Episode 5
I really like this episode because it really shows the abysmal change in Jomy’s attitude. He has received a legacy from Soldier Blue, he’s suddenly the leader of the Mu and he’s under tremendous pressure, but he still is determined to move forward with pride. The other Mu still blame him for Blue’s current state, they also not trust him, except for the elders or the children, which is the groups Jomy naturally gravitates towards when he socializes in the Shangri-La.
He clears his frustrations by traveling to Ataraxia in a sort of psychic spirit form. It really is impressive that he seems to have no regrets now about the life he left behind. This time when he travels, he notices a child in an apartment who has a yellow aura around him. This child is Sekirei Shiroe and he’s also a Mu. His father does research in the Psion institute and he’s now working on a way to override the Mu ship’s cloaking.
Shiroe is a big fan of Peter Pan, so he’s obsessed with the idea of going to Neverland. His book of Peter Pan seems to be one of his prized possessions. As a 10 year old, he’s a curious and bright child, so when he sees Jomy, he wants to know who he is.
Later on Jomy contacts Shiroe again and tries to get to know him. Jomy is a bit clumsy here in this meeting, so instead of getting Shiroe on his side, he upsets the child by telling him that all memories of his mother will be erased in the future. Shiroe, like Jomy, seems very attached to his mother and he’s not mature enough to see this as anything but a threatening comment. He asks Jomy to leave.
Jomy still doesn’t want to give up, so later on he goes back to see Shiroe again and try to convince him to come to Shangri-La with him. Shiroe seems a bit guarded, but then as they talk, the ship is attacked and Captain Harley contacts Jomy. As he tries to decide what to do, Shiroe’s mother arrives and Jomy freezes her in a panic. Shiroe doesn’t take kindly to this and he just attacks Jomy back, very powerfully.
Eventually Jomy can shake Shiroe off, but he’s not proud of how things went down. He goes back to the ship just as a very powerful shot is unloaded onto them and he protects the ship, but due to the fact that they were found regardless of the cloaking puts the Mu on guard and in the end they decide to leave this planet so they warp off the planet’s atmosphere.
Jomy is regretful of his actions, but Blue tries to console him by telling him that whether our actions are good or bad is something that isn’t really decided until things are over. Blue’s role as a mentor for Jomy really is something that I appreciate a lot in this show. The emotional impact of Jomy’s actions and how now he feels responsible and tries to atone for what his perceives as his mistakes are really what makes this a great coming of age story, in my opinion.
Episode 6
My favorite character is finally introduced in this episode! Keith Anyan wakes up in Education Station E-1077 and talks to Mother Eliza, the computer in charge of the station. I’m sure it’s very obvious that there is a strong physical resemblance between Mother Eliza and Physis from the Mu side. This is kind of important later on.
This time around though, the focus is completely on Keith. He’s very much a poster child, great scores, self-possessed, popular and very competent. His intellect is remarkable as he is able to understand that the system is trying to tether them to Terra on purpose to give them a sense of community and responsibility to their fellow humans.
As fate would put it, Sam and Keith become fast friends and Keith is pretty loyal to Sam, even when a haughty upperclassman tries to get Keith to hang out with him instead of Sam. We notice quickly that cameras around the station are closely following Keith’s movements and it’s all pretty suspicious.
Either way, a true test comes when an accident happens and Keith decides to take matters into his own hands and plans a way to rescue the people involved. Sam decides to tag along and in the end with their efforts combined they are able to lead to safety all the incoming students. Swena is also among them and she’s happy to have met Sam again.
The upperclassmen were too complacent with the idea that the system couldn’t fail that they ignored the possibility of attempting rescue themselves, but Keith had the instincts to get it done. In the end he was praised for it and we lean that a phase of test for him has been completed successfully. Pretty intriguing, right?
They don’t say too much about the world here, but I always wondered if there were other education stations, if there’s just one per planet or more, etcetera, as Sam was concerned with looking for Jomy. I was also surprised that after we were told that memories are erased, it seems they are vague but some still remain, which to me seemed like a bit of a retcon, but I’m a forgiving member of the audience, so I won’t nitpick too much.
Either way, I’m looking forward to more developments on this side of the story and the eventual colliding of both sides.