Robotics;Notes – 16

February 8, 2013Guardian EnzoUncategorizedAnime, reviews, Robotics;Notes

There aren’t many anime episodes about which I’d use the term “brutal” in a good way, but this was definitely one of them.

When you consider how many times Robotics;Notes has actually raised the ante already, it’s clear this is a series that has the potential to go extremely dark (and I suspect it will). It’s because the show was so patient in establishing the characters and delivered so many peaceful moments that things like what happened this week really have impact. We’ve had substantial drama involving major characters three episodes in a row now, and quite a bit of sadness along the way. It really feels as if the narrative arc of R;N has been something of a stealth attack, setting the audience up for the sucker punches to come.

And boy, did we get a couple of them this week. At first it seemed as if we might have an episode centered on the GunPro-2 and the upcoming robot competition, a bit of a breather or calm before the storm (though it’s always been obvious that the club arc was going to intersect fully with the conspiracy arc sooner or later). The new GP2 is powered by magnetic monopoles – which have apparently been falling from the sky like rain – via a laser which coverts their energy into usable form and beams it to a satellite array on the robot’s back. The kids have been told by Nae (who I still don’t trust) that they have to vacate their hangar because JAXA has decided to launch another rocket from Kagoshima within five years (coincidence? I think not) and apparently offers them assistance in relocating the project their old abandoned hangar and runway.

As this is happening there are signs that the net is closing around Kai, and quickly too. Sawada Toshiyuki – who’s busily defending the erratic behavior of his company’s robots in front of the press, and soon will be doing so in court – has turned up a mention of Kimijima Kou on Twipo by Junna, which Kai told her to erase. He of course connects Kai to Misaki’s high school and her sister, and as much as accuses Misaki of covering up Kai’s involvement to protect him. She offers to “get rid of him” if necessary, and Sawada tells her “no need” – whatever that might mean. The behavior of both Misaki and Sawada is quite confusing – in her case, trying to figure out just why she’s doing what she’s doing. In his, I’m puzzled as to why he hasn’t acted against Kai and Kona more quickly, if they’re as big a threat to the conspiracy as they superficially seem to be.

That Misaki would be a critical factor in this episode was hinted out only briefly, in a short pre-open flashback sequence of Mizuka – fresh from her accident – receiving her cybernetic legs as a gift from Misaki. This was a cruel turn indeed, given what seems to happen later in the episode. Kai has finally located the 7th Kimijima Report at Cape Kadokura (where firearms first came into Japan in 1543, via a Portuguese trading ship). As the rest of the club is testing GunPro-2, Mizuka confronts Kou about his continued digging into the truth despite her stern warnings to stop (just how did she know where he was at that moment, I wonder?) as a strong wind begins to kick up to greater and greater ferocity…

It’s hard to know how much of what happens in the last third of the episode was engineered, and how much was coincidental. That’s especially true of what appears to be the big shock of the episode but turns out to be just the warmup. While the test appears to be a major success there’s something wrong with the GunPro-2’s movements – it’s the martial artist Jun who spots it – and Subaru runs alongside it to investigate. A huge gust of wind knocks the robot over, seemingly directly onto Subaru (there’s your cliffhanger, since we never see the result – I’m suspecting he’ll have dodged out of the way). I’m not ready to believe the Committee of 300’s reach is long enough to control the weather in a specific place on a specific day, but I’m also reluctant to take anything that happens in this series as pure coincidence – even something as seemingly minor as Mitchie being late to the test. It was Nae (who I don’t trust, by the way) who sent the club back to work out in the open rather than the controlled conditions inside JAXA, after all. Even if Subaru survives, it’s a sure bet that GunPro will have suffered some damage from a fall like that (incidentally, a much larger-scale version of what happened to Junna at Doc’s workshop 10 years earlier. Coincidence?).

There’s no ambiguity in the final scene – either as to the ending, or as to the cause. That in a few short minutes we could be made to completely forget about the shocking events with the robotics club is remarkable, and a testament to just how brilliantly executed and jarring that final scene is. With the ominous strains of “Kagome, Kagome” you knew something terrible was about to happen, and after its mysterious message – a dial-up ringtone – it most certainly did. Just as I was watching GunPro more and more nervously with every shot of the trees swaying in the wind, I was shouting “Go stop her!” at Kai when Mizuka started walking away from him. Those moments where he was frozen in shock were some of the longest in anime this year, but when he finally sprung into action he arrived in what seemed to have been plenty of time. And Kai proved himself strong enough to overpower Mizuka’s cybernetics when he wrestled her to the ground, but that was a false reprieve. As you would expect from someone with his determination and general empathy for others Kai never gave up in trying to stop Mizuka’s agonizing lurch towards that cliff, literally digging in his heels – it was only when she made the heartbreaking decision to save him by forcibly making him release her that his grip was broken.

There’s so much about that whole sequence that was stunning in its impact, not least of which was seeing the normally calm and impassive Kai completely broken down by what he witnesses. Everything about it – the BGM, the look on both characters’ faces, the sound of the impact – is flawlessly executed. In terms of its meaning for the story as a whole, well – it’s hard to escape the notion that Misaki’s “gift” was an insurance policy, a ticking time bomb that could be triggered if Mizuka (who obviously knew a lot about Kimijima) should prove too dangerous to be allowed to live. It’s hard to think that Misaki could be capable of such a thing, but whatever has happened to her there seems to be no remaining trace of the girl that Aki and Kai idolized and adored. It’s fascinating that Mizuka’s last request was that Kai thank Misaki for her gift – fascinating and very likely meaningful. I think the other big question is just how Kai can recover from this, not just the trauma of witnessing what he did but the fact that he’ll likely (unjustly) blame himself for what happened. He has the 7th report now, if he chooses to open it – but will this harden his resolve to dig to the truth no matter how deep he has to go, or convince him that only heartbreak is to be found on that path? Knowing Kai, he’ll swallow his despair and plow ahead – but the eyes of the people responsible for Mizuka’s death are surely watching him more closely than ever now.

Guardian Enzo

44 comments

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Ktullu
February 8, 2013 at 3:16 pm
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The episode was excellent, especially the last third of it. I didn't think they would kill off Mizuka before she gives Kai some info about Kimijima. However, in my opinion the first part of the ep was just slightly too long, but that's understandable considering how important building the robot was to the club, and it ended up as a nice calm befoer the storm effect.
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Green
February 8, 2013 at 3:43 pm
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It's episode like this that tempts me into reading the visual novel. Sadly, I do not possess a ps 3. Gotta wait for psp or iOS release.
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Gary Cochran
February 8, 2013 at 4:54 pm
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It was hella creepy after Kai suplexed her to the ground to save her and her lower torso stood up leaving the upper half of her body behind. I went OUCH that must hurt.
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Pierce the Heavens
February 8, 2013 at 5:37 pm
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Wow, that it was absurdly painful to watch Kai try and stop Mizuka. I kept thinking lift her up, push at another angle, get her to turn around, get her to the ground again and hold her in a handstand, but all I got was Kai pushing directly against it.

Granted, it probably wouldn't have made a difference and the legs would probably have gone into a full sprint/wild frenzy if she was getting into a safer position but at least I would know that Kai has actually tried all the options instead of futilely pushing directly against her 90% of time she SLOWLY walked towards the cliff. So instead of feeling grim and shock, I feel frustration and disbelief at how stupidly she died.

The suplex was a good move though. And it was damn shocking to see the legs go upright at the cost of her spine.
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amndn
February 8, 2013 at 7:25 pm
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I expect things to turn dark but not like this, reminiscent of that Steins;Gate episode in terms of overall impact. Much creepier here with Kagome kagome and that merciless broken back and the final thump…

R;N has upped it's ante, now for the final leg of the conspiracy to tie up the story.

Wonder what's the connection of the rockets NASA is launching, there's one in the flashback and another coming up. Nae is a bit off too… I sense something ominous.
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MCAL
February 8, 2013 at 11:09 pm
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Those last few minutes were definitely intense. This is Robotics;Notes' Mayuri death scene, although while Mayuri's death was brutal for the fact that it happened to a well-known and likable major character, Mizuka's death was brutal for how it ocurred, even if we didn't know her as well. Right now, I'm trying to figure out what sounded more disturbing: The crack of the spine or the thud when Mizuka hit the ground.

Although, there was interesting and revealing stuff for Misaki too. When Mizuka flashes back, to a young Misaki on the ground motionless, it looks like I can see some blood and the fact that during the Anemone Cruise Incident, she is telling a young Kai and Aki sorry is also revealing So my theory so far goes… somehow Misaki was tricked (or brainwashed?) by the Committee of 300 to commit the Incident for some reason. Kimijima Kou found this out and comfronted Misaki where she killed him (Either in an act of self defense or being brainwashed to do so). Mizuka found out and she conspired with Misaki to hide the murder. It makes the most sense and perhaps Kimijima predicted his death and left it in the seventh report. So, what do you guys think? !!!NO SPOILERS!!!

P.S. Enzo – In the fourth paragraph you mistook Kai for Kou.
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Gary Cochran
February 8, 2013 at 11:12 pm
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I'm wondering if there are 2 groups at work here? The 300 trying to end the world and a sub group with Nae and some others (maybe Misaki as a double agent) trying to stop the holocaust and they plan on using the kids giant robot somehow?
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Welkin
February 9, 2013 at 12:42 am
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I enjoyed Robotic;Notes's parody of Another. It was good for a few laughs but felt horribly out of place.
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Beckett
February 10, 2013 at 9:23 am
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I would call saying that it's out of place a radical interpretation of the text. If you look at SG it should be obvious that these stories have no problem going to dark places, the events of this episode seem perfectly in line with expectations based on past performance.
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Welkin
February 10, 2013 at 11:04 am
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Steins;Gate isn't Robotic;Notes and vice versa. I think that some people are still having trouble judging the two series on their own terms. Mayuri repeatedly dying was shocking but ultimately worked for the suspenseful Steins;Gate. In contrast, the thriller/horror scenes à la Another seem at odds with the borderline feel good nature of Robotic;Notes with emerging conspiracy threads. This might be the direction that the series is headed, but no can deny that this was a kick in the teeth after 16 episodes.
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Stöt
February 10, 2013 at 5:18 pm
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I can deny that. So…. you're saying that Robotics;Notes took a sudden plot-turn towards conspiracy theories after 16 episodes? just what series have you've been watching? I quote from Enzo's first episode review: It’ll be interesting to see the school-club quest merged with the dystopian MIB paranoia elemental to the mythology of 5pb

Conspiracy theory stories (if the theory is correct) all go in the same direction plot-wise. If you don't agree then you're in denial.
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Beckett
February 10, 2013 at 6:02 pm
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RN and SG may not be the same show, Welkin, but the stories are written by the same people and even set in the same continuity. If you didn't think RN would eventually go somewhat the same way then I'd argue that it's your expectations that have been incorrectly managed, not the show being out of place. The only strange thing here IMO is that it took 16 episodes for something like this to happen, I would have expected it sooner.
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Welkin
February 11, 2013 at 1:42 am
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@Stöt: I'm not quite sure why you think I'm denying the presence of all of the conspiracies in R;N. All of my comments in this post have been directed towards the horror scenes. Anyway, not all conspiracy theory stories end in a bloody massacre of the characters (especially not shows aimed at a younger audience). It would be more beneficial for R;N to stay the course. You liked this grisly episode, I didn't. Fair enough?

@Beckett: People write different stories within the same continuity with different objectives/intentions. R;N shoehorns as much S;G as possible into the series to compensate for the lukewarm reception of the original VN story. It seems that you were getting bored with the high school activities of R;N, so I guess you have no room to complain with this episode.
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Beckett
February 11, 2013 at 2:21 am
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I don't NEED room to complain about this episode, because I have no complaints. I've been wanting it to move a little closer to the darkness since before the second cour started, I'm frankly thrilled with this episode.
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Stöt
February 12, 2013 at 4:24 pm
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Aha, so that's your misconception! This is not a show aimed at a younger audience, and never has been. Did you miss the suicide attempt scene? or the sexual innuendos? or the overhanging plot of the end of the human world and a take over by robots? Children shows are black and white, full of heroes and villains. These characters are so many shades of gray that no child would ever understand it.

But if that displeases you, I can show you the way to shows that ARE aimed to younger audiences.
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Welkin
February 12, 2013 at 11:00 pm
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I'm feeling bored so I'll bite. I'm in my mid-twenties, so college and high school "kids" are considered a younger audience to me. I would have said children if I meant the Chousoku Henkei Gyrozetter or GeK crowd. Sexual innuendos, violence, shades of grey morality, and even suicide are exhibited in shonen/shoujo shows and other children stories. The Robotic;Notes anime doesn't strike me as being seinen because before this episode, no bloodshed or strong sexual content has been shown. If my memory serves me correctly, the suicide attempt was largely written off as Frau frantically passing out in the bathtub (no blood), sexual innuendos from Frau have been par for the course, the end of the world has only been described on-screen and only two of the five main characters are really aware of the over-arching conspiracy, and those robots in Frau's arc posed no real threat (besides their mobility, replacement costs, and scary red eyes) as they possessed no offensive or defensive capabilities. So, as I have said before, R;N has been rather tame (almost feel good) until this episode.
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elianthos
February 13, 2013 at 12:06 am
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@Welkin: keep in mind that at least about this anime adptation it's aired in a slot traditionally aimed at adults. NoitaminA was born as a josei (and seinen) slot. Tl;dr: it's not really about or because it features content you or us deem 'adult enough' that this is an adult show. It's an adult show because it airs in an adult slot. Nothing less, nothing more. Anything beyond this is our gaijin logic and mileage at work ;).
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Welkin
February 13, 2013 at 12:32 am
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With a few exceptions, most shows aired during the NoitaminA slot aren't strictly an adult affair. NoitaminA was born to expand the target audience of anime, not discriminate potential viewers. Midnight anime caters to most minors so calling it "adult" still isn't quite right. Regardless of the airing time, the content of R;N are have been presented in a way to attract younger viewers (adolescences) in comparison to S;G, C;H, or Psycho-Pass. All of this will probably change for R;N from this week forth.
admin
February 13, 2013 at 1:22 am
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I must say that all of that is completely your spin on R;N – it has no reflection in anything in the way the series has been marketed or presented. And while it's certainly been a slower-paced and more innocent series than S;G so far, there's been quite a bit of darkness and angst already – what happened this week was shocking in its own terms, but not out of character with where the series has been going.

To be honest, I don't see how R;N could be much more seinen than it's been. It's just that if it is, that doesn't fit with your one-stop condemnation that it's a kiddy show that jumped the shark this episode.
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elianthos
February 13, 2013 at 3:14 am
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@Welkin: to add to what Enzo said… in my reply I mentioned NoitaminA and not midnight anime at large precisely because NoitaminA aimed at going beyond the usual late anime demographic (aka beyond young male demographic) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noitamina#cite_note-fuji-1. That translates into: a) female audience and/or older watchers (female and male). You linked midnight anime. Noitamina sorta targets the opposite of the usual midnight anime demographic ^^" b) 'unusual' anime, even niche.
Now, have a look at the titles/series picked for the slot… I see a pattern matching the above criteria. Most of those series (pretty easy to check in case of manga adaptation especially… look at the magazine each of them are published in via database sites like manga-updates… they're 99% spot-on with the demographic-magazine-label match) are mostly from the josei and seinen demographic aka NOT aimed at minors, some titles are shoujo/shonen aka for teenagers (no kodomo titles here, we must leave at least preteens out of your 'minors' audience in your above reply ). But again, NoitaminA specifically aims to grab beyond the core late anime audience, thats what makes it different. And in case of the rare shoujo or shonen title picked for the slot (Harakawa's TBA Silver Spoon anime is the main one jumping at me from the list) , they tend to be sort of 'quirky' titles for lack of a better word atm.
TL;DR: however you slice it R;N is in the *NoitaminA* late anime slot, not in generic anime slot xyz for a reason. And in any incarnation (original visual novel and manga adaptations included) R;N is just across the shonen-seinen demographic but shifted more towards the seinen – only one of the magazines (plural) featuring the manga adaptations for instance belong in the mainstream shonen demographic, all the others are published either in seinen or niche shonen/older teens magazines – . It might not be seinen enough for you, but the Japanese seem to consider it seinen enough. And that's it. Life goes on.
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Welkin
February 13, 2013 at 8:45 am
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Well, my original train of thought was derailed by people grasping for inconsistencies or making mountains out of my molehill commentary. Let me go back to my original thought before this thread spiraled out of control.

My impression of R;N to this point was that the author(s) were trying to create a more lighthearted scenario in contrast to S;G. I also found that, in the process, the show created too many ineffective attempts at angst, tearjerkers, or emotion in general. Therefore, R;N's crude attempt at eliciting emotion in the last few minutes felt cheap and humorous instead of suspenseful and enthralling. Part of the problem for me was the decision to seemingly mimic a scene from Another by randomly throwing a main character under their prized robot on a unmistakably windy day to create unnecessary tension. Mizuka's merciless death, after the obvious VN decision point, and Kaito's contorted face only added to the hilarity of this horribly unrealistic situation and story. It's disappointing to me that the story took this direction instead of maintaining the optimistic and murky atmosphere they had established in the past 15 episodes. It looks unlikely that this aspect will return, barring the last episode.

As for the ambiguity of Japanese entertainment demographic categorization, just ignore my last few posts.
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MCAL
February 13, 2013 at 9:18 am
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I completely get where you are comming from Welkin. But it is also nice to note that doing something like brutally killing a character this late is much more effective than say a show that has been killing characters off constantly. Of course there is no inherently wrong answer and I stand by my opinion that the episode causing such a debate makes it a success in my book at least.
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Highway
February 9, 2013 at 6:06 am
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That was just something that left me speechless. I finished watching it 10 minutes ago, and I'm still stunned. I was also wondering why Kai didn't try other methods to stop her: tripping, grabbing feet, whatever. But perhaps Mizuka knew she was a goner after it yanked her up like that, who knows what injuries it gave her.

But "brutal" is definitely a great word for it.

My guess with Subaru is that hopefully Junna was able to put the robot's arms out to fall on and save Subaru.

And just a minor correction: They used the monopoles to create actuator motors in the robot. They're not the energy source, they're the onboard motive power. The energy source is anything they hook up to the laser.
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Eternia
February 9, 2013 at 6:36 am
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I wonder why nobody questions about this:
Why is it that fake leg so powerful?
This show has been trying to be realistic when it comes to robots, as we saw on GunPro.
I find it hard to believe that such contraption can fling/throw an adult woman and senior high school boy at the same time.
Also it's infuriating watching Kai.
Why didn't he try any other method?
Blindly push against her won't do anything.
Trip it.
Kick the heels from the back.
Carry her (if he's strong enough).
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Alex Voda
February 10, 2013 at 11:14 am
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Exactly. This was an ass pull.
And if they wanted her to die in a dramatic were many more plausible alternatives.
Like for example: short circuiting the batteries and making the legs heat up and explode.
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Stöt
February 10, 2013 at 5:32 pm
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lol, I hope you, Alex Voda is joking. Have you ever short-circuited anything in your life? why the fuck would it explode? and heat up b e f o r e the explosion? What you possibly could get is wiring melting due to the short-circuit and that the batteries are discharged, and possibly expand a little. If you call that an explosion, and expect it to kill anyone, than that's beyond me.

Myself, I thoroughly prefer this version, which is not as much of an ass-pull as Alex Voda's scenario, although the latter is far more convenient and more used in movies/animes.

In any case, it should be apparent by scene that these legs weigh a fucking tonne, and if they weigh a tonne, then they need to be very powerful to actually be able to move itself (and anything else). But having a product that weigh's a lot is suboptimal to say the least, engineering-wise.

Otherwise I agree with Eternia.
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Stöt
February 10, 2013 at 5:33 pm
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bah, fucked up some wording. whatever.
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Zeta Zero
February 9, 2013 at 6:52 am
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I think the Robot falling on Subaru was a tad overkill. You could also see it a mile coming.
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steelbound
February 9, 2013 at 9:13 am
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Looking at it again, I don't think the wind actually knocked the robot over because it fell to the right whereas Kona rolled to the left because the wind pushed her that way. What I think happened was the wind either caused Akiho to stop pointing the laser beam at the robot and it lost power or it caused Jun to enter a bad movement command.

My question is how were they going to get the robot to turn around and walk back to hanger?

Also, I found Mizuka's death probably one of the worst handled deaths I've ever seen in anime. It destroyed what little hope I was still clinging to that Robotics;Notes could one day show a inkling of what made Steins;Gate great.
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Thatguy3331
February 9, 2013 at 11:30 pm
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That was certianetly an episode this week, While the methoods for how Kai could have stopped Mizuka are up in the air for dabate, I really think that after her spine snapped (OUCH) he was trying to *niively* stop her in a less painful way. I think what got on my nerves about thats scene most was just how long it took him to realize that she was in danger and to do something.

We're I'm more mixed is with the robot falling over. Even IF the wind was part of the conspiricy for some reason, WHY TEST WHEN THE WIND IS BLOWING THAT HARD? just looking at how the robot was built it didn't look like it could take that kind of wind pressure. I could easily pin it on teenage stupidity, but when the characters are essentially MY DAMN AGE, and I figured out that the wind would be dangerous, it really made me scratch my head. While them testing in the wind is something I question, after seeing steelbounds comment he/she may have a point…

all in all there's going to be hell to pay next week, neither of the events in this episode can be glossed off.
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predikit
February 10, 2013 at 12:06 am
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The entire robotic leg scene was the most unreleastic and nonsensical thing I've had the misfortune to witness. Unless those robotic legs weighed 500 lbs, there's absolute no way they could stay upright if she really wanted to fall over. There's no way they could have lifted her torso off the ground even with a brace as far up as the lower spine. There's no leverage without weight, and if they weighed all that much, Kai wouldn't have been able to suplex her.

This entire episode smacked of flagrant stupidity, and a rediculous disregard for physics. Oh I'm running after a giant top-heavy robot, on it's right side, that I know has a problem with it's right leg, and when it looses balance, to the right, I'm going to stand there with a surprised stupid look on my face while it falls towards me.

Can't believe this is actually how the story went, where's the editor to laugh this off the pages and say back to the drawing board?
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MCAL
February 10, 2013 at 12:42 am
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I don't see why you are complaining about realism. This is a show where monopoles fall from the sky.
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Alex Voda
February 10, 2013 at 10:22 am
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I completely agree. The Mizuka part totally broke my suspension of disbelief.
And it could have been done in so many other ways.
They could have had the batteries explode due to a induced short circuit. They could have done so many other, more plausible things.
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Alex Voda
February 10, 2013 at 10:37 am
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@MCAL IT is a valid complaint. The monopoles are the Applied Phlebotinum, the Unobtanium of this series. The abundance of those monopoles (an extremely rare substance in the entire universe, if it even exists) is an Acceptable Breaks from Reality, Phlebotinum always is.

Standing from that position is NOT an Acceptable Breaks from Reality. They could have done that in so many other ways that weren't stupid.

I'm on the fence about Subaru. I don't think he died, but even if he did that move was acceptable. He is not supposed to have had previous experience with giant machinery, therefore didn't keep "safety first" in mind. The wind at ground level could have been much weaker than above, and this is the first outdoor test of GunPro2 (GunPro1 was a lot more stable).
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Taara535 (Michael)
February 10, 2013 at 2:26 am
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It's easy to complain about people not acting fast enough when something terrible is happening; it is much harder to do so. I want to point this out really quickly – WE ARE THE AUDIENCE! We get nice little cues like creepy music and sense that the show is off to figure out something bad is about to happen. THE CHARACTERS DO NOT GET THOSE CUES. No one in their right mind would criticize Kai for "not acting fast enough" or for "not trying" technique X if this happened in real life.

So, why should we hold fictional characters to a higher standard than real people when tragedies strike?

This was an excellent episode, and I look forward to see where things go from here.
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Eternia
February 10, 2013 at 8:18 am
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The problem is, he has quite a lot of time in the world.
It's not like the robotic legs dashed straight to the cliff?
There's even a two minutes drama of trying to push against the robot head on.
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Thanh Phan
February 10, 2013 at 4:21 am
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For all people who complains about Subaru and Kai reaction towards the situation, i really want to see how they will react when they are really in those themselves. People can talk big and stuff when they are the observer and not the victim.
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Beckett
February 10, 2013 at 9:19 am
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Quote by MCAL:

"I don't see why you are complaining about realism. This is a show where monopoles fall from the sky."

THANK YOU. People complaining about realism? Really? There is a GIANT ROBOT. Monopoles falling from the sky. Freaking solar flares hitting Japanese cities and causing widespread chaos. And you're complaining that the robotic legs couldn't have been strong enough to do what they did? Really?

I for one thought this episode was excellent and am glad that it seems to be moving fully into serious business mode. Unfortunately there will be no infinite time loops to try and save the dead this time, RIP Mizuka.
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Alex Voda
February 10, 2013 at 11:07 am
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There are acceptable breaks from reality and Unacceptable breaks from reality.
Giant robots? That's the premise of the series.
Should I remind you of this (it just doesn't move, but it's a giant robot): http://www.jamaipanese.com/full-scale-gundam-odaiba-tokyo-complete

Monopoles? That's the Unobtanium, the Applied Phlebotinum of this series. Phlebotinum is an acceptable break from reality.

Solar flares causing blackouts and chaos? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_1989_geomagnetic_storm
Rampaging robots because of it? Much less probable.

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Here is WHAT I'M COMPLAINING about:
No matter how strong they were they couldn't have brought her to a standing position from the position she was in, not to mention Kai was sitting on her. The weight distribution of the body doesn't allow it. And even so there wold have been many ways to prevent her from falling off the cliff. They both realized the danger.
It was an ass pull in there is no way around the fact that was a stupid scene.

It could have been done in a smart way. For example: make them short circuit the batteries to make them heat up and explode. Much more plausible.
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Stöt
February 10, 2013 at 5:44 pm
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ffs, You keep writing that battery short-circuit thing everywhere in this thread. You really need to look that up, and actually attempt to short-circuit something. IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK IT IS.

Besides, you're complaining about weight distribution when you don't have a f*ing idea what the damn things weigh. That annoys me so much. You play the physics professor, the voice of fucking reason, when you don't even see the massive flaws of your own thinking.

(GOD. DAMNIT. MONOPOLES! and you can bunch them up and store them in a pile!???!!? And SPLIT them?!? Those are things I as a physicist should be worrying about, but I'm not. Because they make it freaking obvious that they don't care about certain aspects of realism. and I'm fine with that, and suspend disbelief)
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Stöt
February 10, 2013 at 5:51 pm
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Great episode. That moment and sound when Mizukas spine snapped was the most intense and horrible event of the whole series. Wow.

My guess is that Junna saves the day by a swift punch to the floor for GunPro-2, to keep it's body from crashing down on Mr. Pleiades. With a quick flashback of her own robot-crashing event .
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MCAL
February 11, 2013 at 2:31 am
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You know. I think that this episode causing such a debate makes it a rousing success.
admin
February 11, 2013 at 3:19 am
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I was just thinking the same thing…
h

hoiut
February 11, 2013 at 11:18 am
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Sansei…

What's more, mayhaps all this argument stems from horrifying nature of the scene itself. The scene was so appalling, we didn't want to accept it. So some will reject it by any means necessary.

There's no doubt it was a beautiful scene. Polarizing, yes (and thankfully not of the monopole variety).

Guardian Enzo

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