(L+CR) Toaru Hikuushi e no Koiuta (The Pilot's Love Song)

[Houreki]

I guess I am the only one who didn't notice the flag

[karuroso]

Death flags everywheeeeeeeeere D= aahhh

[Haak]

Originally Posted by konart

Any bets by the way? Like - will both of them die or just Mitty? The death flag is enormous, but Chiharu has some kind of chance at least - she's gonna be a pilot next episode, plus that title...

The fat guy always dies first. XP

[/douchebag]

[Dextro]

That was one gigantic death flag over there. I'm betting that Mitty will be the first to bite the bullet but I'm not so sure that Chiharu will survive either. This is getting geared up to end up with some major hits to the stomach with how much they're developing these characters. I just hope they don't write themselves into a corner when it comes to finding time to develop the plot proper.

[MgMaster]

I’ll be blunt here,I don’t give a damn about the side characters in this show. Okay,maybe a little about the adults but the trainees just look like wasted screentime,taken away from the real meat of the series,the story revolving around Karl & Claire. At least the adults help drive the story forward,but mostly everything that happens when the trainees are in the spotlight could be labelled as filler material and I really don’t think this show can afford that with so much to do in just 1-cour.

To me,the other trainees always felt like the weakest part of this anime so this episode was probably my least favorite so far. Their deaths,on the other hand,should prove to be quite meaningful for our main characters.I just hope that there won’t be much time spent weeping for their deaths whenever they come…

And with that,I’ll now be going to hell.

[Kyral]

I, personally, am a lot more disappointed in the designs of the Sky Tribe fighters...

In the teaser at the beginning of ep 1, they have these very classic ww2 fighter designs, i totaly fell in love with the moment i saw them.
But in the last two episode they looked a lot different... i just hope these are the "old tech" fighters everyone is talking about and they actually developed thier own designs we already saw in ep 1.

@MgMaster
Just Karl & Claire.... only the two, 13 episodes in a THX white room like environment... damn that would be nice.
j/k btw

[Dark Wing]

Originally Posted by karuroso

Death flags everywheeeeeeeeere D= aahhh

Them poor trainees are getting sent out to a meat grinder and don't even know it yet.

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by Houreki

I guess I am the only one who didn't notice the flag

For what it's worth, I never really picked up on that either.

I mean, I think it's pretty obvious that these kids are about to go into a very dangerous situation, and anything could happen to almost any of them. So I think that being "the calm before the storm" was clearly what this episode was aiming for on a general level.

However, Mitty getting his own personal death flag isn't something I really noticed until reading the last couple pages of this thread. Now that I've read those pages, it's kind of a matter of not being able to unsee it even if I wanted to.


Ultimately, I like the side-characters well enough, but I only really care about Karl, Claire, Ari, and Igna. With that in mind, I hope that the plot starts picking up soon.

[MgMaster]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

Ultimately, I like the side-characters well enough, but I only really care about Karl, Claire, Ari, and Igna. With that in mind, I hope that the plot starts picking up soon.

Igna? I'm surprised. We didn't really see much of him now did we...At least much less than the other 3.

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by MgMaster

Igna? I'm surprised. We didn't really see much of him now did we...At least much less than the other 3.

Well, it's not so much that I care a lot about his personal fate, as that I'm interested to see what he'll do. Usually characters with an air of mystery all about them, like Igna has, ends up doing at least something notable/interesting. I'm curious to see what it'll be, and what Igna's whole deal might be.

[cupumanager]

Originally Posted by Wild Goose

I am looking forward to see how the reveal will be handled, particularly because Kal-el and Claire are paired up as a pilot/gunner combo. The bond between a flight crew is something that needs to be very strong, putting their trust in each other. It will be interesting to see if that bond supersedes all the hate that's in Karl's heart.

Or I suppose Karl and Nina would fade away, and instead Kal-el and Clair would build a new life of their own, together. Karl la Hire and Nina Viento are no more; in their place are Kal-el Albus and Claire Cruz.

*shrug*

That said, I'm expecting the worse, that everyone dies and there's no happy endings. This way, when there are happy endings, at least it'll be that much pleasant. I have a strong suspicion a number of students are going to buy it )

Right, this is why the planes in Toaru Hikuushi Series and also Last Exile (also NIRVASH TypeZERO from E7) are at least Two-Seaters even for the lightest ones(Except Guild Starfighters...Atleast Dio and Lucciola's dock in 69 position when not in battle, but honestly it does not count). I say the creators designs this deliberately: The Potentials of Pairing, Relationship Dynamics between the crews; since the crews are locked in the same Plane which not all aspects of it are able to be handled by a lone crew, they need to trust, and dependent on each others - otherwise it will be a flying coffin for both of them.(Which probably will for some of the cast...)

I love the series, albeit it have incredibly clear Eye-Rolling Cliches that makes my eyes looking off the screen...

Originally Posted by Wild Goose

...also, I'd need someone more versed in WW2 tech to advise, but the enemy fighters in the first ep reminded me a lot of the Me Bf109. Also, the El Halcon is essentially a fighter version of the old CL-84 Dynavert, reimagined as an amphibious flying boat fighter. It so far seems to fly and manuever alright, though I'd think a Mustang, Corsair, Spitfire or Zero would be better pure fighters... on the other hand, the El Halcon can perform VIFFing, or something close to it. (Incidentally, stories of Harriers using VTOL to come to a stop and force overshoots in the Falklands war are - so far - stories. What is known however is that Harrier pilots did take advantage of the thrust vectoring nozzles to pull tighter turns. Harriers might be subsonic, but they're nasty buggers to dogfight with.)

Originally Posted by Kyral

I, personally, am a lot more disappointed in the designs of the Sky Tribe fighters...

In the teaser at the beginning of ep 1, they have these very classic ww2 fighter designs, i totaly fell in love with the moment i saw them.
But in the last two episode they looked a lot different... i just hope these are the "old tech" fighters everyone is talking about and they actually developed thier own designs we already saw in ep 1.

...The Enemy Fighters in Ep1 (Not the antiquated Sky Clan Monoplanes) do look like Early Bf 109 variants for me, albeit with its 20mm cannons closer to the wing root, and having large blisters on the nose.
Now, The Sky Knights, do not use El Halcons - El Halcons are flown mainly for Training Purposes. Sky Knight Fighters have enclosed cockpit, Retractable landing gears, wings at the Engines, and Inverted V Tail(El Halcon Trainer V Tail are upward). But it looks like Federation Fighters are all Turret Fighters - as I see no Forward-Firing guns yet (Like Tiltwing, Inverted V Tail version of Gloster F9/37)

The Federations Fighters built as Seaplanes are very suitable for their mostly-water World...but The Sky Tribes and whoever the Ep1 enemies does not use seaplanes...meaning they are fighting in home turf where airbases are abundant...or they have sizeable Flying Aircraft Carrier Fleet...

In Toaru Hikuushi no Tsuioku, set in the same universe; Levahm Empire's Fighter are not Seaplanes either...Aeris II looks like Hawker Hurricane. Imperial Japan- Inspired Amatsukami Empire uses real-life J7W Shinden flown from Flying Aircraft Carriers.
However, The Seaplane used to transport The Princess have fully enclosed rear-facing gunner emplacement; unlike the open gunner position in Koiuta.

[Wild Goose]

Originally Posted by cupumanager

Right, this is why the planes in Toaru Hikuushi Series and also Last Exile (also NIRVASH TypeZERO from E7) are at least Two-Seaters even for the lightest ones(Except Guild Starfighters...Atleast Dio and Lucciola's dock in 69 position when not in battle, but honestly it does not count). I say the creators designs this deliberately: The Potentials of Pairing, Relationship Dynamics between the crews; since the crews are locked in the same Plane which not all aspects of it are able to be handled by a lone crew, they need to trust, and dependent on each others - otherwise it will be a flying coffin for both of them.(Which probably will for some of the cast...)

Indeed. The pilot/copilot dynamic is one that you can do very well and create some good character drama - think of Maverick and Goose from Top Gun.

...The Enemy Fighters in Ep1 (Not the antiquated Sky Clan Monoplanes) do look like Early Bf 109 variants for me, albeit with its 20mm cannons closer to the wing root, and housed in some rather large blisters.
Now, The Sky Knights, do not use El Halcons - El Halcons are flown mainly for Training Purposes. Sky Knight Fighters have enclosed cockpit, Retractable landing gears, wings at the Engines, and Inverted V Tail(El Halcon Trainer V Tail are upward). But it looks like Federation Fighters are all Turret Fighters - as I see no Forward-Firing guns yet (Like Tiltwing, Inverted V Tail version of Boulton Paul P92)

I don't see any guns on the El Halcons, which means that all of the kills Kal was scoring in the first episode are probably from Claire manning the MG in the turret ring - incidentally one of the turret guns I see on the Knights' fighters looks a lot like a Lewis gun to me.

The Federations Fighters built as Seaplanes are very suitable for their mostly-water World...but The Sky Tribes and whoever the Ep1 enemies does not use seaplanes...meaning they are fighting in home turf where airbases are abundant...or they have sizeable Flying Aircraft Carrier Fleet...

In Toaru Hikuushi no Tsuioku, set in the same universe; Levahm Empire's Fighter are not Seaplanes either...Aeris II looks like Hawker Hurricane. Imperial Japan- Inspired Amatsukami Empire uses real-life J7W Shinden flown from Flying Aircraft Carriers.
However, The Seaplane used to transport The Princess have fully enclosed rear-facing gunner emplacement; unlike the open gunner position in Koiuta.

Regards the Santa Cruz, the rear-facing gunner's seat is something we see on two-seat recon planes and dive bombers & torpedo bombers in WW2. In that instance, there's already forward-facing guns, while the gunner's MG is intended more as a defensive weapon.

With the El Halcons and Knights, the gunner's station is an open ring, with 360 coverage: my guess is that the gunner's role is both defensive and offensive in nature. As an example, in the X-Wing games, you can have the ion cannon turret on the Y-Wing operate independently as a self-defense weapon, or link it with the forward guns to give a greater punch, with more guns in the fight. We actually see Claire doing that in the first ep; she alternates between shooting at people chasing her and Kal, and orienting to shoot at targets ahead.

And yeah, we don't see those fighters looking like seaplanes, so yeah, it's quite likely they've got either a nearby carrier, or a floating island airbase of some sort.

[konart]

Spoiler for 07:

RIP, Mit. You did well.

And it seems like Ariel will be shot in next episode (not mentioning all possible deaths to come)

[bakaouji]

Really don't like it when shows create characters just so they can end up as cannon fodder just to create emotional whiplash that's completely unearned. I'm weak to certain conventions so I was a little partial to Micchan's heroic sacrifice, but let's not forget for a minute that his fate was sealed the moment the show made it clear how important he was to the story. The only way he could leave his mark (even if its for a short time) is if died a martyr while saving the chick he loved.

[Guardian Enzo]

I don't want to say that development was telegraphed, but if you check the credits I bet last week's ep was written by Samuel Morse.

For all that it was incredibly predictable, though, I have to confess I liked the way the episode was executed. If you're going to do formula, you might as well do it well.

[Haak]

I'll have to confess to the same thing. Despite finding most of the build up pretty pedestrian, the moment when Mitsuo pushes her away was surprisingly touching.

[VTHokiePride]

Mitty, NO!!!! Seeing him die like that saving Chiharu while marking the enemy planes deserves something. I wish he confessed to her as he pushed her off. I think the students are going to start taking heavy casualties in the next dogfight since they haven't been trained for combat. Looks like Ariel's going to get hit in the next episode.

[MgMaster]

Ah,a heroic death - an easy way to make ANY character,no matter how irrelevant he was up till now,be remembered(well,at least to a degree). It just had to be well-executed and thankfully,it was.

Although I enjoyed this episode,I'm still glad we're done with it so we can move on to the juicier parts of the show. At least that's what I'm hoping...

[Kanon]

As expected, the first casualty was Micchan, and he probably won't be the last. I agree this was well executed. Micchan's sacrifice was truly heroic, he saved Isla and the girl he loved.

[EroKing]

Originally Posted by Kanon

As expected, the first casualty was Micchan, and he probably won't be the last. I agree this was well executed. Micchan's sacrifice was truly heroic, he saved Isla and the girl he loved.

Hopefully it means she survives the series