Brief Impressions – Shirogane no Ishi Argovellen 05

Argevollen - 05 -3 Argevollen - 05 -16 Argevollen - 05 -18

Still fence-sitting…

I’m not ready to commit either way on Argovellen – not with it being a two-cour series and all.  So if you want, think of this post as a place-holder – a dog-paddle.  I’m still tuned in, still considering, still undecided.  A few brief, er, impressions:

  • Once you eavesdrop on someone talking at a relative’s grave, you lose the right to say “I didn’t ask”
  • There hasn’t been a lot of comedy in Argovellen, but the confession sequence was pretty golden.  It was a natural misunderstanding for Tokimune though his decision to broadcast his speculation was comically inappropriate.  Jamie’s reaction was excellent, but the moment that sold it was Lorenz telling Tokimune “I just fell in love with you a little.” and Tokimune’s “Really?  Thank you!”
  • I’m not clear on Saimonji’s strategy with the flares here – it seems counter-productive to me to give the enemy better visibility so they know where to aim their “frighteningly accurate” artillery.
  • I’m also not clear on just why those two other flares didn’t fire.  Obviously there are no coincidences in anime – was it sabotage by the idiot Arandas generals?  A saboteur in the unit itself?
Argevollen - 05 -1 Argevollen - 05 -2 Argevollen - 05 -4
Argevollen - 05 -5 Argevollen - 05 -6 Argevollen - 05 -7
Argevollen - 05 -8 Argevollen - 05 -9 Argevollen - 05 -10
Argevollen - 05 -11 Argevollen - 05 -12 Argevollen - 05 -13
Argevollen - 05 -14 Argevollen - 05 -15 Argevollen - 05 -17
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6 comments

  1. K

    So have you given up on Glasslip? I remember it was paired with this last week. I was just about to give up on it myself, but I thought the 5th episode was just slightly better than the rest (though that's not saying much), so I guess I'll stay with it.

    I have about the same level of interest as you on Argevollen. It's good to see a mecha try to be grounded in realism, but it's not particularly engaging, and I've never warmed to Tokimune.

  2. Yeah, this ep of Glasslip was my last shot. I barely made it to the end, but it's just not doing anything for me.

  3. R

    I'm not clear on Saimonji's strategy with the flares here – it seems counter-productive to me to give the enemy better visibility so they know where to aim their "frighteningly accurate" artillery.

    From what I got there, the idea was to let the enemy think that they are in the location from where the flares were shot. They would then dash towards it swiftly to try and disable it while the cannon is preoccupied with targeting them. Though, I would agree that it is a rather odd and risky tactic to pull off.

    The episode is still too slow, but I liked the whole "Do you love me, Jami?" part. Not really Majestic Prince levels of humor and wit, but still hilarious. It's as if the writers were saying "Yeah, yeah, we know. You guys are expecting a romance between this to, so here you go." I really like this kind of self-awareness when done right.

  4. s

    To be precise, three flares was supposed to be shot; while the enemy was occupied with one of the position of the flares, the other team would lead a counter attack with the argevollen. that was supposed to be the plan. What makes they way they pulled it off stupid was that the team actually planning on leading the counterattack are illuminated by the light. You'd think they want to stay hidden until its time to strike. Or have the other group light the flares in a position that wouldnt allow the attacking team to be spotted so that the team that lit the flares could be the distraction so that the attacking team can commence their mission. Im the type of person that will search far and wide for any plausible explanation, but ive dissected this scenario many times and no matter how hard i try, no answer i come up with makes sense to explain how illogical that plan was. Im just gonna assume i missed something because that resolved the dissonance i felt when watching that scene unfold. There's still some good intrigue behind this show and i feel that the characters are gonna become dynamic (jamie stood out this ep) as the series progresses so that's more than enough to keep me satisfied.

  5. r

    Maybe I'm reading into things too much, but I thought Tokimune's question to Jamie was made a lot of sense. I agree that it was really funny, but they essentially had just spent the last few days in a sort of silent fight—he knows she doesn't really want to be there, but he's told she's working hard on the mecha. So is she staying for love? It's not a bad guess.

  6. I don't think the joke is in the question itself, which I agree isn't an illogical one. It's in the fact that he asked it by broadcasting it to his entire unit seconds before heading into battle.

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