Aquarion EVOL - Episode 18 Discussion / Poll

[Korps!]

I guess rare iguras = girl with element, the stronger the element, the stronger the saikyo.

[Winged_Memories]

Oh I also forgot to add...does Zessica repeating the "Dead End" phrase mean some misfortune along the lines for her or possibly for another character? I mean even Andy was stating his possible death might occur and don't forgot the fruit dessert o.O I hope no one else dies even if Aquarion Evol is meant to get a lot darker...if these characters are meant to be reincarnations then they have been harboring a lot of angst.

[Sixth]

So many angst in this episode. The timing for Fudo leaving Neo-Deva was rather bad timed. It seems that Crea isn't cut to be a leader or commander. I wonder, how she managed to get into that position? For what purpose Fudo made Crea as commander?

I can't tell who is the most pathetic character in this episode. Is it Zessica or is it Andy?

[Chaos2Frozen]

Ignoring the green horse in the room that everyone has already beaten to dead, I was quite surprise to find the other underlining theme of this episode to be Father Trouble; We already know about Mix's relationship with her father, we now learn about Mikono distant relationship with hers (though it's not hard to suspect all this time), as well as Amata admitting he knows nothing about his own Father (Quite honestly I always thought it was an issue that the writers just brushed aside). I was prepared to come up with a number of 'Izumo could be something else other than Amata's Father' before, but after watching the episode it does feel like they're almost hammering the point.


Anyway, less obvious is Crea and her looking up to Fudo as a Fatherly figure that had guided her (and everybody else) all this time- without him around her vulnerable and insecure side starts to show. This reminds me of an old song used in 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' where the Mentor character had to leave her or else she'll never learn on her own. I doubt this would be Fudo's actual intention, but who knows?


To add on, I like alot of the smaller interactions in the first half, both the funny (Mix's guilty conscience over ALOT of things, not just Andy ) and the touching (Cayanne finally doing what he should have done a LONG time ago -_-). I've notice these things keep getting lost in the tide of fan angst, but I feel they're definitely worth mentioning so that people don't forget them.



P.S - I was really hoping to hear [Pride] played again, but I didn't think it would be under these circumstances

[kuromitsu]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

Now, I had less issue with Zessica in this episode than some did, although I do feel quite sorry for the girl. Her emotional state is clearly very bad.

Frankly, my issue with Zessica in this episode is that her entire state of mind was totally out of the blue. If we had at least some episodes leading up to this it would've been great, but we went from "hey, I don't care if it's one-sided, I'm still going to love him, so there :P" to "I have no chance with him, mopemopeangst" without any transition whatsoever.

Originally Posted by Triple_R

1. Zessica changed her look to be more like Mikono's, and it is making Zessica more popular with guys in general.

That was actually an interesting situation. It's not looking more like Mikono that's making Zessica more popular, it's that this way she looks more... approachable? less intimidating?

(By the way, yet again Zessica piloted Aquarion while very much in love, and Aquarion didn't seem to give a damn.)

Originally Posted by Chaos2Frozen

I was prepared to come up with a number of 'Izumo could be something else other than Amata's Father' before, but after watching the episode it does feel like they're almost hammering the point.

If he's indeed Amata's dad it raises some questions: does Mykage know? It seems so, but until now he never once commented on it, even when he took such great pleasure in emotionally torturing Izumo. So is it even important in the long run? (I mean, important plot-wise. I guess both Izumo and Amata would be happy if they were able to build a connection...)

[ookamigirl]

Andy totally lost it with digging those holes.
Guess getting rejected by Mix did him in pretty good.
Mikono is troubled by her mixed feelings about Kagura.
Her dad's letter didn't help to improve her mood at all...
The new attack showed some nice fighting skills.
Izumo finally decided on a new approach, a diplomatic one.
It didn't end well for Mix.

[Krytonis]

Zessica is only thinking for herself foolishly... I am starting to wonder how the next episode will be like...

[NoemiChan]

Originally Posted by Koominator

Zessica is only thinking for herself foolishly... I am starting to wonder how the next episode will be like...

Driven by emotion well make anyone act stupid and selfish at times.

[ReddyRedWolf]

Originally Posted by GenjiChan

Driven by emotion well make anyone act stupid and selfish at times.

That reminds me of Sirius.

[mixordia]

Zessica reminds me of Reika right now... in that episode in Sousei where she decided to leave and abandon everyone because she thinks she's useless, fortunately Reika's actions didn't not have as much impact like Zessica's actions. Reika was very insecure because she thought would bring disgrace to everyone... Zessica is very insecure now too.

[ReddyRedWolf]

Originally Posted by mixordia

Reika was very insecure because she thought would bring disgrace to everyone...

More like endanger everyone with her bad luck.

Though if we subscribe to the theory that OVA Apollo, Silvia and Reika reincarnated into their TV selves Reika is subconsciously punishing herself.

[mayumi]

If zessica is truly reika does she needs to be torturted in this reincarnation cycle aswell? But her not wanting to fail/give up seems more like sirius than reika. I never understood when celiane split into light and dark side of her soul, u would think apollonius would love her as a whole and not just her light side.

[Korps!]

The list of things that bugs me in this anime continue to pile up.

We're at 18 episodes and the writers finally remember that Cayenne and Mikono are brother and sister, to the point that when they get to talk about their father and when she called him oni-san it felt like bad cast and poor actors delivering the lines.

I don't know how they managed to did it, but in the span of 20 minutes they succeed in making me annoyed by Zessica and Andy's behaviour.

So far there are two stance the character usually take in this show, "sit & watch" and "sit & mope", at long lat Izumo breaks the first one (yeah, Mykage doesn't give a damn about Altair) while Andy brings the second to a whole new level (underground level).

Seeing that the Andy joke was still around during the preopening sequence, the first shot of MIX's jiggling boobs was totally foreshadowing the red herring that was the last episode preview (plus there was no pineapple in her fruit cup).

[Haak]

Decent episode and all but...

Originally Posted by Haak

I don't know if this has been discussed before but I'd like raise a small issue. Altair's demographic problem seems to me like a very understandable problem. I may have missed this but is there any reason why Altair can't try and resolve this diplomatically? (haven't seen the previous series btw)

...did it seriously take them this long to even consider this?

[ReddyRedWolf]

Originally Posted by mayumi

If zessica is truly reika does she needs to be torturted in this reincarnation cycle aswell? But her not wanting to fail/give up seems more like sirius than reika. I never understood when celiane split into light and dark side of her soul, u would think apollonius would love her as a whole and not just her light side.

Celiane's soul split because the war was too traumatic. Silvia couldn't remember the past because all she had was the happy memory of Celiane. Sirius had all Celiane's traumatic memories. The reason why he thought he was Apollonius. Similar to how OVA Reika thought she was Celiane. The memories perspective was confusing.

Which brings us to our four main characters. Amata, Mikono, Zessica, and Kagura. Who is who and are their perspectives correct.

Kagura thinks Mikono is Sylvie. Zessica thinks Kagura and Mikon are fated past lovers Apollon and Sylvie that hurts Amata.

Then the true story of Aquarion complicates that.

Amata thinks Kagura is Apollo due to his beast nature. But then he and the girls doesn't know about 24,000 years earlier when Apollo was Apollonius was a far different person and so is Silvia.

Mikono isn't bothered by reincarnations but she thinks she needs to ask Kagura's forgiveness. She does recognize Touma and Zen/Gen Fudo freaks her out.


I think there is a reason Fudo didn't teach about the reincarnations. They shouldn't be dragged by the past and be their own persons. Something that Silvia realized. When Otoha was abut to kill her she said she wasn't Celiane anymore but Silvia de Alisia descendant of Apollonius and Celiane.

Heck Apollo couldn't remember his own past let alone his past self memory. That part was stuck of the Wings of the Sun portion of himself, Aquarion.

Also lets not forget Fudo doesn't want anybody poking Amata's memories.

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by kuromitsu

Frankly, my issue with Zessica in this episode is that her entire state of mind was totally out of the blue. If we had at least some episodes leading up to this it would've been great, but we went from "hey, I don't care if it's one-sided, I'm still going to love him, so there :P" to "I have no chance with him, mopemopeangst" without any transition whatsoever.

You're right. Some of the episode-to-episode transitions in this is really, really clunky, and that definitely applies to Episode 17 to Episode 18 with how quickly Zessica just gives up on one-sided love.

It's been my experience that Okada is best with small casts (6 to 8 truly important characters) and one cour. EVOL, of course, has a large cast (probably a dozen or more truly important characters) and is two cour.

Okada has a tendency to lose focus in anime shows like EVOL, and that's sadly showing here. But I'm not losing all hope because Okada is generally good at writing endings, imo.

That was actually an interesting situation. It's not looking more like Mikono that's making Zessica more popular, it's that this way she looks more... approachable? less intimidating?

That might be some of it, yeah. Zessica's normal attire has a sort of aggressive/sporty feel to it that while attractive might also make some folks think "approach with caution".

(By the way, yet again Zessica piloted Aquarion while very much in love, and Aquarion didn't seem to give a damn.)

Yeah, Aquarion's reactions to its pilots is very plot device-y. There's no real rhyme or reason to it, and it's just whatever the plot demands. Which is why I'm not trying to find a pattern here, or wondering things like 'Why can't Mikono get Aquarion to do something big and bold based on her love of Amata?".

If he's indeed Amata's dad it raises some questions: does Mykage know? It seems so, but until now he never once commented on it, even when he took such great pleasure in emotionally torturing Izumo. So is it even important in the long run? (I mean, important plot-wise. I guess both Izumo and Amata would be happy if they were able to build a connection...)

I think that it's either...

1) Not important to Mykage's plan, so he doesn't care about it.

2) It was important to Mykage's plan to delay Izumo and Amata finding out about it... until now, for some reason.

[miketyson]

I've been seeing the Mykage-Izumo angle as Izumo wasn't supposed to have a kid with Alisia, did anyways, Mykage's been blackmailing him with it ever since. Since we still don't know what a true eve is, it's possible Amata's the fulfillment they're looking for, but b/c Izumo jumped the gun he blew it. Or something.

[Bombo]

Originally Posted by mixordia

Ok. Zessica pissed me off so much in this episode...

i'm so pissed too .. I DAMN HATE U ZESSICA

[ChocoBar9]

The way I look at it is this...

They went into the battle without Fudou, which is a terrible way to start off. Izumo was effortlessly brushing off all of their attacks, and they ultimately did more damage to their own HQ than to him. He offers terms. Whether the cast can trust him or not is ultimately irrelevant, because there is no alternative. Regardless of whether Zessica's doing it to save her friends or doing it because she's heartbroken is also irrelevant. If she doesn't take one for the team, Izumo and his lackies simply smash open Neo-Deava HQ and help themselves.

That being said, I don't fault Mix either because when faced with the prospect of watching a friend offer themselves up as a piece of meat, it would probably be difficult to stay rational.

I am, however, angry at Andy. He has absolutely no cause to hit Amata, when he himself did absolutely nothing to protect Mix. You don't have a leg to stand on when you blame somebody for "not doing enough" when you didn't do a thing yourself. Pissed at Amata for freezing up when he was taunted by the image of his mother? As opposed to assuming the fetal position for days because you accidentally made a sexual innuendo instead of a confession?

Though I guess one could argue that Amata is at fault simply because he's being a prat and won't shack up with Zessica.

[Chaos2Frozen]

Originally Posted by ChocoBar9

I am, however, angry at Andy. He has absolutely no cause to hit Amata, when he himself did absolutely nothing to protect Mix. You don't have a leg to stand on when you blame somebody for "not doing enough" when you didn't do a thing yourself. Pissed at Amata for freezing up when he was taunted by the image of his mother? As opposed to assuming the fetal position for days because you accidentally made a sexual innuendo instead of a confession?

Though I guess one could argue that Amata is at fault simply because he's being a prat and won't shack up with Zessica.

One question; how do you know that's the reason Andy punched Amata? Lucky guess?

Why not it's something like Amata wanted to stop Andy from doing something stupid like chasing after the Enemy alone? And then we get the standard best friends fight to get him to cool off.