Episode 6: 'Lust'
An enemy robot comes and starts attacking right of the bat. What's great about this scene is that the anime is able to capture the size and the destructive capabilities of it. There are many shots where the destruction is shun from the perspective of the humans. Now, the military starts attacking it, and their efforts turn futile, and their force is destroyed instantly. Meanwhile, Chizu finds Kako in an aquarium, and he is very afraid, and is overcome with desperation. He then proceeds to molest and rape her, but, Chizu pushes him off a set of stairs. What happens in this scene is that it cuts back and forth between this and the robot destroying everything. Usually, when this happens in an anime or a movie, it reduces the tension of both scenes, but, here, it was done really well. Then, the building falls down on Kako. As everyone is summoned inside the robot, Kako arrives dead, and Chizu is now the pilot.
Episode 7: 'Scars'
The entire episode is dedicated to Chizu's back-story, and I was caught by surprise. In the episode, we see that Chizu sort of has an inferiority complex with her elder sibling, and thinks that she is not given enough attention by he parents. Her sports teacher convinces her sister to help her follow her dreams and not hinder it, and she eventually becomes close with him. He gets fired, and when she goes to console him at his house, he(I think), takes advantage of the situation and has sex with her. Then, the next day she discovers pictures of them on the internet, storms to his house and finds out that she was being taped. On her way home, she runs into her sister, and realises that he is also having a relationship with her, much to her shock.
Episode 8: 'Vengeance'
While Neon Genesis Evangelion had sexual imagery and relationships, it was very covert. In this anime, the creators are very bold about their choices. Overcome with rage, she wishes to unleash vengeance on her teacher, and proceeds to her hometown. She tries to slowly and violently kill him, but, he is shielded by her sister, and at that moment, she chickens out and leaves. When she is on the verge of giving up, her friends convince her not to, and she proceeds to crush the enemy robot, and she dies. The thing about this episode is that the entire time, I was rooting for her and that was possible because they took the time to allow us to care about her. That's something that completely surprised me, in a good way. Then, after they come out of Zearth, they notice lights on its head. Moji theorizes that it corresponds to the number of pilots left, but, says that the numbers don't add up. With fifteen enemies left, they deduce that they are 2 members short, meaning, that one member was Chizu's unborn child, who died with her, and apart from Kana, one more member hadn't contracted.
Episode 9: 'Family'
Daichi is selected to be the pilot. We are given a little bit about his back-story, of how his father left him, and how he's working hard at his uncle's place to help his siblings. He's given 4 tickets for an amusement park by his uncle, and he wishes to enjoy it with his siblings, but, the enemy arrives before he can do so, and he is forced to evacuate his family, and defeat the robot, and he dies. I thought this episode was pretty good. They fleshed out his back-story just enough to make me are about him when he's fighting, but, it was not as compelling as the last few episodes. Plus, Kana asks Tanaka to find Ushiro's real mother, probably implying that they are not siblings.
Episode 10: 'Friends'
Nakama is chosen as the pilot, and we learn that her mother was a prostitute before she was born, and she's unfortunately bullied for that by her classmates. She eventually decides to do the same herself, and she contacts her mother's boss for that, who makes her meet with an acquaintance of her mother, and he convinces her to not do it, and takes her to her mother's place and they have a good time. She knits some clothes for her friends, and she fights and she dies. This episode was fine, but, it felt kind of repetitive to me. It followed the exact formula as the last episode, and the fault I have in both of them is that while the anime attempts to flesh them out, when they are actually fighting, it ends pretty quickly. At least in the last episode, Daichi had a sense of urgency, and he wanted to do whatever he could for his siblings, and he also had a sense of fear. And, this episode didn't have any of that. Plus, even when they are fighting, there's not much tension or suspense, and they end pretty quickly, so there's not much pay-off, and I'm talking about just this episode(and maybe episode 9).
Episode 11: 'Life'
Moji becomes the pilot, and this episode follows the same formula as the previous one, but, the difference is that I thought this episode was way better. We learn that Moji, and his friends Nagi, Tsubasa were orphans at an orphanage and they become close friends. But, a few years later, Nagi develops a heart condition and is bed-ridden, and he needs a donor. Moji opines that since he was glad it was Tsubasa, the girl he liked was not the one who had a terminal disease and it was his friend, and since he didn't really care about him, becoming a pilot was his punishment. He wishes to transplant his heart to his friend, and he proceeds to fight. Now, this is the part that differentiates this episode from the last. This is a mecha anime, and the previous episode had an extremely generic battle, whereas this episode's battle was pretty creative. Plus(as I theorized earlier), Moji posits that the other robots probably have pilots like them too, which totally changes everything.
Episode 12: 'Related by Blood'
Maki become the pilot, and the entire episode is about her back-story. She reveals that she is adopted, and her mother is pregnant and she is due in 2 weeks, and she desperately wants to see her little brother. I thought this episode was pretty sweet. And, there was a sense of urgency in this episode. Maki really wanted to watch her younger brother come to life, and, I felt her arc was kind of realised well. Coming to the main plot, after Maki proceeds to fight, they notice that don't recognise the place the are currently at and Koyemshi reveals that they are not on this Earth. The thing I like about this series is that it doesn't have one big scene at the end where the protagonists are being dumped exposition. Each plot point is revealed slowly through each episode. Plus, the big fight is saved for the next episode and is not rushed though in the last couple of minutes(hopefully).
Episode 13: 'Earth'
Koyemshi reveals that the crew has to come a parallel Earth, and that each parallel world has a robot, and if that robot gets destroyed, the Universe devolves into nothingness. A fight ensues between Zearth and the robot, and while initially, everyone including Maki are very conflicted, Maki realises that this Earth doesn't have her mother, father and her brother, and she uses that as a justification to kill the robot and destroy the Universe. Kanji also asks Koyemshi whether the ones piloting the robots are actual humans, and he is given 'yes' as an answer. After the robot is defeated, Maki makes hole in the vital point, and through it she sees actual humans piloting it. She has no choice but to destroy and then, the Universe gets destroyed, and they return to their Earth and Maki sees visions of her younger brother being born, and she dies. Then, Tanaka asks everyone to come to their home, and while the girls are one their way, their are about to get kidnapped(possibly) by a few men, and at the end, Tanaka deus-ex-machina's and as she tries to save them, she shoots a bullet, and the credit rolls. I thought this episode was very good. We got a huge reveal, as this happens to be the mid-point in the series, and the progression of the plot felt natural and seamless, and also, the whole universe getting destroyed was pretty good. The only gripe I have is that the lighting was not exactly the best during the mecha battle.
Episode 14: 'Hesitation'
Tanaka fends off the attackers of the children, and learns that they were armed. When Government agents contact her again, she demands bodyguards for them, and she learns that the attackers were agents of power companies who were trying to steal this technology, and they also ask Tanaka to insert chips into the children to get better results. It's learnt that Kirie is the next pilot, and Kanji is the son of a researcher at the Research Institute. She takes them to her, and she is surprised to learn that her son is a pilot. Tanaka allows her to insert chips, on the condition that the children, including Kirie, the next pilot, will be released from the contract. Meanwhile, Seki, investigating Kana's request about Ushiro's mother, learns that Tanaka is her mother. And, obviously this means that Kana and Ushiro are not siblings, and are probably cousins, and Tanaka probably left him at Kana's parents' when he was an infant. I wonder how their relationship is gonna go, since Ushiro is gonna learn the truth soon. Plus, I wonder if the institute will be able to find a way to release them.
Episode 15: 'Self-Destruction'
Tanaka has allies in a shady organisation, and gets their help to acquire the Zearth report and talks about it to Takami's father. Then, that organisation's head asks a member to look after Ushiro(Tanaka's son) and Kana. Ushiro is headed to Kirie's place with Seki to check on him, and he sees that him and his mother, now jobless, are in a miserable condition. Overcome with depression, his mother attempts suicide, but, Ushiro and Seki save her at the nick of time. Now on board Zearth, Kirie says he doesn't have the resolve to fight, but, the enemy robot commits suicide, much to everyone's surprise. Kirie is still the pilot for the next battle. Now, obviously, the main highlight of this episode is the fact that the enemy robots committed suicide, and I wonder why. At this stage of the game, they probably know that that would mean the end of their world. Plus, I wonder when Tanaka is gonna reveal the truth to Ushiro.
An enemy robot comes and starts attacking right of the bat. What's great about this scene is that the anime is able to capture the size and the destructive capabilities of it. There are many shots where the destruction is shun from the perspective of the humans. Now, the military starts attacking it, and their efforts turn futile, and their force is destroyed instantly. Meanwhile, Chizu finds Kako in an aquarium, and he is very afraid, and is overcome with desperation. He then proceeds to molest and rape her, but, Chizu pushes him off a set of stairs. What happens in this scene is that it cuts back and forth between this and the robot destroying everything. Usually, when this happens in an anime or a movie, it reduces the tension of both scenes, but, here, it was done really well. Then, the building falls down on Kako. As everyone is summoned inside the robot, Kako arrives dead, and Chizu is now the pilot.
Episode 7: 'Scars'
The entire episode is dedicated to Chizu's back-story, and I was caught by surprise. In the episode, we see that Chizu sort of has an inferiority complex with her elder sibling, and thinks that she is not given enough attention by he parents. Her sports teacher convinces her sister to help her follow her dreams and not hinder it, and she eventually becomes close with him. He gets fired, and when she goes to console him at his house, he(I think), takes advantage of the situation and has sex with her. Then, the next day she discovers pictures of them on the internet, storms to his house and finds out that she was being taped. On her way home, she runs into her sister, and realises that he is also having a relationship with her, much to her shock.
Episode 8: 'Vengeance'
While Neon Genesis Evangelion had sexual imagery and relationships, it was very covert. In this anime, the creators are very bold about their choices. Overcome with rage, she wishes to unleash vengeance on her teacher, and proceeds to her hometown. She tries to slowly and violently kill him, but, he is shielded by her sister, and at that moment, she chickens out and leaves. When she is on the verge of giving up, her friends convince her not to, and she proceeds to crush the enemy robot, and she dies. The thing about this episode is that the entire time, I was rooting for her and that was possible because they took the time to allow us to care about her. That's something that completely surprised me, in a good way. Then, after they come out of Zearth, they notice lights on its head. Moji theorizes that it corresponds to the number of pilots left, but, says that the numbers don't add up. With fifteen enemies left, they deduce that they are 2 members short, meaning, that one member was Chizu's unborn child, who died with her, and apart from Kana, one more member hadn't contracted.
Episode 9: 'Family'
Daichi is selected to be the pilot. We are given a little bit about his back-story, of how his father left him, and how he's working hard at his uncle's place to help his siblings. He's given 4 tickets for an amusement park by his uncle, and he wishes to enjoy it with his siblings, but, the enemy arrives before he can do so, and he is forced to evacuate his family, and defeat the robot, and he dies. I thought this episode was pretty good. They fleshed out his back-story just enough to make me are about him when he's fighting, but, it was not as compelling as the last few episodes. Plus, Kana asks Tanaka to find Ushiro's real mother, probably implying that they are not siblings.
Episode 10: 'Friends'
Nakama is chosen as the pilot, and we learn that her mother was a prostitute before she was born, and she's unfortunately bullied for that by her classmates. She eventually decides to do the same herself, and she contacts her mother's boss for that, who makes her meet with an acquaintance of her mother, and he convinces her to not do it, and takes her to her mother's place and they have a good time. She knits some clothes for her friends, and she fights and she dies. This episode was fine, but, it felt kind of repetitive to me. It followed the exact formula as the last episode, and the fault I have in both of them is that while the anime attempts to flesh them out, when they are actually fighting, it ends pretty quickly. At least in the last episode, Daichi had a sense of urgency, and he wanted to do whatever he could for his siblings, and he also had a sense of fear. And, this episode didn't have any of that. Plus, even when they are fighting, there's not much tension or suspense, and they end pretty quickly, so there's not much pay-off, and I'm talking about just this episode(and maybe episode 9).
Episode 11: 'Life'
Moji becomes the pilot, and this episode follows the same formula as the previous one, but, the difference is that I thought this episode was way better. We learn that Moji, and his friends Nagi, Tsubasa were orphans at an orphanage and they become close friends. But, a few years later, Nagi develops a heart condition and is bed-ridden, and he needs a donor. Moji opines that since he was glad it was Tsubasa, the girl he liked was not the one who had a terminal disease and it was his friend, and since he didn't really care about him, becoming a pilot was his punishment. He wishes to transplant his heart to his friend, and he proceeds to fight. Now, this is the part that differentiates this episode from the last. This is a mecha anime, and the previous episode had an extremely generic battle, whereas this episode's battle was pretty creative. Plus(as I theorized earlier), Moji posits that the other robots probably have pilots like them too, which totally changes everything.
Episode 12: 'Related by Blood'
Maki become the pilot, and the entire episode is about her back-story. She reveals that she is adopted, and her mother is pregnant and she is due in 2 weeks, and she desperately wants to see her little brother. I thought this episode was pretty sweet. And, there was a sense of urgency in this episode. Maki really wanted to watch her younger brother come to life, and, I felt her arc was kind of realised well. Coming to the main plot, after Maki proceeds to fight, they notice that don't recognise the place the are currently at and Koyemshi reveals that they are not on this Earth. The thing I like about this series is that it doesn't have one big scene at the end where the protagonists are being dumped exposition. Each plot point is revealed slowly through each episode. Plus, the big fight is saved for the next episode and is not rushed though in the last couple of minutes(hopefully).
Episode 13: 'Earth'
Koyemshi reveals that the crew has to come a parallel Earth, and that each parallel world has a robot, and if that robot gets destroyed, the Universe devolves into nothingness. A fight ensues between Zearth and the robot, and while initially, everyone including Maki are very conflicted, Maki realises that this Earth doesn't have her mother, father and her brother, and she uses that as a justification to kill the robot and destroy the Universe. Kanji also asks Koyemshi whether the ones piloting the robots are actual humans, and he is given 'yes' as an answer. After the robot is defeated, Maki makes hole in the vital point, and through it she sees actual humans piloting it. She has no choice but to destroy and then, the Universe gets destroyed, and they return to their Earth and Maki sees visions of her younger brother being born, and she dies. Then, Tanaka asks everyone to come to their home, and while the girls are one their way, their are about to get kidnapped(possibly) by a few men, and at the end, Tanaka deus-ex-machina's and as she tries to save them, she shoots a bullet, and the credit rolls. I thought this episode was very good. We got a huge reveal, as this happens to be the mid-point in the series, and the progression of the plot felt natural and seamless, and also, the whole universe getting destroyed was pretty good. The only gripe I have is that the lighting was not exactly the best during the mecha battle.
Episode 14: 'Hesitation'
Tanaka fends off the attackers of the children, and learns that they were armed. When Government agents contact her again, she demands bodyguards for them, and she learns that the attackers were agents of power companies who were trying to steal this technology, and they also ask Tanaka to insert chips into the children to get better results. It's learnt that Kirie is the next pilot, and Kanji is the son of a researcher at the Research Institute. She takes them to her, and she is surprised to learn that her son is a pilot. Tanaka allows her to insert chips, on the condition that the children, including Kirie, the next pilot, will be released from the contract. Meanwhile, Seki, investigating Kana's request about Ushiro's mother, learns that Tanaka is her mother. And, obviously this means that Kana and Ushiro are not siblings, and are probably cousins, and Tanaka probably left him at Kana's parents' when he was an infant. I wonder how their relationship is gonna go, since Ushiro is gonna learn the truth soon. Plus, I wonder if the institute will be able to find a way to release them.
Episode 15: 'Self-Destruction'
Tanaka has allies in a shady organisation, and gets their help to acquire the Zearth report and talks about it to Takami's father. Then, that organisation's head asks a member to look after Ushiro(Tanaka's son) and Kana. Ushiro is headed to Kirie's place with Seki to check on him, and he sees that him and his mother, now jobless, are in a miserable condition. Overcome with depression, his mother attempts suicide, but, Ushiro and Seki save her at the nick of time. Now on board Zearth, Kirie says he doesn't have the resolve to fight, but, the enemy robot commits suicide, much to everyone's surprise. Kirie is still the pilot for the next battle. Now, obviously, the main highlight of this episode is the fact that the enemy robots committed suicide, and I wonder why. At this stage of the game, they probably know that that would mean the end of their world. Plus, I wonder when Tanaka is gonna reveal the truth to Ushiro.
