I hate everything. There is nothing I love anymore, nothing I cherish. Cross Ange went above my expectations of death and killed more than I thought it would, and finally lived up to it’s brand maker’s name. Today, three characters died and two of them were very special to me and ones I have always liked during the show. To talk about it hurts. I burst out into tears when it happened and I’m very nearly there again. I had to go back after watching it to take screenshots and all I want to do is cry. This episode is so traumatic in so many ways that it pains me to write this and pains me to cover it.
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If you don’t want to know the twist, don’t keep reading.
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This episode, both Momoka and Tusk die. And when Momoka died, I thought that would be the end of it. I was already so upset that when Tusk got shot and then turned around to face Embryo I couldn’t deal. I thought, maybe he’d survive, but both of them got explosion deaths. One of the only ways to completely assure a mortal character is dead is to blow up the radius they exist in, and Momoka and Tusk both got that. We also learned that while Embryo can be injured, maimed, and can’t do anything about it- killing him gives him the ability to reappear as he pleases and wherever he pleases.
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Chris this episode spent much time complaining about being left behind and arguing with them, but she failed to realize she was shot in the head and nothing beyond Embryo’s magic could have saved her. I felt a lot less sympathy as she shoved years of friendship back at Rosalie and Hilda, because no matter how you look at it they were ALL abused by Zola and Hilda wasn’t in charge or taking things then. But they all remembered Zola fondly, didn’t they? Plus, Chris pushed Rosalie around at the end. Rosalie just does things, she isn’t really good at being a bully. She tried. As usual I now find myself wishing Chris had died. Especially instead of Tusk and Momoka. Excuse me I need to sob a bit.
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Sob.
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Most of this episode we see Ange running and. . .she is not herself. She is terrified. She has been abused and raped, though not penetrated Embryo has been essentially raping her body trying to make her submit, and she is scared. She is behaving as a victim would but she is fighting her ass off to survive. Then we learn the awful truth: Embryo can control anyone who uses mana, and that includes Momoka. Ange won’t leave her and Tusk won’t allow Embryo to get Ange, and it culminates in Momoka being possessed by Embryo to fight Tusk. Ange begs her as her ‘head maid’ to stop. Momoka recalls every moment between her and Ange and turns it on Embryo, using the capacity to fight he gave her to subdue him, but then they’re run off the ledge of the building they’re on when Momoka uses the light of mana to call a car and send Embryo careening to his death. This is not good, because it kills Momoka..but not Embryo.
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Tusk knows this. He knows Embryo is coming back, and he’s carrying Ange away..but Embryo shoots him. He isn’t dead! He isn’t dying! But he handcuffs Ange to his rider mail and auto pilots it off, kissing her and then taking the ring from his neck, covered in his blood, and giving it to her. I’m sobbing at this point. Ange is devastated, and she rides off as he promises they’ll meet again. He’s lying, and takes off his vest….and a flash occurs, the entire area they were in exploding.
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Important things to note, Embryo called Momoka a ‘homonculus’ which implies the mana users are not true humans at all. Rosalie hates Chris for killing one of the younger para mail riders. The DRAGON who called Salamandinay has escaped with her, and Salako and the others joined with the (good)Para Mail riders. The children Ersha loved were all killed in the cross fire (again) and Sylvia has been told some of the truth of her life, like how Julio was the one to kill her father. So far, it looks like the only one’s who will still be fooled by Embryo are. . .Chris actually. Way to be a fucking disgrace Chris! Way to turn your believable indebtment to Embryo into a whiney ‘no one paid attention to me in grade school’ bullshit. Way to make Salia’s need for love seem more human than your bitchy, moany, complaining about not being in DDR or having a hairstyle taken from you, you disgusting bitch. Momoka and Tusk died, you killed a rider, and you. . .you are throwing a fit over your hair. I can’t deal with Chris. Ange was horrifyingly tortured and mentally and physically raped, and you’re with Embryo because ‘you guys didn’t think of me as friends enough to come and try to resuscitate a corpse’.
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Momoka and Tusk are dead. I feel much like Ange does. At least Hilda has a shot now, but the way Hilda has been talking there’s a fair chance she might die too. I’m devastated. I won’t stop watching the show, but I’ve known for 10 episodes someone was due to die and I got it in a bigger and more painful way than I ever thought I would. Tusk and Momoka died saving Ange from a rapist, and now I want to see her gut this pig alive so he has to suffer through it.
Oki
Now I really had it. I literally HATE Embryo so much. Oh my god, does he even know what he is doing? Like, he can live forever, but they can’t! I cant believe it. I don’t even want to believe it! Why!? For some reason though, I think Tusk is still alive. They can’t let TUSK die! And, I cried when I watched this episode too. I felt so much sadness when Ange screamed like in beginning. Embryo: CURSE YOU. In the preview they were right! Wow. Please come back Tusk! Also, in this preview Ange was crying. That must been the sadest thing in her life. 🙁 Well, now you know, Heartless, Rapist, mean, Embryo.
Everyone exploded, they’re probably all dead…I’m heartbroken
When Embryo controlled that little Boy and Momoka i thought it was really creepy!
So far the only way I can see Embryo die is if Ange uses her song cannon thing again or if Aura somehow gets freed and somehow that god-dragon does something. The homunculus thing is kind of iffy, because wasn’t Ange’s mother a mana user? I mean unless Embryo made it so that his homunculus can actually conceive children. Well….both of them are dead now….unless Embryo wants to crank up his a-hole o’meter and revive both of them just to torment Ange.
Keep in mind all Norma’s are born from homonculos mothers, so that would mean basically he creates them with a gene he can control- the mana gene- and the abnormal ones are born genuinely human.
At first I was kind of routing for Chris just because I had some sympathy for her and the fact that we have the same name…..but now….wow, I agree, her reasoning is even worse than Salia’s. I mean, hell, she should realize both Hilda and Rosalie didn’t abandon her but were too occupied trying to fight off the drones to reach her. Asides, if she had a better reasoning for the whole “you two were never my friends” thing besides having to change her hair (which BTW…she looks better with one than two pigtails) and thinking that both of them were spoiled…..I would have cared. Oh well, i still see Rosalie doing a kamikaze on her later on.
Chris had the opportunity for the best reason and in one episode ruined that for herself. Ughh. Rosalie plz fuck her up.
Wow, why not just rip my heart out and crush it?! I knew I couldn’t trust the preview and I was absolutely DREADING the inevitable deaths for this episode, ugh- *GROSS SOBBING* RIP Momoka and Tusk ; _____________ ; Hilda better make it out alive, otherwise I don’t know how I will handle this. TT_____TT
*Pulls out Anti-Immortal Pitch Fork* EMBRYO NEEDS TO GO DOWN. D:< I hope he has to most painful death ever.
*pulls out poster, crosses out bill and puts Kill Embryo*
I decided to read your review before watching (no worries, I was well aware that there would be spoilers and I kept reading despite the spoiler warning). I’m frustrated that this anime has changed so drastically from a mecha adventure to now basically “Embryo’s packing down below.” It annoys me that this anime pulled the rapist card to try and make the plot more “interesting,” when the anime was, in my opinion, amazing BEFORE Embryo’s sexual tendencies got involved. Recent episodes have left me a little annoyed and disgusted, not at all enamored like I was when I first found this series.
And I’m mad that Tusk and Momoka died, because while it keeps the anime edgy, I still think it was unnecessary. :/
I don’t really agree. I think, watching it myself, the entire point all along has been there is a greater point to why this is miserable. There has ALWAYS been overt rape themes, sexualization- I’ve been pointing that out since day one. To me, Embryo represents the sexism and objectification they’ve been fighting all along. There’;s no way to say, I love this for mecha, when the first 5 episodes was nothing but the emotional rape and revelation of a spoiled princess watching people die and dealing with it. This show has always had these themes, and the reason why it’s good is because it’s never sat there and said: this is good. If you find a problem with Embryo but didn’t find a problem with say, the Norma trying to kill her while she was basically naked, Zola trying to rape her, them being turned on when they killed DRAGONs- then you’re kind of missing the point. If Embryo had done all of this and they were like. . . best friends all along trying to kill robots, that;d be different.
But that’s just it, this isn’t some ass pull- this is the point- to destroy THIS. To go NO, this is bad and you should not be into this. I understand you being disgusted because I am too, but I feel like not liking it because it’s rapey means you have to ignore that the show has had this issue for a long time. Only reason I can live with it is because I genuinely believe that this show was crafted to combat this. Furthermore, every time it’s developed we see how genuinely this hurts the people involved as people. Salia is the obedient wife staying at home, Ersha is the obedient mother trying to live her life to protect people, Chris is the loyal friend willing to defend her friend and ignore whatever wrong he is doing.
If the show keeps it up, I’d honestly stand to say that the entire point is going: RAPE IS WRONG. OBJECTIFICATION IS WRONG. My boyfriend watches this show sometimes and goes, none of this is sexy, and that’s the point- the nudity is almost never sexy and when it is, it’s usually because the character’s are choosing to be so. Tusk and Momoka’s deaths? I can’t say what was necessary yet. I don’t like it. I don’t want it. But I will stand behind the show and say it’s handling a bunch of really hard themes better than any anime, Ange has PTSD in this episode and that is really rare and poorly handled 90% of the time. For once I think it’s really wrong to say they ‘did it to be edgey’ when honestly, the shows been mentally and physically raping these girls from episode one, Embryo’s just the newest representation.
You make a good point, actually >.> It’s true, the nudity and difficult themes have always been there in this anime. My bad! I guess it bothers me more with Embryo because I hate him unconditionally. (Don’t we all at this point? He doesn’t have a single redeeming feature.) I doubt he died from that explosion since he hasn’t died from anything else so far, but I hope he dies a reallllly painful death by the time this is all over. >.<
Oh yeah we all fucking hate Embryo and for good reason. I just..ughg….udfhkhdfkh CAN WE KILL HIM ALREADY!?! OR KEEP HIM IN A VACCUM OF ETERNAL PAIN!?!
Usually, mecha animes don’t go hand in hand with horror, since the central theme of horror is the defenselessness of the protagonist–and the last person one would usually classify as “defenseless” is the one with a top-of-the-line mecha. But…well…these last two episodes have been more horror than anything else (from a male perspective).
In absolute agreement. This anime took a very dark theme from the beginning and here’s hoping the end will give it some light. . .
Director Fukuda Mitsuo tweeted storyboard images showing that Tusk had strapped enough C4 explosives to himself to blow up Embryo.
http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=5455452&postcount=3283
Japanese broadcast regulations, and concerns on terrorism depictions, led to censoring that scene.