(L) Simoun

[Seska]

Well, my idea why she is there in the crashed Simoun.

Spoiler:

When Angelus suicide, she destroys the Simouns on deck. Perhaps she set the "inner something" of the engines free. And they suck her into "Tempus Spatinum".

*Shruk* or Angelus was already dead, and "Tempus and Spatinum" let her revive in this time and space (dont forget what Onashia says, about the two became a pair).

Or more easly. The Highlands are the orginal Simouns users and crafters. The Simouns that the Corps are flying was digged up of the grounds right? Perhaps thats the half truth.

[Iskandar Taib]

Originally Posted by m000m000

Re: The V-shaped Simoun's suitability as fighter due to the engines most likely limiting vision;
It's not as the original Simoun is much better - The pilot has a great view up front/down, but is totally blind to everything in the rear. Even the Sagitta doesn't have very good back vision due to the cockpit canopy still being more tilted forward than being level, and then there's the "spine" which rises up behind all of them - The one with the T-shaped spine is probably the absolute worst in terms of visibilty .

Yeah, that's one thing that struck me, as well. But who's going to climb up behind a Simoun's six? Nothing but another Simoun, as far as we've seen. Interesting that they fly with wingmen when on patrol, too.

Re-watched episodes 4 and 5 last night. The more I watch, the more I'm convinced that ALL the Simoun are different. Even the "standard" ones have high spines and low spines, Paraietta's has a sort of secondary spine behind the vertical one. The one Aeru appropriated for her nocturnal adventure with Limone was the round finned one (both ventral and dorsal fins end in sort of a spoon, and the dorsal fin was bent back at the top). This one, unlike the others, has twin cannon under the "cow catcher". Haven't figured out who exactly owned that particular Simoun - Aeru doesn't fly it after that time.

I'm pretty sure by now the T-tailed one "belongs" to Rodreamon (who flies with Morinas later). She and Aeru flew it in episode 6. And the swallowtail belonged to Limone (and now Dominura) though I could have sworn Alti and Floe had it in episode 10.

In Limone's flashback, the two simoun looked like they had sharp ventral spikes, and short dorsal fins - until THAT happened, when you can see that one had a T-tail. Maybe the animators weren't being consistent, since you can't see any sign of a T-tail before that.

Reminds me of the old men-of-war in the days of sail. Gold leaf, figureheads, baroque lines and ornamentation, and every one of them different in some way.

[Guppy]

Originally Posted by Iskandar Taib

Yeah, that's one thing that struck me, as well. But who's going to climb up behind a Simoun's six? Nothing but another Simoun, as far as we've seen.

Well, the Simouns certainly seem to have enough of a speed and power advantage to deny their normal opponents a tracking shot, but their usual tactic of flying straight into the middle of the enemy formation to use Ri Maajons negates that somewhat. Chor Tempest lost a Simoun to a six o'clock snapshot in episode 1, if I recall rightly.

I found it interesting that the Simoun-on-Simoun fight reverted quite quickly to guns, since both sides are manoeuvrable enough to consistently evade each other's Ri Maajons. On current evidence, it seems like the Ri Maajon will be less and less of a factor in air combat as Argentum's equipment and tactics improve... which could be a real problem for Our Heroines. (On the other hand, the Ri Maajon is devastating against ground targets, and Simouns are fast and have practically unlimited range and endurance. If things get desperate enough, the Simouns would probably make excellent strategic bombers...)

Originally Posted by Iskandar Taib

Interesting that they fly with wingmen when on patrol, too.

That does make sense - two Simouns could cover each other's blind spots and generally offer much better lookout than a single ship.

[Matrim]

The more I watch, the more I'm convinced that ALL the Simoun are different.

In episode seven Aaeru instantly recognizes the Simoun her grandfather used to fly on so I think you have a point here.

[Iskandar Taib]

Originally Posted by Matrim

In episode seven Aaeru instantly recognizes the Simoun her grandfather used to fly on so I think you have a point here.

Wasn't that a Shimire? I'll have to go watch it again.. ^_^;;;

They're probably made one at a time, by craftsmen. Not an assembly line type thing.

[Guppy]

Originally Posted by Iskandar Taib

They're probably made one at a time, by craftsmen. Not an assembly line type thing.

It certainly seems that way, since they clearly can't replace them easily - otherwise, packing most of two Chors off to the Spring just because they don't have Simouns to fly is a huge waste of training, skill and experience, right when the war is starting to escalate.

(IMO it's pretty wasteful anyway, since assigning a couple of extra pairs to each Chor would cover for contingencies like fatigue or illness and permit some rest and rotation even during periods of sustained combat... but I guess they're still not really accustomed to thinking that way.)

[Matrim]

Originally Posted by Iskandar Taib

Wasn't that a Shimire? I'll have to go watch it again.. ^_^;;;

It seems that you are right. They showed it right after showing the Simouns and it was a bit dark so I guess I got confused that the Simile had been converted to a Simoun rather than just repaired.

[oneplusme]

Originally Posted by Guppy

It certainly seems that way, since they clearly can't replace them easily - otherwise, packing most of two Chors off to the Spring just because they don't have Simouns to fly is a huge waste of training, skill and experience, right when the war is starting to escalate.

Yes... It does become increasingly apparent that the Simulacrans really suck at warfare. Their tactics aren't great, and their strategy is nonexistent. If it weren't for their vastly superior firepower, they'd've been doomed long before now.

[Kaoru Chujo]

There are some good new images on the Simoun image board this week (July 24+). Including one that appears to be a worksheet made in January for the animators with detailed drawings of six different types of Simoun.

There is also a poster of Aaeru, Yun and Mamina by AS (Nishida Asako, the chara-des/animation director). Here's a detailed view of the top part of the poster from 2channel (direct link to Japanese upload, so I don't know how long it will last). Why those three? One 2channel poster suggested it was because they are the three from the country. Not sure which magazine it's from, but probably Megami.

Someone also posted the first page of the second chapter of the Megami manga. And for good measure, here's a pic of Morinas.

And I can't help agreeing that Kyuukoku's strategy and tactics leave a lot to be desired. I'm glad that there's technology-as-magic involved, or they'd have no chance.

One more thing: the staff blog says that Takahashi Rieko (Neviril) and Hosokoshi Michiko (Kaimu) are on stage this week in Goethe's Faust. Takahashi-san is playing Margarethe and Hosokoshi-san is in the chorus.

[Matrim]

Yun's blushing so stupidly in that poster, you'd think she has moved to some other series and reduced her IQ as a result of that.

I like the fact that the Simulcran strategy is dumb, it adds a sense of realism to the show. You can't expect people who are trying to learn warfare during the course of the conflicts to not make stupid mistakes.

[Kaoru Chujo]

Originally Posted by Matrim

Yun's blushing so stupidly in that poster, you'd think she has moved to some other series and reduced her IQ as a result of that....

I think it's the Megami manga version she's moved to, lol. It's like they put someone else's soul in her body. The Megami version is so much less than the Simoun we're used to. Nice in its way, I guess, but more Megami than Simoun.

[Matrim]

So, there are going to be two manga version? The first one closer to the anime and the second one with more fanservice? They really try hard to sell this to a broad target audience, don't they?

[warainagara]

Originally Posted by Matrim

So, there are going to be two manga version? The first one closer to the anime and the second one with more fanservice? They really try hard to sell this to a broad target audience, don't they?

Yurihime version was finalized.
A comic book covering three chapters serialized in yurihime will be published on Sep 16th.
Megami will be the official manga after all.
It seems they are beginning to aim more at the male audience.
This month's Yurihime magazine itself also changed a lot.
Suddenly, it is appealing to hard core yuri even more than before.
I was wondering why and guessed Strawberry Panic DVDs may have been quite successful.
But DVD 1 sold only 2,000 copies according to 2ch, which is not to be seen a promising figure.
I think that's the way they can keep more readers at any rate, though.
More adult taste doesn't seem to repel female fans, if any, but is effective for drawing quite a few male fans.

[Iskandar Taib]

Originally Posted by Guppy

(IMO it's pretty wasteful anyway, since assigning a couple of extra pairs to each Chor would cover for contingencies like fatigue or illness and permit some rest and rotation even during periods of sustained combat... but I guess they're still not really accustomed to thinking that way.)

Yup.. that's how it was done in real life. The in-air strength of a RAF fighter squadron in 1939 was 12 planes, but a squadron actually had 18 or so pilots and about as many airplanes. Not everyone flew every day. Big mistake in "Piece of Cake" (the novel, that was).

[guest]

Originally Posted by warainagara

I was wondering why and guessed Strawberry Panic DVDs may have been quite successful.
But DVD 1 sold only 2,000 copies according to 2ch, which is not to be seen a promising figure.

2,000 copies for one dvd? That is pathetic, especially it is in Japan where ppl are familiar with anime. Guess I won't see second season coming.

More importantly, if that is the sale rank for SP, simoun could be worse. Just take a look at TV rating...

[warainagara]

Originally Posted by guest

2,000 copies for one dvd? That is pathetic, especially it is in Japan where ppl are familiar with anime. Guess I won't see second season coming.

More importantly, if that is the sale rank for SP, simoun could be worse. Just take a look at TV rating...

Well, probably we don't know...
Truely, Simoun's TV rating is not so prominent.. only around 1%.
TV rating would be more about on-air time and DVD sales more about the number of the loyal fans.
I'm watching both of them but I don't want to pay for Strawberry Panic DVD while I am willing to for Simoun if the graphic part is upgraded at some points.

[Matrim]

I can't help but be glad that the Strawberry Pnic DVD bombed like that. Let's hope Simoun seels more copies.

[Guppy]

Originally Posted by Iskandar Taib

Yup.. that's how it was done in real life. The in-air strength of a RAF fighter squadron in 1939 was 12 planes, but a squadron actually had 18 or so pilots and about as many airplanes.

That's quite a lot of reserves to hold back. I believe WWII USAAF squadrons also had 18 aircraft - but their mission strength was 16 (four flights of four) and the two spares often took off with the main group anyway, to fill in for any early aborts (yet another problem Simouns don't ever seem to have).

For a Simoun Chor, it would make sense to have more pilots than aircraft, since their loss rate is generally quite low and the Simouns are usually 100% available (which makes their maintenance crews seem very good, but then again they don't understand and never touch the most critical parts of the airframe - so what exactly do they do, anyway? Reload the guns and polish the hull?).

Originally Posted by Iskandar Taib

Big mistake in "Piece of Cake" (the novel, that was).

Hey, so I'm not the only one who keeps thinking of PoC while watching Simoun! I like the way both stories keep the airborne fighting short and sharp, while focusing on the character interplay on the ground.

[Kaoru Chujo]

Yun fans might be interested to see at least one ep of Innocent Venus. The young girl, Saya, is played by rising star Nazuka Kaori, who is the voice of Yun (and also did Eureka, Erisu in Canvas2, Lala Ru in Now and Then, etc.). The first episode made it seem as if it could be a decent dystopic future adventure with mecha, special young girl, and bishounen.

[warainagara]

Thanks to Kaoru Chujo, for the picture of the sketch of six Simouns.
I just put the pilots' names beside each Simoun.
the Simouns of the Chor Tempest