Sousei no Aquarion: Myth of Emotions is an odd duck to be sure. My Aquarion grounding is limited enough that I’m having a bit of a hard time getting its measure. How much of this is recycled franchise canon and how much is new? In the final analysis I guess it doesn’t matter as long as I’m enjoying the final product. And I certainly am. It is a bit confounding at times but in an increasingly predictable medium, that can definitely be a plus.

None of that is to say MoE isn’t grounded in mecha tropes, because it certainly is. I mean, there’s no more elemental mecha element than the exploitation (and death) of child pilots. Sayo is the first of what I suppose will be many. Do we believe Munakata and Saruta-sensei when they claim they didn’t know Sayo was going to die when they deployed her? My instinct says they’re telling the truth, or at least part of it. It seems they “remembered” attending her funeral – but only after she died in a battle the boys remember as happening after that funeral. All part of that self-correcting worlds thing, it seems.

As sharp-eyed LiA commenter Envyus pointed out after Episode 2, all of the Elements kids had a stat screen showing what emotion they’re missing. With Sakko it’s fear. With Rimiya it’s empathy, with Toshi curiosity. And with Sayo, self-love (or self-preservation). That’s why Rimiya observes that she almost seemed happy when she was saying “I don’t want to die” – because the gattai with the two boys finally filled in that gap in her emotional palette. It seems this lack of an emotion is a prerequisite for being an Element, and that combining temporarily makes the child feel what they’re missing. In that sense I could see this being very much an addictive process for them.

Once more we hear from the “World Awakening Council”, who declare that their aim is to “free the pent-up souls of humanity” (which has a very Eva ring to it). They demand to know why DEAVA hasn’t chosen a new victim pilot yet. The two Japanese teachers talk of Momohime, who seemed perfect for the program but was not previously chosen. Munakata-sensei predicts she will now, though – and she’s right. But if Momohime really was too perfect – read, not lacking anything – why is she selected now? And what emotion is she lacking?

Another twist occurs when Momohime and the boys look through the library book Sayo seemed so fascinated with. We get an entire flashback sequence, differentiated from the main timeline in that it’s 100% CGI. It appears to show the world of 12,000 years ago, and presumably the past lives of the principals. A girl is chosen to be a Goddess (Moon Goddess), which her friends and family are sad about, but is ultimately for the best (according to her). Later Momohime and Sakko meet on the rooftop and the simmering tensions of their shared childhood spring to the surface. He’s reckless which annoys her, she lectures and scolds him, which he resents. But before things can get really heated another mythical monster shows up and with Toshi still dinged from last time, Momohime makes her battle debut.

Even in battle Momohime tries to be the boss, despite being a rookie. Rimiya, lacking empathy as he is, makes dispassionate decisions about the best course of action. And once Momohime has gattai’d with the boys and had her emotional deficiency filled in, she seems to freak out pretty good. All this leads to disaster in their showdown with the enemy, though it’s too early in the series for it to be as bad as this looks.