NinthFeather's Meta Archive

 

I am seriously very nervous though because Akihiro was in the preview but they were a little cagier about Takaki and that was a lot of touching backstory and talking about his family and potential for emotional pain to invest in one character without killing him.  He is thirteen.  Please no stop.  Why are all the little children in danger….oh wait it’s because they’re all children WHY SUNRISE?

 

Next episode will probably hurt.

 

Speaking of backstory, holy crap this episode.  I have not faltered in my need to hug Akihiro, in fact it has intensified.  A lot. I am a longtime FMA fandom veteran, nothing does me in like separated brother stories.  Same goes for Atra.  You could see Kudelia registering the full awfulness of Atra’s story as it was told, and I love how they wrote Atra as clearly not thinking it was a big deal that she was starved for days over screwing up at work as young child.  Also, at least for me, both of these stories were worse because they weren’t sci-fi-horror—this is crap that has happened and continues to happen to actual people in the real world.  Starvation, child labor and of course more slavery and orphaning…this show is still not pulling its punches.

 

Kudelia’s a bit more of a special case.  Her father trying to kill her is a little further out there…while attempted murder and parental abuse are both real as well, in real life parents don’t often send armies after their kids.  And I have to admit that I was a bit outraged, at first, when she followed Atra’s story up with “I envy you…” but what she said made sense.  Atra found a home with the Tekkadan, and given how surprised both the viewers and Kudelia were by what had happened to her, it’s obvious that she was able to heal there.  Kudelia, meanwhile, reveals that she’s feeling isolated as the Tekkadan is coming together…and Atra’s reaction is adorable and horribly awkward all at once. First, her impassioned insistence that it’s a mistake, because fathers love their children (she’s probably dreamed about having one, poor child) and then her determination that now that Kudelia’s family, they can just share Mika, like the Turbines.

 

I don’t necessarily approve of it as a solution to the love triangle but Atra setting her sights on it means that we should be seeing less love triangle shenanigans, and that, I’m on board for.*

 

Speaking of love…I’m pretty sure the show is trying to set something up between Merribit and Orga.  Which, okay, first—I like Merribit.  She’s got a nice character design, Rie Tanaka voices her, she’s very serene but in a way that suggests she might just be waiting for things to get ugly because she knows she’ll be the only one who still has her head on straight.  I really liked her interaction with Orga last episode, too.  But this episode…I dunno.  It felt like they were trying to make some sort of chemistry-through-interpersonal-tension with that discussion in the elevator, but I didn’t really feel it. Also, I seriously need to know how old Orga is before I decide to ship anything.  Age-difference ships where one person is significantly under 18 are not an interest of mine.

 

Biscuit continues to delight me.  He’s incredibly thoughtful, his sisters are adorable, and I hope Merribit makes his job easier rather than more difficult.  Like, seriously, all the best to Biscuit, period.  I wonder if his grandmother sent him to school for a while, and that’s why he can read?  Hmm…

 

Other things I enjoyed: Lafter being perceptive about Akihiro’s moods, Nady (the old man/Gundam mechanic) continuing to remember that Mikazuki is a kid, and, while I love him, the fact that we had almost an entire episode of side character development.  Mikazuki was barely there.  Orga was a little important and so was Kudelia.  But, honestly, this week was mostly about Atra, Akihiro, Takaki and Biscuit. And that’s kind of lovely, when you think about it–that the side cast could properly carry an episode like that.

 

Now, if the show could just refrain from killing them all off we’d be set.

Questions: What’s even going on with Yamagi and Norba?  Are we going to get to see Masahiro (Akihiro’s brother) someday? How is Merribit going to fit into the Tekkadan?

 

Predictions:  I do not want it so much, but Takaki is probably going to die. Kudelia and Merribit are going to have a one-on-one discussion as soon as the plot allows and it will be very interesting.

*A note from the 2018 version of Ninth who's archiving these posts: I'm Christian, and I grew up pretty conservative. I don't have a problem with LGBTQIA+ relationships or the people in them. I never really have, but I have in the past had some pretty out-of-date views, because that's what I grew up with and we are all learning and unlearning things as we go. To tell you the truth, I'm still not terribly comfortable with the idea of polyamory, but it's possible that could change. Just know that even if I'm not as comfortable as I could be with poly relationships and polyshipping, I still have no intention of being unpleasant to anyone who is involved in a relationship like that. If I can be pleasant to the several "friends" on Facebook who only keep me around so they can sell me leggings/essential oils/home goods, I can certainly be personable to someone I differ with ideologically.

 

But, we did get a little bit more of a look at the female pilots.  Once they weren’t in battle they stopped dripping innuendos and became more likeable.  Amida’s got an interesting sort of competent, maternal vibe and was the source of this episode’s “I don’t like fighting children” line, Lafter is probably the most hot-blooded pilot we’ve had in Tekketsu outside of maybe Eugene, which delights me, and Azee…seems to be enjoying the Tekkadan, in her own way.  I enjoyed the interaction between them and the Tekkadan pilots, but also between them and the two girls—though that was as much out of liking the interaction as enjoying both Atra’s determination to cheer up Kudelia and the faces they both made at the babies.  

 

Then, there was the Naze and Orga scene. Oh gosh.  I had difficulty watching that.  For one thing, Orga’s speech about iron and blood was not a skillful title drop.  But, the other thing was how good of a job they did with his body language this episode.  Honestly, that scene would not have hurt me in the ways that it did if the frame had focused on his face, but it kept going to his hands, the way one was tightening around the other wrist, it showed him trying to keep a lid on everything for negotiations and failing in a way that his facial expressions wouldn’t have and was a really skillful choice that conveyed emotion without overplaying it. Also, the conversation itself…I was very, very pleased with Naze when he flicked Orga in the forehead for saying he was willing to die.  Because, Naze has a point.  The Tekkadan needs Orga to stay together, so he can’t afford to be reckless… (please let this mean he lives for a while…) Him freaking out in the hallway afterward and making a face when Biscuit laughed at him might be the first time that he actually seemed like a kid to me during this series, by the by.  I’ve got solid guesses for nearly everyone’s ages except his.

 

And then Naze laughed at him for calling the Tekkadan comrades, when he was clearly thinking of them as family, and I got very excited, because that is my exact favorite thing.  And once Orga awkwardly brought it up to Mika, that he wasn’t going to ditch him because that isn’t how family works?  Yep.  Done.  Everything is beautiful.

 

This seems a bit healthier than earlier interactions between Orga and Mika, so perhaps they’re growing in less co-dependent directions?  One can hope, anyway.  I’m still putting all my hope in Biscuit, who, for all of his timidity, seems to be in charge of practical matters and anchoring Orga and Mika’s obsessive drives in reality.

 

Well, and then the preview happened.  I saw Orga in traditional Japanese clothing in a way that implied that it was going to last for a significant part of an episode.  This pleases me.  (I would really like official ages on these characters soon, I swear if he’s sixteen I am going to be so creeped out, but for right now he looks like he’s 19 or so and man, does he look good in a haori).  It also implies that Teiwaz is less the space mafia and more the space yakuza which is a very different kettle of fish, at least in some ways—though in others, not so different—they’re both basically criminal organizations with codes of behavior, it’s just that the codes themselves are pretty different.  Who knows, Teiwaz may end up being more of a Japanese-themed tertium quid that isn’t really like either one.

 

Predictions: Eugene will never get a girlfriend, not if he keeps running around yelling “Women!” and insisting he doesn’t care.  More seriously, getting into Teiwaz is going to be trickier than it seems.

 

Questions: What the heck is meant by Kudelia being “property” in relation to Gyjallarhorn?

 

The Calamity War’s overt, clearly deliberate evoking of colonialism themes, combined with the stuff I’ve been noticing over previous episodes and this episode’s frank discussion of the Tekkadan boys’ options in life has me pretty happy over the sheer amount of political statements being made. Like, the “Social Justice in Space” thing was a joke—mostly because “social justice” is a term that has at this point been rendered essentially meaningless by the sheer number of different meanings it’s been assigned—but Tekketsu seems very blatantly concerned with societal issues. Conveniently for those of us watching from various English-speaking countries, many of the issues that are being touched on—opportunity inequality, extreme poverty, and colonialism, to name some—are shared issues.  Interestingly, none of them are the horror of war.  Obviously, we’re going to get there.  The child soldier thing’s been touched on, and I doubt that opening scene with Mikazuki and Orga will remain unexplained.  But there’s been a surprising, almost refreshing amount of focus on ideological messages that aren’t war is hell in the first few episodes and I’m sort of shocked by it.

 

Speaking of all of this—Kudelia’s teaching!  I literally shouted “Yes!  Literacy!” while watching that scene and it’s probably good that no one was around to stare at me while I did it.  After listening to her explain the situation she was trying to negotiate in—and I loved the way that exposition was structured, it felt natural and it showed Kudelia’s, Atra’s, and Mikazuki’s characters too—I was really impressed with how patient she was.  Someone more full of themselves might not have been so understanding about their lack of current events knowledge.  The fact that she then decided to teach not just Mika but the other boys writing was so great.  Like, she’s trying so hard to make everything that’s awful about the situation just a little less bad.  And, on that note, Mikazuki’s attempt at writing his name…ugh, I have feelings about it.

 

Speaking of that—I am starting to have some hesitation about my previous brotp feelings for Mikazuki and Orga.  To be clearer—their relationship, as portrayed in this episode, is not healthy and I am concerned.  Like, seriously, what happened to these children? That Orga, who’s pretty much a tactical genius, will take borderline stupid risks because Mikazuki is looking to him for direction—that Mikazuki, who is strong and competent in his own right, will trust in Orga blindly to the point of ignoring conversations he should probably be in on?  They’re starting to look a little co-dependent to me and I am concerned; the writer for this series worked on Anohana and while I did not watch that I got the impression that the overview of the plot was dead childhood friend comes back and highlights the dysfunction in all of her former clubmates’ current relationships.  So she’s more than capable of doing something like this.  But it is not a thing I want.  Do not make me doubt the brotp, please.

 

The other thing I am very much doubting is my initial dismissal of Fumitan.  I thought the writers were just going to have her sit in the background; that’s not happening and I am thrilled to be wrong.  Granted, I’m still not sure if she’s actually on the Tekkadan’s side, or if she’s been reporting back to either Kudelia’s father or someone else with Gjallarhorn all this time—she’s been looking kind of shifty—but I am thrilled regardless. If I am offered a dynamic female bridge crew member, I will take her; if I am offered a dynamic female villain, I’ll take her, too!  Either way, competent adult female, which is always great.

 

My final comment is on that ending, and the preview—the lady from the opening is apparently in the next episode, which is cool, and so is Maruba, which isn’t so great.  I’m interested to see if the Tekkadan actually fights with him, if they negotiate, if he gets pulled into the standoff with Gjallarhorn…if he does, it could be disastrous, since there’s a chance he has personnel files.  Sure, Chocolate Man McGillis and His Friend Gaelio have seen Mikazuki, but that’s different from knowing his age and having records of the implant surgeries he had.  I doubt that’s what will happen, but it’s interesting to think about what the results would be if it did.

 

Questions: What kind of trauma caused Mikazuki and Orga’s current relationship?  What is Fumitan’s deal, anyways–is her shiftiness a red herring or is she actually untrustworthy? Why isn’t Ein being sent for a post-combat psych eval at this point?

Predictions: Chocolate Man is still my bet for Char Clone. I am increasingly worried about Orga’s life expectancy.

 

Todo is a lowlife and that domino is falling by the end of the next episode.  Either he dies next episode at one of the Tekkadan’s hands or he survives a gratingly long amount of time as a proof of the capriciousness of war.  

 

Either way, that promises to be an utter mess and probably the first battle that goes really badly for the Tekkadan.  By episode 5, we’re due for a rout, anyhow.

 

Speaking of awful things, the Human Debris.  Oh gosh.  Slaves.  Just when we thought Mars couldn’t get uglier, it got uglier.  There’s a question of whether this is just meant to be a bit of thematic awfulness or social commentary, too, since slavery/human trafficking is still a thing that happens, especially in disadvantaged, poor populations.  Either way, Orga giving them their papers was spectacular, especially the way he was deliberately casual about it.

 

And, speaking of social commentary, the whole scene with Kudelia and Mikazuki in the cornfield felt like it to me.  At the very least, it was reinforcing the existence of their differences in experiences…Kudelia finding the work “refreshing” while Mikazuki was concerned about earning his friend’s grandmother money to live.  I’ve lived near working farms and know farmers; I kinda find Kudelia…well, not cute, in that scene, because of her attitude there.

 

Speaking of her, I can’t say I’m a fan of the developing love triangle between her, Mikazuki, and Atra.  I find both girl-guy pairs cute but I’m not here for the competition between them, I’m here for robots, politics, and angst, not necessarily in that order.

 

We do have another confirmed existent girl, though!  Given, she’s 9 years old and probably has Gaelio’s weird hair genes–but she exists.

 

Poor Gaelio, though–if he has to write a mission report on this episode, he probably ends up ready to resign his commission in disgrace by the end of it.  “I swerved to avoid the two children, got out of the vehicle to ascertain their condition, and then was nearly choked to death by a teenager.  Shortly thereafter I nearly threw up after mention of a medical procedure said teenager underwent.”  He did not have a good showing, this episode.

 

Questions: Where, exactly, are they going with Ein Dalton’s character now that they’ve killed Crank and the other guy on his team?  Is Kudelia’s spine going to make a reappearance?  How badly is the relative calm of this episode going to be counterbalanced next week?

 

Predictions: Biscuit now has three likable family members; he is going to die.  Orga is hitting every Jerk with a Heart of Gold button I have and acting as the inspiration for the Tekkadan; he is going to die, too.  McGillis Fareed just acknowledged his enemy’s fighting skill, wears a uniform with a cape, and is blond–he’s the Char clone.  

Mikazuki: Illiterate child-soldier who’s been experimented on and yet retained unbreakable trust in his childhood friend?  He basically makes me want to hide him in a blanket fort and very carefully offer him hugs.  

 

Orga: I was gone the first time he smirked.  He’s Hannibal Smith from dystopia and that is beautiful.  And then, when he insisted that he was going to be the only one who would be getting beat up for their plan?  Yes, yes, good.

 

Crank Zent: I love it when they’re actually pissed off about the child soldiers, like they should be.  I hope he gets to die with honor (I’d hope he lives but this is Gundam, let’s be real).

 

Nady Yukinojo Kassapa: AKA the Old Man, the mechanic guy.  He was so sweet with Mika, the entire time.  Yay for at least one adult on Mars who isn’t a jerk.

 

Mika and Orga’s relationship: Okay, on one hand, unthinking trust normally worries me, but on the other hand, it’s very clear that these kids have no other constants in their lives and the fact that they have this, and it’s so natural to them, just hurts me.  These two are going to hurt me more in the future, too, I can see ways for the writers to do it, and I am just bracing myself.

 

How they showed that Mika couldn’t read: Nady handing him the manual, and him just sort of smiling kind of awkwardly, and Nady being, like, ‘Oh, right’ and talking about Mika being uneducated right afterward…it was so subtle, and so good.

 

Kudelia’s arc so far: Episode two and she’s already interrogating her stance on things based on what she’s seen.  As opposed to most of the Gundam “princesses” (ladies with pretty clothes and political power/actual titles) who are usually still stuck at the “I’m right and you should listen” or “Oh gosh this is all too awful it can’t really be this bad” stage at this point in the series.  May she keep moving forward!

 

The social commentary: Child soldiers!  Oppression!  Painfully skinny kids dressed in dull rags while the other side swans around in dress-uniforms with half-capes in case you missed the income inequality!  So many corrupt officers!  This is what Gundam Wing was trying to do before all the backstory episodes got cut; this is what Gundam 00 did, too, but not to the same extent because its focus was different.  Please, please do not let up. 

 

What I didn’t love
 

Where are all the ladies?  Yes, there were six of them.  Kudelia, her mom Tomomi, Atra, Fumitan, Cookie and Cracker. Only one is in any kind of leadership role, unless you count Tomomi who is unlikely to recur. All of Atra’s characterization was centered around her crush on Mika, Fumitan barely talks, and Cookie and Cracker are basically mascot-kids.  I came into this franchise on Seed and stayed for 00, I am expecting at least one lady ship captain and preferably some lady pilots.  I love the boys but there are too many and the girls are not getting to do enough.

 

Hey, the weird hair’s back!  I was pampered by Gundam 00.  I liked when most of the characters had either normal hair or weird hair that could be explained (Feldt dyes hers, other characters with weird hair aren’t completely human).  Unless Kudelia’s a Newtype, I’m thinking Gundam Tekketsu’s not gonna follow that.  I don’t know what the heck’s up with Gaelio’s hair but I think it’s gonna eat someone.  

 

The ending theme: Only bit of the music I didn’t like.  Just not sold on it yet, maybe–but I watched Magic Kaito the whole way through and I will never like “White of Crime.”