Is it just me, or is the ‘Battle of Trost Arc’ really starting to drag? It’s not that stuff didn’t happen – we learned what makes Mikasa tick, Armin came out of his shell more, there was a well-planned reversal of a hopeless situation that even gave Jean a bit more depth, and a major plot bomb got dropped – but did we really need 6 episodes to cover all of that? The stand-off with Captain Wellman’s troops didn’t really feel as tense as it should’ve, either. It was a good setup, with his soldiers terrified by the idea that the enemy might be in their very midst, creating some obvious and understandable fears and potential for things to go wrong. It’s obvious that Wellman is supposed to come across as a bad officer, but something about the way he was not just unsure of what to do but almost completely frozen in panic just didn’t work for me. I suppose it was because rather than feeling like a race, trying to convince him to stand down before he decided our main trio was too much of a threat, it felt more like they were being saved by his inability to do anything; they certainly had lots of time of sit there and plan. And it isn’t even over yet, which is kind of annoying when the one really good part of the stand-off was the hint about the nature of Eren’s newfound ability. I don’t care about seeing him use his Titan powers to block the gate, I want to find out what’s in that goddamn basement!
When Eren first got ‘killed’ I thought it was one of the best
moments to date. It was surprising even for a series that made it clear people
were going to die left right and center, after all, he’s still the main
character and we’re pretty well-conditioned to assume they’ll live at least, and had the potential to take it in an
interesting direction. I was wondering how I’d feel it somehow wrote its way
out of this, and honestly, what they did works fine, since it’s now clear that
it was foreshadowed, without letting the viewer realize it had been, which is
the best kind. Because c’mon, what else could you possibly think his father’s
injection was for, after this? Hey, if you want to oppose someone or something,
it’s best if you at least level the playing field.
Gargartia on the
Verdurous Planet [ep 10, Island of Ambition]
I’ve gotta give Flange credit here. When he decided to go
with Pinion* I assumed his reasons were profit-driven, but it turns out he
really did want to use what they found for the benefit of everyone. Too bad Pinion’s
greed is infectious.
I’d wonder what Pinion is thinking, but the only thing going
through his head now is probably ‘first wealth and power, then the bitches!’ So
I don’t have to wonder, because the answer is that he’s not thinking. By
broadcasting ‘I found all the kickass loot and you can’t have it, so nyah!’ he’s guaranteed to provoke a
response, especially from raiders and opportunists like pirates, now that it’s
been suggested that the area is safe. “They started it” my ass. Nobody was
going after the whalesquid ‘treasure’ in the first place, so it’s not like he
needed to worry about anyone else swooping in to take it until after he
announced its existence himself.
It’s as wonky as Chamber’s reasoning for why what Ledo’s
learned about the Hideauze changes nothing. According to him, what makes humans
human is that they rely on innovation and machines to overcome their
limitations, whereas the Hideauze went in a different direction, adapting their
very bodies to survive in their new environment. Basically, because they chose
to adapt themselves biologically rather than using artificial means, they can
no longer be considered human. Or in other words, his logic for why they
shouldn’t be thought of as human basically boils down to ‘because they’re doing
it wrong!’ Yeah, air-tight reasoning
right there. Good thing Ledo isn’t buying it, now that he’s really started to
realize how he’s only ever been living for what others want. Even his decision
to join Pinion’s expedition was motivated by his desire to cling to a now all-but-useless
purpose someone else gave him. Contrary to what Chamber says, he most
definitely has a choice and he’s starting to realize that.
And speaking of the Alliance….
Being the kind of story it is, I knew they were going to do
‘the hero’s old life catches up with him’ eventually, though I’ll admit when I
first started watching this show I assumed it would be the Hideauze manage to
follow him and he has to fight again to protect the new life he’s come to
value. Which, of course, no longer makes any sense, since it would go against
the direction the show’s taken thematically. The Alliance showing up, however,
that fits just fine, since it’s a safe assumption they’re going to agree with
Chamber. And because being torn between going back to what he knows and
embracing what he’s come to realize isn’t hard enough, probably another pod of
Hideauze is going to show up and make things really complicated.
You know, because they weren’t about to get bad enough now
that the situation looks like it’ll turn into an all-out brawl over ancient technology
soon enough. In other words, you can bet everyone’s going to converge on the
area, things will start going boom!,
and it won’t surprise me in the least if Amy gets killed in the crossfire to
make everyone realize ‘OMG, fighting each other is horrible!’ She’s had some nice character moments, like showing the
strength of her beliefs by stepping in Ledo’s way in episode 7, even though she
probably knew it was kind of pointless since Chamber could just pick her up and
move her out of the way. But she’s still a symbol of everything that’s good and
pure about life on Gargantia, all cheerfulness and wide-eyed innocence. Exactly
the character you’d kill off to drive home the message that violence is bad.
Not that that’s a bad message, but conveying it that way would be so easy and
obvious that I hope they don’t go for it. But I suppose we’ll see shortly.
*whom I was accidentally calling Joe two commentaries ago; yeah, brain fart. Somehow the blond egomaniac and the brown-skinned that-other-mechanic-guy hadn’t become distinguishable enough yet.
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