Kyoukai Senki Episode 2

Whelp, that situation where Amou’s acquaintances were held hostage was resolved rather easily. While I am glad they are alive and have been cleared of terrorism charges, the way it happened felt a bit too convenient? It was rather optimistic of Gai to bank on the Oceanian officers to pull back based on the public mockery of letting the “real terrorist escape, while punishing the innocent.” Gai was able to pull that off by playing as the villain on Amou’s behalf by claiming he only used the boys know nothing, and he was only using them to collect the parts he needed. After that, they just ran for it.

Now that Amou has been labeled as a terrorist, their goal is to get out of Oceanian Territory and head to Okayama. Along the way, they had to stop so Gai could recharge, and during that time Amou met an old man when he was caught red-handed trying to eat a tomato from his fields. Luckily for him, the old man saw he was an honest kid, he gave him the opportunity to work for his food by helping him out harvest the crops. The kindness continued when he was invited for dinner and a place to sleep for the night, where not only did they learn about him being a fugitive, but they even offered their late son’s boat as a means for escape

And they were such a lovely couple, that I was terribly anxious for something terrible to happen to them. I kept on thinking the worst case scenario (kind of hard not to in this genre), and when I saw they forgot to hide his shows I legit freaked out. I wasn’t sure whether they could truly trust the local officer, but it seems that the old man was right, he was someone they could trust to keep quiet about hiding Amou in their home.

But I think the thing that got to me the most was how much it meant to Amou to taste a home-cooked meal again. After becoming an orphan, he has relied on store-bought and pre-made meals. There was even a part of him that didn’t want to leave, but knew he had to because he feared for their safety. We also saw how he really didn’t want to impose on them, and while he initially refused the offer to take their son’s boat, he ended up doing so. Though he felt guilty about it, all I could think of was, ‘Dude, he did offer it to you!’ But as expected, he won’t be able to return it because it got obliterated by the Asian Army.

That being said, I do wonder how long characters who are assisting or caught up with Amou will be left unscathed. Even though we’re only two episodes in, I am kind of glad to be proven wrong and that so far, they are taking the less bloody and brutal path. I imagine that will change though now that it looks like Amou will be getting involved with rebels, one of them who ended up saving his butt today, because SHEESH. Talk about a close call!

This time Amou was pursued by the Asian Army, and AS A NEWBIE, YOU DON’T WANT TO CATCH THEIR ATTENTION. They are not a bunch to be trifled with, even if you do have a trusty A.I. (That isn’t to say the others are weak!) It’s easier said than done to try and make an escape when you have an enemy who is known to be very organized and extremely persistent. The commander was set on killing him, and was pretty damn close to it had it not been for a last minute save from a manned AMAIM Sniper.

And finally, we were also introduced to Captain Watt, who I find to be quite a fun character. He is very curious about AMAIM Kenbu’s pilot, so he and Warrant Officer Hardy have been quietly trailing and observing his performance. I do believe he is affiliated with NAC, who we saw on TV supposedly working alongside the Japanese Government towards restoration of Japan. So it will be interesting to see what kind of role he will have in all of this, and whether he will turn out to be an ally or foe.

Overall, to some extent this is a bit of a slow start and some of the conflicts were resolved a bit too conveniently, but it’s not bad. Although we didn’t hear too much of Gai this week, he and Amou had some entertaining banter about food, sleep and heroes. Though it sure goes without saying, Gai is a handful who has a habit of dictating the pace. It was pretty funny to see he had decided to implement some combat sports moves into the system like sumo “push out” technique. I also found it rather hilarious that Gai suggested if they can’t outrun their enemies, then they should escape abroad. I couldn’t help but wonder how Gai imagined to smuggling them out of the country that’s surrounded by ocean without getting caught because that’s a sure way to make yourself a sitting duck.