Great episode and a nice change of pace in terms of what the crew had been going through in the last two planets. I’m glad they included how they were able to finalize their food search in Shamoor and how everyone felt better by Yunhua’s song. She is now considered one of them! She looks very pretty with short hair now as well.
This time around we also get a glimpse of what’s been going on in their planet since they’ve been gone. We also get a bit more of background on their parents and this gives us an idea of why exactly these children may have become the target of assassination. It’s still hard to say exactly why since some of their parents seem more prominent than others and we don’t have a lot of details yet, but it’s a clever way to set up the reason for the reveal at the end of the episode. It isn’t hard to pinpoint Ulgar as the spy/enemy, although if I’m honest I don’t know if I can still believe he’s meaning to kill them all and he’s part of the ploy. It could be a personal issue? Either way, time will tell, but this show has a way of springing plot twists onto you, so this could be another one.
It was also great seeing them just chill for a while at the beautiful planet of Arispade. I enjoyed Quitterie’s mini-freakout explaining her confusion at going from near-death high-tension danger all the time to this sort of quiet tropical paradise. Yet, they take advantage of the wind down time to focus on the relationships between each other. Quitterie notices Aries’ budding feelings for Kanata and encourages her a bit. The girls have a fun time teasing each other over their crushes. Kanata shows how dense he is after Aries asks him if he has a girlfriend and it’s all around a fun series of scenes.
On the other hand we see how Luca has been the only one from the crew who has been able to get close to Ulga. Kanata comments on the fact that Luca is the one who has an easier time getting close to people. Later on when Ulgar and Luca are fishing together and talking, Ulgar finds out that Luca is the son of Marco Esposito. This turns out to be the revelation that forces Ulgar to reveal the gun we saw before. I honestly can’t wait for next episode to see what’s going to happen! I really want to know what Ulgar is going to do know that he’s been openly hostile to the crew and I commend the narrative for going one more from fun and relaxing to dangerous and tense in a split second.
One thing I’m curious about is why are the parents back home so set on declaring them death so quickly. Even if they desist in their search, they could still wait for some more time. I guess it could be argued that it would be a way for them to mourn properly, but frankly most of them seemed a little detached from the trauma of losing a child. Even if they say it’s like having their body split in half, some of them were more pushy for just giving up and that’s frankly a tad suspicious for me.
Either way, we’re just reaching the mid-season for the show and I’m sure there’s still a lot of surprises in store for us the audience.
“One thing I’m curious about is why are the parents back home so set on declaring them death so quickly. Even if they desist in their search, they could still wait for some more time. I guess it could be argued that it would be a way for them to mourn properly, but frankly most of them seemed a little detached from the trauma of losing a child. Even if they say it’s like having their body split in half, some of them were more pushy for just giving up and that’s frankly a tad suspicious for me.”
Keep an eye on this and the “genome management project” and its mandatory DNA sampling. Honestly, we can figure out the “why” behind the assassination plot here at this point, but it becomes more obvious later when more details about the new genome law come out. Zack also drops a clue near the end.
The reference to the “genome management project” made me think it was about some sort of eugenics program to steer the course of human evolution.
Your comment makes me think it’s might be the opposite. Now I think it might be a form of policing to prevent “genetic crimes”. Test everyone’s DNA and make sure no-one has broken any laws relating to genetics.
My guess now is that the assassination attempt on the children was an attempt to cover up a crime. My guess it that the crime in question is that the children aren’t really offspring but are clones of their “parents” which might be illegal in the world this story is set in.
One reason I think they might be clones is because at the parent’s meeting there was only one parent for each child. Also some of the kids look a lot like their “parents”.
Each child has their own circumstances, so but it’s easier to find the common link if you look at Yunhua and her mom’s faces. Unlike the other children and their parents, it’s easier to figure out what is going on when you compare those two.
Really, after re-reading the manga, I was upset with myself that I didn’t figure it out. This is the point in the story that all the clues are there, waiting to be put together.