Episode 8:
Akao goes into training, much like Aoba did earlier. Heck, even Ryu exclaims how it was just like that time, not so long ago. Again we’re full time in the “Extend” arc and not in the past. Akao goes to combat training when a new Jinki shows up. Turns out it was one stolen from the Angel group a long time ago. The new Jinki, the Schneiger piloted by Mel J, fights with another Schneiger like suit. Akao gets ready to help out when her alter ego shows up to tell her not to fight. Her alter ego looks just like her with bigger boobs. Amidst, don’t fight, no don’t do it, Akao freezes up and pokes into Mel J’s past.
Episode 9:
Akao gets kidnapped and taken away by J. Haan. Mel J pursues in her well ventilated outfit (how do they stay in when she runs, teaches me to ponder anime physics). They go after eachother, J Haan makes Mel J remember a sore spot in her past and eventually the two Schneigers come out for some Jinki on Jinki action. Akao wants to help out and save Mel J, and in doing so tells her big boobed alter ego to take a hike. The Seed goes off….oh wait, wrong series…Akao whoops the crap out of the Dark Schneiger sending J Haan to Jinki heaven or hell. In the aftermath, though, Shiba (The mysterious one that’s so interested in Akao) takes control of her. Apparently Akao fighting makes her be manipulated by Shiba and her people. At the end, we go back to Venezuela and see Aoba all growed up. She’s on her way to Japan to help take care of the issue at hand. Hooray for Aoba.
Slightly less confused than I was last time, I do wish I understood what the deal with Akao is.
Aoba and Ryouhei kick the crap out of the ancient Jinki(s). The old pilot probably can’t pilot the Moribito anymore because of his injuries, and Aoba meets another team, the Heaven group. They also have a Jinki similar to Moribito, and Aoba and its pilot get into a little rivalry. Aoba wins with a sparkly display of speed from the Moribito, much to everyone’s surprise, but not mine.
While this is somewhat following formula, it’s nice to see this old formula played out this way instead of the flashy Gundam Seed style. I like that the characters have a hesitation about fighting, as in they feel scared, yet know they must fight to survive. They’re doing well in not making it look to easy. Aoba piloting the Moribito in the competition got tired doing it. It’s physical work, where as in Gundam Seed it’s like the pilot playing a video game.
That said, the show has several “Extend” sequences that parallel the Aoba story. They seem like some kind of flash forward to something that hasn’t happened yet. At this point they’re disjointed and confusing, but I understand that the time lines meet up sometime in the future.
After Aoba’s encounter with the ancient Jinki she meets the ringleader of the “Angel” group, which just happens to be dear old Mom. She doesn’t want anything but Aoba’s inheritance and Aoba storms off in a huff. Ryouhei nicknames her ahobaka, which made me chuckle and is now my cat’s nickname. Aoba tries to get on the mechanical team of the Moribito, but gets scolded by the old foreman. They send her off to clean the document room, which of course has a manual from the Moribito in it. She reads and learns and at the end of the episode gets to pilot the Moribito in a life or death situation.
I still like this one quite a bit, it’s quite reminiscent of Mobile Suit Gundam, and I do like the old tech feel of the Moribito and the mechanical staff.
