After watching episode 14 for the third time, I finally feel comfortable writing about what I think of it. Overall, I feel episodes 13-14 mark a watershed moment in the MF series as the hidden conspiracy begins to reveal itself and goes into full swing while a paradigm shift takes place as to the direction of the show.
Since the beginning of the series, the Vajra have been painted as alien, blood-thirsty enemies. However, in this episode, not only did the Vajra Queen communicated with Ranka, the bugs also stopped attacking when they heard Ranka sing. The way the combat sequences intersected Aimo in the background, the death of Pixie Squad member, the bugs stopped attacking, and the ensuring xenocide created a tragic tapestry of war between the two species that is ultimately pointless and futile. Ranka crying at the sight of the carnage and Grace's reference to her as the "Little Queen" further reinforces my belief that by the end of the series, Human/Zent/Bug co-existence is probably a likely outcome.
After episode 14, the odds of Ranka becoming Vajra royalty have just doubled. In fact, I wonder if there's a bit of foreshadowing in the intermission for Episode 13, when Ranka sings about the beloved girl is an alien.
However, the first half of the season has been almost a grand slam for Ranka in term of character development. She started the show as an immature, shy young girl. However, in the span of 5 episodes (10-14), she became a woman with the determination to reach for what she wants and the courage to chase after it (See episode 10 for determination and episode 12 for courage). Yes, she is still immature in appearance and she needed her friends to push her forward during some of those key moments, but the important thing is, she has grown tremendously from her humble origins, and surprisingly, has become a very likable character in spite of her moe/loli-design. A Cinderella story indeed.
Sheryl, on the other hand, is now in the middle of a mid-season slam-down. She started out the series as the famous Galactic Fairy, on the top of the pecking order. Throughout the series to date, she has been approaching everything with the world famous "I am Sheryl" attitude. This sense of ultimate self-confidence and her go-getter mannerism are what endeared her to many of us. But at the same time, her emotional development basically hasn't progressed at all. Her fascination/crush with Alto has increased episode by episode, but her core self has remained constant.
Hence the mid-season slam is necessary. Because without some fairly traumatic event, Sheryl is not going to change and mature to the next level. If the invulnerable Sheryl doesn't become mortal and feel pain, she would never truly reach out of her shell and grow.
In the first half of the series, Sheryl's relationship with Alto probably hit their high notes in episode 8 (romantic flight at the end). The kiss in episode 10 was pretty much a wash (mainly due to Sheryl turning it into a joke), and the gift in episode 11 was actually the beginning of her slam. Sheryl's main problem is the fact that she is only beginning to realize Alto's importance to her (whereas Ranka had already laid her life on the line for Alto in episode 12 by mounting the rescue mission). Without letting blockhead Alto know how she really feels in an obvious and dramatic fashion, their relationship will never advance beyond their playful bantering stage right now.
Because of this, I see more pain and suffering for Sheryl for at least a couple more episodes. She'll probably reach a point where she finally acknowledges to herself that she wants Alto with all her heart and will pull herself together for that inevitable counter-attack. Weather forecast for Sheryl.... at least gloom and doom through episode 18 and maybe supermove thereafter. I think the two girls will probably reach parity again around episode 23 just to keep the ending interesting.
Looking ahead, the real villains of this series will be gradually revealed, and there will be much more heartaches for Sheryl (and Ranka as well, maybe in the form of an Ozuma pineapple salad and most likely when the inevitable Sheryl counter-attack lands).
Doh. I can't believe I blabbed on for so long already. I guess this is because I haven't had an anime show that I liked this much in years. This show has continued to exceed my expectations and surprised me in its cleverness. So it's hard not to think about it while I have some down time. Anyway, here's a toast to the rest of the season, may it be as great as the first half!
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. Although it was somewhat made up for by some decent VF-171 action.
