Quote:
Originally Posted by Snowblind
Actually, he does. Episode 17. Ranka tells him all about Ai-kun. He even says he doesn't care if people find out and she gets scolded. So he knows, and chooses to take no action on it.
Even without that line, why should Alto be any less aware than Ranka? He's not new to Frontier. He's been privy to the same education, warnings and ecosystem knowledge as Ranka.
Then it's a mark against all three of them, at least. And like I said, if Ai really was a simple alien squirrel, and not the harbinger of a Vajra infestation, I'm willing to bet we wouldn't be having this conversation, and everyone would be happy to let it slide.
The plot simply demanded that Ranka come into contact with Ai the Vajra (which helps her to learn about them and the way they think, that they're not malevolent, and ultimately leads to a peaceful resolution with their species etc etc). So... you could come up with other ways of doing the same thing, but Ai did have his place in the series as presented.
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As I don't have access to the eps to verify it right now, I'll take your word for it that ep 17 shows Alto's awareness of Ai. In that case, yeah all 3 of them gets marks against them for their irresponsibility...more so Alto because I expect a character who helps protects the safety of the colony such as his should know better.
Green squirrel or harbinger of death, I don't think biologists really care. All they really want to know is whether it is harmful to the eco-system and is it capable of reproducing.
It's hard to make the argument that Ai's role was to establish a sympathtic link between Ranka and the Vajra because that effectively began with Ranka's capture by the mothership in ep 12-13? and then followup by every stomach cramp she had when the Vajra were killed. Yet by the time Ranka is aware that Ai is a Vajra, she is already siding with the Vajra camp and her recovering memories only reinforces her doubts of the war with the Vajra. In my opinion, Ai's revelation as a Vajra came way too late to have any real impact. It should have been done several episodes earlier while Ranka was having her doubts, not when she already on the verge of abandoning Fontier's defense and remembering her suppressed memories. That's why in my opinion Ai is nothing more than a furry mascot who true purpose is to be cute and steal panties while adding litte, if anything, to the plot and can easily be written out or be replaced by more significant characters and events.