Summary:
While Liang Qi sits in the factory trying to get_sum(), Santana tells Yunyun to get in the truck since they’re all going to the same place. Hakkoo gives the yuri thing a try, but when Yunyun reveals that she was going back to the village to die, both Hakkoo and Maria take turns beating Yunyun up. It turns out all Borners need a unique medicine to survive, and the villagers who could not become Borners (the Unbloom) are just kept around so researchers can study what went wrong. One of these Unblooms attacks the group, but when Hakkoo shouts at Canaan to spare the Unbloom, Hakkoo ends up indirectly killing the Unbloom and spilling all the coffee. Great, how is Santana supposed to stay awake on the drive back now? Minoru salvages the day by making Maria take a shot of the Unbloom and making faces at petulant Hakkoo to cheer her up.
We finally find out what happened in the village. Back when Santana was in Langley, they decided to cure the villagers of a mysterious virus by dropping disinfectant on them (read: Ua virus) as part of The Flower Garden Project. Yuri’s NGO group (Iron Strife) is trying to find evidence of the CIA working with The Snakes, in order to blackmail the CIA. Anyway, Liang is tired of waiting for Yunyun to bring her Canaan, and so ambushes the group by firing missiles from a helicopter. Alliances get confused when Alphard comes to the rescue by shooting at Liang from her own helicopter, and Cummings attempts to betray Alphard. Fortunately, Alphard switched out Cumming’s sidearm with a pellet gun, and she spares him because both Cummings and Liang are struggling so hard for love. Alphard then drags a wounded Canaan out of the building, talks a little smack, and tells them to meet her at the factory.
Reaction:
Why didn’t Alphard just make Siam sign a non-compete or something? My favorite part of this episode was when Canaan went up against a scrubby Unbloom and discovered how hard it is to shoot without using crazy hacks. Man, Canaan sucks when she isn’t cheating; no wonder Alphard is so damn angry. The only one who really made out well in this episode was Cummings, cause he got to have Alphard-sama abuse him, and he got to wipe himself with Alphard’s handkerchief! Someone get him a fresh pair of pants before heading to the factory! Yunyun also got a surprising amount of screentime (even loli flashbacks), but I guess it’s not like Hakkoo can tell us what happened.
There were a lot of intriguing revelations in this episode. I find it very interesting how Alphard is so similar to Siam, right down to the odd light brown synesthesia glow. I wasn’t sure if Alphard saying Canaan’s real name was Zetsubou (“despair”) was real or just smack talk, but I am really looking forward to the final battle between the two. I figure it will be just like Nanoha where Canaan beats up Alphard, and then falls in love with her so that they can have matching love-love tattoos and join Maria’s harem. I don’t know how Liang will fit into all of this, but I’m really surprised that she’s not dead yet. Also, how about Hakkoo catching Alphard’s cheating heart eye?
This post was written by...
Kabitzin – who has written 1971 posts on Sea Slugs! Anime Blog.
One of the founders of Sea Slugs, I handle most of the blog admin tasks while wearing my I AM BOSS shirt. I like my action series well choreographed, and my romance series extra trashy. I also have a soft spot for puns.
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I found Cummings’ LOVE outburst a little ridiculous though, but that’s because of Liang’s bad influence. (Man, they so remind me of Cynthia from Ar Tonelico… Infused with love!)
But apart from that and the BB gun fiasco, it was a relatively good ep. At least my Yunyun was there.
Yunyun is really a surprisingly important character, because she really helps illustrate the plight of the Borners. As for Liang and Cummings, they are really silly, but it’s not like they are any sillier than the president of the United States.
Lol, the more fun posts like yours I read, the more I’m lightening up about the episode which I initially felt very disappointed in. I guess I’m coming to terms with it somewhat. I love Cummings’ outburst, but it was Alphard’s reaction that bothered me. Wishy-washy bitch.
“When the facts change, I change my mind – what do you do, Sir?”
BTW I really can’t see Alphard-oneesama as part of Maria’s harem; more the other way around because of Canaan’s dual membership in both harems.
Oh but my good comrade Zaku, was it not Maria who voiced doubt that Alphard onee-sama was the one behind the Flower Garden Project? It was around 14:08 of the gg sub. There is hope yet i believe that Maria/Himeko will remember how deep Alphard’s/Chikan’es love is…
While Alphard may not be part of Maria’s harem that does not rule out a merger or perhaps even a hostile take over initiated by Alphard who has superior business instincts.
The twist of this story is that Maria is a Borner, and she has two harems.
Would you prefer that Alphard be some sort of caricature that was evil all of the time? We don’t really know what she is up to so how precisely can she be wishy washy if her motives are rather unclear?
Besides why would any one in their right mind start a shoot out on a helicopter when Cummings was standing in front of the pilot? As a rule helicopters don’t have internal armor in order to keep the weight down. Cummings had the death wish, but it would have made little real sense for Alphard to risk shooting her pilot in the process of disciplining Cummings.
I thought the same thing about firing in a helicopter. Maybe Alphard knew that Cummings would think that she would think that his thick skull would have sufficient stopping power to shield the helicopter.
More likely, Cummings knew that Alphard had switched the guns and was hoping that Alphard would spank him after she shot him with a BB.
I also don’t understand how you can think Alphard is wishy washy. More than anything, her motives are still a mystery to everyone. Furthermore, it seems like she has been fairly consistent in her moves, even though she probably wants to kill/kiss Canaan every time she sees her.
I like how the episode gave answers, even if the answer don’t make much sense. It’s funny how quickly Alphard changed her mind about killing Liang Qi. It must have been the overflowing “LOVE” lol, although I wonder if Alphard even gets the concept.
The harem is certainly getting bigger, but who is really in charge?
Love conquers all!
I think we all watch this show hoping to discover the answer to this question.
I feel like Canaan has been picking up lately, although it’s slow enough that by the time it really busts wide open, it’ll probably be over.
Didn’t you see The Second Raid? Murderous Chinese girls always come in pairs, especially when working with perverts.
Not exactly the ending I had envisioned, but at this point I think I’ll take it.
You know, you make a very good point… I’ve also noticed that Chinese characters tend to die a lot in anime series.
probably from animators sitting around watching Jet Li’s Fist of Legend.
I am glad that Alphard remembers love to such a degree, surely we must all applaud her as a fellow Macross Fan and Kawamori-class Troll.
Canaan’s embarrassment at the hands of the unbloom only serve to enhance Alphard’s prestige as an all natural woman and CQC expert. Even if Alphard loses we will all know that it was Canaan’s eyes that were the tipping point and not Canaan’s superior skill at arms.
I think Alphard naming Canaan Mk II was a sign of her own regret that there was for a time two Canaans, and that Canaan Mk II has chosen to reject Alphard’s love. Despair is a most fitting name as Canaan Mk II’s inferior skills with a pistol and insistence on trying to kill Alphard leave Alphard in despair. They ought to be twin sisters in a sense and it is most tragic that Canaan Mk II has no love for Canaan Mk I.
I bet Alphard is well aware of Santana’s little operation and that Alphard is a fan of Hakko’s nekko-mimi.
The thing is that Canaan’s CQC is pretty bad even with the magic eyes. The one area where Canaan might beat Alphard is in hacking (as far as we know). Until we see Canaan vs. Alphard a la Yuki vs. the computer club, there is no way to be sure.
I’m surprised Alphard didn’t tell Maria to say that Canaan’s real name is “L2aim”.
*SHAMELESS PLUG* VICTORY *SHAMELESS PLUG*
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