Gene, Jim, Melfina, Suzuka and Aisha head back into
space, now firmly set on tracking down the secrets of the Galactic Leyline. No expected the trip to be smooth
sailing. But all three of the galaxys
biggest superpowers have it in for them: the Space Forces, the Pirates and
rival outlaws. Not to mention more
members of the Anten Seven closing in and Gene would be foolish to think the
McDougalls would just -give up and quit making his life a living hell. The answers the crew of the Outlaw Star seeks
may be just within reach if they can survive it all…but is anyone, especially
Melfina, ready for the shocking truth that awaits?
So this week we saw the Outlaw Star crew back in space
and while it does seem at the end of this set that the endgame is in sight,
looking over some spots I do see some issues ive yet to address yet regarding
some of the characters. Inconsistency
would be a good word to use. But I’ll
get to that in a bit.
First this week we finally got to see the third big
superpower of the universe: the Space Forces.
As cool as it was to see them at last, it was kind of hard to accept
them getting duped so easily when the trap inside their station was
sprung. Maybe it’s just me but you figure
they’d be a bit more thurough before allowing a potential Trojan Horse into
their station. We did get some nice reps
for the SF courtesy of the lovely Valeria and her sort of Dinosaur partner
Dooes. They seemed like a kick ass pair
reminiscent of Deunan and Briarios from Appleseed, and Valeria was quite the
looker too hehe. I believe there was a
spin off series centered around the Space Forces, more specifically the Angel
Links unit mentioned but im not certain of it’s title (might’ve been Angel Links)
or if Valeria or Dooes played roles at all.
Still if this were a sort of back door pilot for that series, it could
have been a bit better to show the Space Forces a bit more in control.
We got a very nice if pretty tragic Jim centered episode
this week too. Poor Jim. I’m kind of glad he didn’t discover his
crush, Hanmyo, was one of the Anten Seven.
It would probably have put him on a much darker path for the rest of the
series and it would be too radical a change for his character. Hanmyo herself was a pretty well done
character, being so upbeat and friendly to Jim but downright ruthless in the
cockpit. Her end was just as tragic as
Jim’s heartbreak when he couldn’t see her again without knowing why. The fight sequence was well done as well,
with it really feeling like a team effort to take her down as Gene, Suzuka and
Aisha all handled the ship while Jim coordinated.
The Grave of the Dragon episode is where some of my
biggest issues with certain characters come to light. Mostly it revolves around Melfina and Harry
McDougall, the latter of whom seems to be getting worse and worse with each new
appearance. Here, after listening to
Melfina sing the song that just happens to be the first of the two ending themes
of the series, he is in tears saying he wants to be with her…and yet Melfina
seems to slightly consider it…WHY? This
guy has threatened her with violence even hit her on one occassion, pretty much
attempted cyber rape (honestly that’s the best way to describe some of their
cyber world encounters, no means no man), and yet he still insists he has
feelings for her and could treat her right.
Yeah for Melfina to even consider this is kind of ridiculous. But thankfully she makes her mind to stay
with Gene. Speaking of Gene, we finally
get some explanation as to his cold behavior towards Mel, coupled with a nice
heart to heart with Suzuka. It really
would suck telling someone you made an important promise that you couldn’t
deliver but Gene got his stuff together and reaffirmed his commitment to Mel…lovey
dovey in a manner of speaking. Oh and he
got to put that little punk Harry in his place with a well placed Caster shot
up close to his mecha armor. We know
Harry’s alive but judging from the look on his brothers face, he’s not in great
shape…good lol. Oh and Ron McDougall can
go toe to toe with Suzuka…yeah I call schenanigans or too much going with Gene
vs Harry on to focus drawing that out.
That lead to an interesting cliffhanger with the return
of speech impaired scientist Gwen Kahn shutting down Melfina and sending Gene
to find a prisoner on an inescapable prison planet who may know the location of
the Leyline. Kahn’s inability to speak a
normal sentence without repeating something five times over aside, this was a
pretty fun premise. Those who know their
Dragon Ball Z are used to seeing characters on planets with super powerful
gravity give our heroes some trouble.
Gene Starwind is no Goku though when it came to slugging his way through
the heavy world (ok ok Goku had trouble too).
But Gene never let the gravity or the guards keep him down and his
trademark smart ass was never diminished even for a second. His bonding with the prisoner he sought to
bust out, Saiyo, was a lot of fun, the two making a great pair with their
banter and Gene’s refusal to let Saiyo go.
Not to mention how they escape the planet is pretty clever, especially
pulling one over the overconfident warden who at first doesn’t think he needs a
space force to catch them but look who’s laughing now.
Gene now has the coordinates to the Leyline at last. So it’s straight into the finale next week
right? Wrong, we get a little bit of fun before that with an episode so hot
that it has never been aired on Television, at least not on Toonami. The Hot Springs of Planet Tenrei are next up
before the big finale. See ya there
everyone.
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