Rating: 3.5
After watching this episode completely twice, I cannot help but wonder if it might have looked a bit different if the series had not run into production issues big enough to necessitate two off weeks out of the previous three. It makes more animation conservation moves than normal, plays atypically vague on its shot selection, and has occasional scenes that are outright incomprehensible; the platform drop scene at the 1:10 mark especially sticks out as a weak point. The episode is also suspiciously dodgy on ever giving viewers a good, full look at either the real or fake Morpho; yes, it is so huge that it would not fully fit into a camera shot except at distance, but the only real sense we get of its overall shape is from a very brief computer display from the viewpoint of the Morpho’s controller. I have seen speculation that the animation of the Morpho was the primary sticking point in the delays, but that seems unlikely to have been the whole problem.
At least the episode does return the series to its full-on action component, and the animation of the Reingleifs seems as crisp as ever. Even so, the staging of the action scenes feels more limited. Earlier battle scenes were much more dynamic in their choreography, with the ones here more commonly using representative actions than full-out action stunts. The only scene that fully impressed was the overhead shot of the Morpho firing, which allowed viewers for the first time to see a real-time display of the firing and impact sequences in action. Good use of the musical score to promote tension, and effective use of the chatter of the Black Sheep, help keep the tension level up, but this episode will not be remembered as one of the series’ action high points.
The episode does better on other points, as various scenes throw out all kinds of background tidbits. Kiriya’s memories of Frederica show how her memories of her time with Kiriya, and the affection between them, was not a one-sided interpretation. His comment about how the headless skeleton with shovel insignia used by Shin is specifically a “Nouzen family crest,” rather than just the crest he copied from his brother, is also an interesting bit; that the Nouzen family lived next door to Annette suggested that they were a family of some status, and this confirms that its origins in the Empire must have been of very high status. The exchanges between No Face and Kiriya also reveal that Shin has been identified as a person of interest by the Legion, to the point of being given the code name Baleygr (an alternate name for Odin, which is fitting for one who is regarded as all-seeing when it comes to the Legion), and that the Legion specifically wants him – or, probably more specifically, his brain – intact. On other fronts, the conversation between Grethe and Willem fleshes both out a little more and reveal that the “spider-woman” comment another officer made towards Grethe back in episode 12 was not an idle one.
Contrarily, Ernst’s statements to those assembled in the command center have less impact. His assertion that humanity is not worth saving if it will not maintain certain standards is becoming repetitive at this point, with the only slightly new twist here being the “you elected me, so you have to deal with what you chose” comment thrown in. His statement there does at least affirm that he has no intentions on backing down on that assertion even when things look bleak. The scene where the 86 discover that Frederica has tagged along by hiding in Fido plays out more naturally and confirms that she did, indeed, accompany the 86s even if they were not aware of it. (Really, who expected her to remain behind?) Shin’s tendency to lose himself in battle – as reinforced here by the switches back-and-forth between his profile and Kiriya’s – makes her worry over the 86s having a death wish, and her desire to use herself as a hostage to ensure their safe return, completely understandable, and it’s not like everyone else from the Federacy doesn’t have that same impression about them. The series is fully beating into the ground the point about how no one properly understands the mentality of the 86s, but it is, at least, being consistent about it.
That repetitiveness also, in a way, brings up just how impactful Lena’s minimal presence in this cour is on the story. When I originally read novels 2 and 3, I felt that her greatly reduced role was the story’s weakest point, and unfortunately the anime adaptation has not been able to overcome that flaw. Frederica is a fine character on her own, but she is not a sufficient replacement because she does not provide enough of a different world and situational view, and that lack of screen time forces the story to focus exclusively on the 86s. That is, I feel, a big factor in the story overly dwelling on the point about how no one except the 86s wants to see them in battle.
Despite my criticisms here, this isn’t actually a bad episode; it still looks good overall and does a lot of things at least acceptably well. The series has just set such a high quality standard that any episode which is not a home run (and this one certainly isn’t) looks bad by comparison.
USA Anime 