(L) Sora no Woto

[Cosmic Eagle]

Originally Posted by krko

Notice that the narration of Madame's life was done entirely in third person (hence the narrator was definitely not her) but the narrator suddenly become introspective ("Now that I'm this old...") implies that one of the other characters in that scene was the narrator. (probably Kanata since she takes over the narration after a certain point).So its probably safe to say that Kanata will survive this anime.

Or it could be simply Madame Jacott reviwing her life story in third person.

If this really ends at 12 then I have to say that it feels a bit too rushed. Hopefully there'll be a second season or something.

[Kaoru Chujo]

Excellent episode. I especially liked the way everything has been implied, just gradually more and more overtly until now it is obvious -- but still not directly stated.

And the plot -- or the plot that has until now lain above the level of these characters -- seems about to get interesting.

I still feel something lacking in this show. The emotions not deep enough? I'm not sure what it is. But the show is excellent in many ways.

[OrionCA]

Originally Posted by ReddyRedWolf

Well I feel an odd contrast between Kanata and Rio.

Kanata's parents would've rather have her married off and inherit the household but she joined the military. Seize and her home town being remote places she won't have to worry of a phone call from her folks to get married.

Rio on the other hand is more complex. She joined the military to get away from her father. In a twist of fate with her sister dead she is the only chance at peace. But at the expense of her own happiness. Being married off to be added to the enemy leader's wives as a sacrifice is a fate I don't want anybody to have.

Bet if any of Rio's admirers heard about it they'd rather have war than send their Fire Maiden as a sacrifice to the proverbial monster.

In the end with the entire country in danger Rio resigned to her fate to save it.

I have to say the archduke Akira has some gall to ask Rio of this. After years of neglect he wants her to sacrifice whatever small happiness she has. The people didn't like the Princess Illiya to married to the emperor what makes him think they would like his sole remaining child to such a person.

1) She's 3rd in line, which means there are at least 2 senior to her.

2) It's not shown directly but Helvetia is in pretty bad shape from the war just ended. In ep 8 the Archduke was absolutely clear on the phone about how he felt: the country could be destroyed if she doesn't marry the Emperor.

[ReddyRedWolf]

Originally Posted by OrionCA

1) She's 3rd in line, which means there are at least 2 senior to her.

Which isn't the point I was making. I did not say she would inherit the Helvetian throne. Just that Helvetian public opinion is against such deals.

If Kureha is to be believed the war started because the Emperor wanted Helvetia part of his hegemony by marriage and he was willing to pull a war to do it.

[al103]

Originally Posted by ReddyRedWolf

If Kureha is to be believed the war started because the Emperor wanted Helvetia part of his hegemony by marriage and he was willing to pull a war to do it.

War continued for much longer than 2 years. Marriage was to happen 2 years ago. It was failed attempt to conclude peace, not cause of war.

[klare]

Originally Posted by FlareKnight

Well not too bad. Rio is on her way though obviously things won't settle down so simply after this. They've been fixing this tank for the whole series it's going to go out and fight something .

but i can imagine in the end, Kanata will be on top of the tank playing her new trumpet and the war will be ended, the tank or the squad will have no chance to be seen fighting

only 2 more eps to go, i hope the end will not be like Rideback...

[NinjaYali]

Originally Posted by FlareKnight

Well not too bad. Rio is on her way though obviously things won't settle down so simply after this. They've been fixing this tank for the whole series it's going to go out and fight something .

A princess (well almost princess) goes to promote peace...where have we heard this before?

I bet they have a Black Sun on the other side. Damn UEF.

[NinjaYali]

Originally Posted by klare

but i can imagine in the end, Kanata will be on top of the tank playing her new trumpet and the war will be ended, the tank or the squad will have no chance to be seen fighting

only 2 more eps to go, i hope the end will not be like Rideback...

Well, it's going to end a little like this. Band of Sisters. (Apologies for applying wrong terminology in regards to armoured divisions)

Spoiler for We few, we happy few, we band of sisters. For she today who moe moe kyuns with me shall be my dakimakura:

1. 1121st is assigned is Currahee to train under Mio Sakamoto in preparation for war. She's a very had disciplinarian who makes them run after dinner, makes them lose an entire week off just for a mistake and forces them to run up and down the mountain at every chance possible. Why? Because this isn't Dog Company, Fox Company, Able Company or How Company. THIS IS EAST COMPANY!!! Because she's such a bi*** Kureha, Kanata and Noel threaten to resign from their new roles as NCOs. Filicia takes control in their place.

2. The 1121st Platoon is tank dropped into Italy with the new recruits. However they are hopelessly scattered about. Using what little ammunition they have, the girls blast the shit of some wacky nazis, steal their weapons and en routes with everyone else. It turns out that there is a artillery piece blasting away at OhMoe Beach where the 5th Corps under Major General Tainaka is attempting to land. The artillery piece is destroyed by the fine leadership of Filicia and important maps are stolen as well. At the end of the episode, we see a town being blasted away by concentrated amounts of Moe Bombs.

3. A new recruit Konata joins 1121st Platoon as infantry support. Throughout the episode she is literally shitting herself at thoughts of fighting wacky Nazis. She eventually does snipe one only to get killed herself later on by the directors thanks to some unfortunately poor historical research.

4. 1121st Platoon returns to Netherlands with some new recruits in their tank platoon including Lynette, Mio Akiyama, Lyudmila and Yuno. In the attempt to liberate a second town as part of Operation Moe Garden, Sergeant Kureha is trapped behind enemy lines. The episode follows Kureha as she avoids those wacky Nazis and make it through the ordeal to rejoin her Platoon.

5. Filicia gets a day off in Rome. However she keeps on getting horrible flashbacks to her killing a teenage soldier (identified as a Azusa Nakano). At the end of the episode they learn that the Germans have attacked again and are pushing their forces back.

I'll add more later.

[bloodraze]

While the ED was really out of place for EP7, but this time instead of giving me a mood whiplash it somehow made me even sadder. Why? Because Rio was in it and the part where she high fives Kanata was really ;.;

[FlareKnight]

Originally Posted by NinjaYali

A princess (well almost princess) goes to promote peace...where have we heard this before?

I would say that Rio should have seen this cliche coming, but with the loss of knowledge all the old cliche's are fresh again .

[NinjaYali]

Originally Posted by FlareKnight

I would say that Rio should have seen this cliche coming, but with the loss of knowledge all the old cliche's are fresh again .

I just forgot there's also aliens. So they may throw in a bit of this as well.

The Aeon, UEF and Cybran sure have a thing for self-sacrificing women who with a few kind words ends the war. I wonder if Supreme Commander 2 is going to be like this.

While the ED was really out of place for EP7, but this time instead of giving me a mood whiplash it somehow made me even sadder. Why? Because Rio was in it and the part where she high fives Kanata was really ;.;

Let's lighten up the mood. Band of Sisters, Part 2!

Spoiler for Summary Parody, no way meant to play down events of WW2:

6.MEDDDDDIC!!! Yoshika find herself worn out and overwhelmed by the amount of injured soldiers as well as the fact that the Platoon is low on medical supplies. But she's getting more tired of the sound byte MEDDDDIC!! being shouted every 10 minutes. Forms a friendship with a nurse (who is hot like all nurses) Sadly, though she get's bombed to bits. (Actually, later reports showed that Lynette apparently had a fit of jealousy and blew up the building making it out to look like a German attack)

7. 1121st Platoon continue their battle with the loss of several men leading to a severe drop of morale thanks to getting shelled day and night by Germans. This is of course, compounded by an inefficent officer named Yui who doesn't do jackshit all day on the frontline other then running off and eating cake. 1st Sergeant Noel Kannagi thankfully keeps their joys up through the power of her rule 34 pictures. This has made disturbing reports in HQ since the Platoon is full of women. Other noticeable casualties include Nazuna who had her leg blown off in an artillery bombardment. Very Moe indeed. When they eventually assault the town, Ritsu is thankfully relieved and replaced by the controversial 1st Liutenant Mio Akiyama.

(According to rumours and reports from fellow soldiers, Mio Akiyama is believed to have committed a war crime. She deliberately executed 29 unarmed captured soldiers by smothering them to death through Marshmallow Hell)

8. Yuno returns from hospitals and rejoins her company on patrol duty against a entrenched German position on the other side of the town. One notable act that happens in this episode is a new recruit named Haruhi Suzumiya throwing a grenade and then walking right into it. Very smart indeed. At the end of this episode, Meganekko Mugi becomes Major and Noel is promoted to 2nd Lt.

9. Kanata battles against cake addiction which she picked up to deal with the war. How she still manages to find cake in wartime is not known but she frequently breaks into cake shops and steals it to help her deal with war. And just when you thought it couldn't get worse, her fiance dumps her and takes the dog as well. 'He doesn't even like the dog!!' Although that pales in comparison to what they find next. A concentration camp for pettankos. It would seem that the otaku politicians and generals in charge of the German army disliked flat chested character and so decided to lock them all up and work them till they die.

10. The final episode of Band of Witches. The 1121st Platoon capture the HQ and prepare to go to war in the Pacific against the Aliens. One thing of note that happens is that a new recruit shoots his superior in the head. And so what follows is a violent confrontation ending in another 'no fucking way, I'm not going to shoot cause I'm better then you' moment from Mio. We learn what happens to the rest of the soldiers after the end of the war. They settle down for a nice game of baseball. Yep, this ends in Taishou Yakyuu Musume.

[Kaoru Chujo]

I don't see anything cliched about this at all. Tragic, maybe, but not cliched. She's not a peacemaker, she's a sacrificial pawn, as women often are in feudal patriarchal societies, sent to marry some old geezer or his son, in order to forge bonds of family between two groups, so that they won't fight each other. As far as we know at this moment, she is sacrificing her life as an independent person for the sake of her people's safety.

[ReddyRedWolf]

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

I don't see anything cliched about this at all. Tragic, maybe, but not cliched. She's not a peacemaker, she's a sacrificial pawn, as women often are in feudal patriarchal societies, sent to marry some old geezer or his son, in order to forge bonds of family between two groups, so that they won't fight each other. As far as we know at this moment, she is sacrificing her life as an independent person for the sake of her people's safety.

Well as said in contrast to Rio Kanata could fulfill her dreams while tragically Rio could not do so further serve as as she wants.

Kherubim made an excellent point that Kanata may be a daughter of rich land owners given her description of her home and their probable preference of her inheriting the household as a wife.

Did Rio even explain to Kanata she was to be married off to the enemy and probably as a hostage? Probably not. Rio is bound by her loyalty to the people. The people look at her for assurance while unaware of her true identity. Their hope for peace rides on her shoulders.

Rio fulfilled her role as teacher to Kanata as Illiya taught her. Now she is at an uncertain fate with a man she hardly knows. Will she experience happiness again? Nobody knows. One thing is for certain her memory of being part of the Fortress Maidens will always be with her.

[Hypernova]

New info on the new "Roman" girl Aisha

[bloodraze]

Aisha huh?

Well that is quite an awkward moment, with the Noel and Kanata blowing rice soup with the enemy tied rather poorly. I mean she has her hands tied with only a piece of cloth or she could even strangle Noel with her legs while Kanata while just panic or white out. So many chances of escape.

BUT that's just me thinking. Still looking forward towards the epic oppai grab tho. hehe

[NinjaYali]

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

I don't see anything cliched about this at all. Tragic, maybe, but not cliched. She's not a peacemaker, she's a sacrificial pawn, as women often are in feudal patriarchal societies, sent to marry some old geezer or his son, in order to forge bonds of family between two groups, so that they won't fight each other. As far as we know at this moment, she is sacrificing her life as an independent person for the sake of her people's safety.

Well I haven't seen the episode yet although I have read the spoilers so I don't know. But originally I was guessing this was comparable to what we see in Supreme Commander, Pocahontas and Emperor and the Warriors.

A girl says a few kind words and everyone stops fighting.

[PastPrime]

Originally Posted by bloodraze

Aisha huh?

Well that is quite an awkward moment, with the Noel and Kanata blowing rice soup with the enemy tied rather poorly. I mean she has her hands tied with only a piece of cloth or she could even strangle Noel with her legs while Kanata while just panic or white out. So many chances of escape.

BUT that's just me thinking. Still looking forward towards the epic oppai grab tho. hehe

I think that we are more likely to see an epic battle soon. With the web site's preview ending with a closeup of Nomansland on the map it probably means that the troop movements on the eastern border were a diversion and the main Roman army is making a flanking movement thru Nomansland to attack what they think is the unguarded rear. I think that in episode 12 we will get to see what the girls can do in their spider tank. If they take out the Roman armor and hold on till reinforcements arrive, the Roman Army will probably surrender since they probably only carried enough food to get there, planning to take the civilians food when they invaded. Maybe instead of Rio having to marry the emperor her father will end up requesting one of the emperors daughters for a bride. I guess we will find out for sure the next episode.

[brain]

I have to give ep10 a 0/10 for finally making me admit that this show has no plot. I don't mind slice of life, but this show tried really hard to pretend to be a drama. I feel betrayed.

[Sparvid]

Originally Posted by PastPrime

I think that we are more likely to see an epic battle soon. With the web site's preview ending with a closeup of Nomansland on the map it probably means that the troop movements on the eastern border were a diversion and the main Roman army is making a flanking movement thru Nomansland to attack what they think is the unguarded rear. I think that in episode 12 we will get to see what the girls can do in their spider tank. If they take out the Roman armor and hold on till reinforcements arrive, the Roman Army will probably surrender since they probably only carried enough food to get there, planning to take the civilians food when they invaded. Maybe instead of Rio having to marry the emperor her father will end up requesting one of the emperors daughters for a bride. I guess we will find out for sure the next episode.

Also, if it'll be tied back to the legend in the first episode, then will they be fighting any winged demons as well..?

[brain]

The only thing that can redeem this show is the OP finally gaining some meaning by having them in some kind of action.