’s packed with technology contemporary humans can only dream of, but a piece of that technology is failing, resulting in Windy Hill being in jeopardy. Fortunately for Merooro, Memenpu is a certified genius with seven doctorates from Pinyin University.

Having memorized the map of the complex after a glance, Memenpu leads the way, possessed of an eternal wellspring of curiousity and awe of her surroundings. The place is hella cool, but her reputation for having an excellent sense of direction is threatened when the trio run into one dead end after another.

That’s when Memenpu consults Urorop’s map, which of course includes the complex, and determines that the dead ends are a result of all the various pieces of the complex constantly shifting and moving to alter the wind speed and flow. The bright lines on the map represent the flow of the “animus”, the inscrutible element that provides the complex its power.

The gaps in those lines are where the animus isn’t getting, due to leaks from the aging pipework. After some shogiand tea—both things Memenpu had never experienced, as they’re part of the world of yore but Merooro’s stock and trade—she leads the other two on a confident march through the complex, tracking down leaks and making repairs.

When those repairs cause a buildup of pressure, Memenpu knows just what sequence of things to do to release that pressure. But she wouldn’t have even made it this far if Gagumber hadn’t caught her when her jump across a ravine was short and she almost plummeted to her death. She also relies on Gagumber and Merooro’s elbow grease to turn a crucial valve that happens to be very rusty.

Merooro admires Memenpu’s insatiable curiosity and Gagumber’s determination to nurture it by accompanying her, but curiosity killed the cat, and Merooro worries that if Memenpu doesn’t choose a safer way of life, her curosity will claim her life far too soon. Almost on cue, a big pipe cracks above Memenpu as she descends a ladder, and she gets absolutely doused in deadly, acid-like animus.

Fortunately, both her hazmat suit and her stuffed goat hold up. I mean, it’s not like this show was going to kill Memenpu! Still, it was a close call, and not the first of this mission to restore Windy Hil. With Memenpu determined to find her dream place, it likely won’t be the last close call, or the closest. Gagumber’s role as her safety net will only grow more crucial as their journey continues.

Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryokou – 07

While attempting to follow Ishii’s route to the ration production facility, Chito and Yuuri find themselves utterly lost in a labyrinth of pipes. Chito’s intense fear of heights rears its head, and naturally Yuuri has a little fun with that, as she doesn’t fear heights in the least.

Still, Yuu takes pity on Chito, lets her tie them together with rope (so either one of them will keep the other from falling, or they’ll both go down), and stays close during the scary bits. Even so, they have to find flat ground at some point; they’re getting tired and it’s getting dark.

While Yuuri is the one obsessed with foot, it’s Chito whose slighter weight breaks through a weak spot of the pipe, revealing a bright light that makes Chito look like she’s glowing (in a way, a callback to Yuu’s belief Chito resembled the gods whose idols populated the temple).

They enter the pipe and are treated to a well-lit route with arrow signs pointing in the right direction. Yuu whimsically suggests they “explore” by ignoring said signs, but Chito isn’t having it; wandering aimlessly will only make them hungrier and more tired, and they only come upon one last measly potato in what looks like a vast airpoinics bay.

The arrows lead deeper into the production facility where Chi and Yuu encounter heavy-duty industrial food production machinery that’s still operational, a testament to the now-long-gone people who designed and built the stuff.

It’s been a long time since Yuu not-so-playfully pulled a gun on Chi, leading me to wonder the next time she’d play with her only companion’s life. That comes when Yuu switches on the gigantic potato masher…when poor Chi is on the conveyor. She switches it off…then on again…then off again, and Chi makes her pay by roughly handling her cheeks.

Still, Yuu proves particularly useful this week, both with her courage in the pipe labyrinth and the highly detailed memories of baking with Gramps. That knowledge is put to use as she and Chi gather powdered potatoes, sugar, salt, and water, and start mixing and kneading ration dough.

The dough is cut into bricks and popped in the giant oven, and a bit later they’ve got a decent supply fresh rations, which pass the taste test with flying colors, even calling forth the girls’ patented “headmelt of satisfaction.”

With the Kettenkrad and nearly all sight of the outside world sidelined, this was all about Yuu and Chi on their own, giving each other a hard time but also having each other’s backs. While the rations won’t last forever, they’ll last a while (unless Yuu goes to town while Chi sleeps).

adding a welcome measure of optimism to the conclusion of an episode on the heels of last week’s failed flight. Better still, it was packed to bursting with wonderful Chi-Yuu banter and interactions. Honestly, I could listen to Minase Inori and Kubo Yurika read the phone book together.