“Maybe I shouldn’t have ever left this cockpit…”
Synopsis: Ledo is elated to learn that his commander, Kugel, is not only alive and well on Earth, but leads an entire fleet. But the Kugel fleet seeks to assimilate Flange’s fleet… with Pinion’s help! Unaware of this, Ledo eagerly rejoins Kugel’s command until he finds out that his former commander is just as much a terror to the people under him as he is to the Hideauze.
Impression:
Before I talk about anything else I’d like to say one thing… what the actual fuck was up with episode 11’s artwork? Who the hell was animating Pinion? He looked like an imbecile half of the time! I don’t care how good your backgrounds are Production I.G, if you’re making characters make derpy faces during serious scenes don’t you think that’s going to take away from the experience? It’s also freaking distracting! I almost began noting down how many times a character looked like an idiot but I didn’t because I didn’t want to take my attention away from the episodes events…
And speaking of the episodes events… was that it? I don’t want to sound like an ass hat or anything, but… was that seriously it? Last week left me yearning for more and then I received an episode composed entirely of exposition of derpy artwork… I don’t even understand how this could have happened…? Before I rant however, let’s get the ‘good’ things out of the way. All throughout the episode there was a feeling of ominous tension and I liked that, I was intrigued to see what was going to happen next and the atmosphere alone carried me through this episode all the way until the end. Pinion’s reckoning was another great part about this episode, I mean, he’s had it coming for a long time and for him to finally see the consequences of his actions… call me a sadist but I loved it. And did they paint a devil’s pitchfork on his head? Just saying… and lastly, the cliffhanger. As usual we’ve been left on another epic cliffhanger, the only difference is that this time I REALLY want to know what’s going to happen next episode… but I’ll get back to that later…
Rant topic number one: was all of that really necessary? When the episode ended I simply said, ‘is that all?’. Nothing happened in this episode. Flange’s fleet joined up with Kugel’s fleet, Ledo spoke for all of five seconds, Pinion stuck a screwdriver in some holes and the Pirate Queen made an appearance. Am I missing anything? To be quite honest I was bored. Intrigued, but bored. It didn’t help that the color scheme was so bland in this episode but I guess they were trying to use pathetic fallacy to their advantage? Setting the mood ‘n all, y’know? I wanted action! I wanted indecision! Instead all I got was submission and stupidity. Okay, okay, they had no other choice, I get that, but did we really need an entire episode to establish that fact? We all knew it would happen. Did they really need to consume twenty minutes of my time to explain that (hey, I had to stop reading the ‘The World God Only Knows’ manga to watch this episode! It was just getting sexy good as well…)?
Rant topic number two: Ledo. I understand that he’s been brought up and brainwashed to follow the orders of his superiors and that’s not what I’m going to complain about (exactly)… has he completely forgotten about the trauma he was suffering from last episode? What? Did he just get over his mental illness? If I found out what he found out I wouldn’t be fine just because someone I recognized appeared on the horizon (KUGEL YOU ASS HAT!?!?! Grrrrr….). Ledo’s role in this episode felt somewhat anti-climactic and even though I know he’s going to be awesome next episode (or, knowing how Gen Urobuchi works, Ledo will slaughter everyone and repent later) I just felt as though this reuniting of commander and subordinate was lackluster and underwhelming.
Rant topic number three: Commander Kugel. What. An. Ass. Hat. I hate him. Yes, that’s probably the child in me speaking (give me a break! I’m only 16 after all…), the child who wanted Kugel to be a nice guy who would help Ledo become a better person and save everyone but… the realist in me knew that wasn’t going to happen when I saw what looked like cultist believers last episode… *Sigh*, I’m done with people, y’know? (*Light’s up a cigarette and looks out across the night sky with melancholy weighing down on his heart*). Gen Urobuchi is good at displaying the darkness within human hearts, a trait and skill that make him one of the best writers (in my opinion) out there. Pinion’s greed, Kugel’s power complex and the cultists blind submission; all of it sickened me. This wouldn’t have played out the way it did if Pinion hadn’t been such a greedy asshole. On the other hand Ledo would never found out about the Hideauze’s true identities… actually no, stop. The Hideauze are human? Episode 9+10: Ledo is having a mental break down about this fact. Episode 11?: Kugel tells Ledo that because the Hideauze breed whenever they want they must be killed. This is a joke right? How can Ledo just sit there and accept that after everything he’s been through and learned?! ARGH! It’s so frustrating to see Ledo regress so much when he was doing so well! And what’s up with Commander Kugel? What is that guys problem? Obey me because I have power? F*** off you twat!… Okay… okay… I need to calm down… As you can see, I don’t like Commander Kugel. Those red devil eyes give me the creeps y’know? If humanity A. evolves to have red eyes/B. go on to become like this I’ll just go ahead and kill myself. It’s just too depressing to think that they’ve started a war due to a difference of opinion? Maybe forced evolution is wrong. Maybe breeding whenever you want is also wrong. Then again, isn’t killing the weak also wrong? Isn’t the fact that everyone in the alliance is (seemingly) white and with silver/white hair also wrong? What? Did they just erase every other race to make a perfect one? I’m done with this rant. Let’s just move on.
I’m going to stop ‘ranting’ (and by that I mean I’m going to stop labeling it as ‘rant topic number x‘) and get down to it. This episode wasn’t everything I thought it would be. Whilst I do feel sorry for Ledo and the people of Flange’s fleet for the predicament they’ve found themselves in, I can’t help but sake my head in disappointment. They are the fools who chased are a moment of fleeting glory and now look where they are. Pinion’s and Flange’s (don’t forget that Flange is also to blame, he helped Pinion do this) ‘delusions of grandeur’ may have just cost the Gargantian fleet their lives and that makes me so angry, y’know? I’m not going to say that Ledo is going to save everyone because at this point I can predict nothing. Ledo listens to his orders. So too does Chamber and it’s Chamber I’m worried about. If Ledo wants to go against Kugel he’s not going to be able to rely on Chamber because Kugel ranks higher than Ledo does… everyone is going to die, I’ve been saying it from day one and the time of reckoning is finally here. I just hope it isn’t too cruel.
And with that I think it’s time to conclude. Episode 12 is going to be the penultimate episode and, to be honest, despite my bitching about this episode, I’m actually looking forward to it. The ‘new Ledo’ is finally going to be put to the test and I can’t wait to see what decision he’ll make. Oh! And Pinion will probably betray them all. Just saying.
It was a good episode, flawed, but good.
Preview:
I think Kugel is dead and Striker is simply projecting what Kugel WOULD have done…
TQ
I also had this thought because A. Kugel didn’t seem THAT bad when he was first introduced and B. Ledo wasn’t infected by the same disease, I think that in itself will be an important plot point but that’s just me speculating 😛
Commander Kugel is dead. Recently dead. When Ledo landed on the cultists ship there was a small procession of people moving what appeared to be a coffin covered in cloth. So Striker is now in charge? hmm.
If Striker is in charge then next weeks episode is going to be an interesting one, especially since Chamber will probably followed the same chain of command. Maybe Ledo will have to go at it alone? I guess we can only wait and find out.
Well everyone we saw in the Alliance were soldiers so we have no way of knowing if the civillians also have silver hair.
I think there was a scene in the last episode where we saw a glimpse of Avalon? In that scene I’m pretty sure all of the people had silver hair. This is also evidenced in the beginning of the manga when the same scene is shown and all of the people have the exact same light colored hair.
I’m with you on this episode, Chris. I definitely don’t like this episode aside from the fact that the animation is too hilarious for me to watch and I cannot concentrate on what I am watching since I’m more worried about the animation quality. Dman ProdIG.
(I think same happened with Shingeki no Kyojin’s Episode 11)