I am surprised that she reads her father’s letters multiple times before burning them…
This week there was much less in the way of comparable experiences I have to give with regards to how they do things aside from how excitable Kureha was when they finally got parts in. With regards to the rest it pretty much confirmed suspicions that Rio was the illegitimate child of the reigning duke and half sister to Iliya. We also learn based off of what Kureha said that Rio is most likely being asked by her dad to be the third wife of the Emperor of Rome to be a hostage. Perhaps it started out as an abortive attempt to cement a marriage alliance but for what ever reason Rome seems to have invaded when things turned sour. Even if I find Rio’s lamentation and lethargy from her father’s pestering I am curious as to why she read them more than once and what the Duke actually wrote. I have my suspicions that the previous letters were his attempt to connect with Rio in a vain attempt to be the dad he never really was. The truce has held for almost a year but only now when things are looking bad with the Roman Army massing on the borders does Duke Akira use the emergency line and send a priority message to Rio when he could have done so before. I think that Akira is not much of a dad but I don’t think his first instinct was to marry Rio off as a hostage and as a third wife to some power hungry Emperor.
We know from Jacott’s story that the war wasn’t going on when she was in her 20s and judging by Iliya’s age the war probably lasted for less than 10 years if five years ago Iliya was already drafted. Given the vagaries of the casus belli for the war other than what Kureha said part of me is tempted to dub the War between Helvetia and Rome to be the War of Iliya’s Honor since at casual glance the war started after the Emperor was rejected and he seemingly invaded Helvetia to claim Iliya for his dirty rotten hetero-harem. I don’t think much can be said about the opposing force other than their Emperor seems to be a lecherous bastard or some wicked man who wants to hold princesses hostage. I am glad that after Rio heard that the Roman Army was already mobilizing that she knew what she had to do and did it. With any luck Rio will be saved from an cruel fate when Takemikazuchi gets full mobile again as Noel seems to have finally started to get all the parts she needs to fix her mecha. That said I hope that Takemikazuchi will have a bad ass AI that will utter inspiring words like “Initiating directive 7395 destroy all Romans”, “commencing tactical assessment… possibility of Roman victory, zero percent”, “the liberation of Rio is imminent”, “the Emperor is the very definition of failure”, etc.
Given how Rio will be MIA for a while I don’t mind how most of the episode focused on her and her struggle to reconcile her hatred for her father and the sense of duty that Iliya instilled in her. I sympathize with Rio’s feelings regarding her dad, I’d feel angry and betrayed if my mother was abandoned and left to die alone. However memory is a funny thing and Rio was still a kid when her mom died all those years ago. Maybe that priest who saw her was the Duke traveling in disguise. I don’t think that the Duke was in denial that he had an affair given how the general populace knew of the existence of another princess, and he did name Rio as third in line for his throne. So it’s not like the Duke tried to hide Rio or if he did he is doing a poor job of it by using the emergency line and next day courier to communicate with an irreverent Sergeant Major. Rio’s existence is pretty much an open secret the only thing is that no one knows that the other princess is Rio, they just know that somewhere out there is the Duke’s illegitimate daughter. AlsoIliya found out and he didn’t do much or enough to prevent Iliya and Rio from meeting. Rio might regret that she was born from a forbidden love, but that doesn’t mean her father and mother didn’t love each other or that the Duke doesn’t love Rio.
Jacott’s story was a nice segue that not only served as a parallel to the story of Rio’s mom but also revealed a little more background regarding the chronological order of things. It seems that during her 20s there was no war so coupled with her 50 years on the mountain Helvetia wasn ‘t fighting a hundred years war, but rather suffered less than a decade or so of intense warfare with Rome that devastated an already depleted population. It was one big war that caused the current state of affair but multiple issues, thus whatever Rodan the winged bane of walking tanks was it wasn’t part of the current friction between Helvetia and Rome. I am not entirely in agreement with how Jacott handled how her lover abandoned her and stole her son from her. Romantic as the notion of the promise was I think she was cheated, she waited for him for decades while Rio’s dad at least made an effort to visit if only once a year (not entirely unforgivable given how he was in a war when Rio was aloli and he was head of a state). Jacott’s lover on the other hand lived out his life with a son he didn’t deserve. What’s more offensive to me is not that he abandoned Jacott, but he took away her son and didn ‘t even let them meet or let her be apart of the kid’s life. At least Rio’s dad is trying and pretty damn desperate to be a part of Rio’s. Rio’s dad is not some mysterious douche bag like the rich kid who knocked up Jacott, hell the Duke seems to have much more going for him in that he didn’t deny Rio’s existence and tried to connect with Rio despite Rio backhanding him constantly. Even if Jacott forgave the rich kid doesn’t make him the least bit more sympathetic in my book. Given how Jacott was quite the lady in her prime I am sure there were some local admirers who would have gutted the bastard if they were given the chance.
Still props to Martin who gave Jacott some booze for free. Even if Jacott thinks little of him at least he has more decency than that merchant’s son who stole Jacott’s son. The bittersweet farewell between Rio and Kanata was superbly executed. Even if Rio is a Sergeant Major she isn’t perfect and she did a fine job of training Kanata as a replacement. I guess that Kanata is not only a little weird from having lived in the boondocks, but she was probably right too if her family not only survived largely intact but also had more farm animals than people. I am gladKanata decided to serve instead of living the easy life as master of a large ranch. The music was just spot on during the alone time between Kanata and Rio. Given how Rio is going to be MIA for a while, it was a fitting farewell at least until next time. Hopefully this is a temporary thing as Rio will be sorely missed.
Whatever the case next week will see the first appearance of an enemy combatant, and judging from the preview seems to be into Yuri and Noel in particular… I am not sure how big and powerful the Roman Army is but given how the dastardly Emperor is trying to claim Rio I am sure a GREAT CRUSADE can be mustered of Rio’s many admirers who’d be more than willing to slay the heathen Emperor who seeks to defile Rio-hime.
Alright PARTS…
She’s one tough old lady…
I hope it will be ready for action to save Rio from a lecherous Roman Emperor…
That we know of…
So she died six months before the end of the war…
I wonder if they went straight to battle after them parades…
We lack final confirmation but I can make guess…
DO GO ON…
Kanata was happy to see Rio in her nighty…
I bet his name was Shaddam Corrino IV or Il Duce…
It must be bad when the ersatz German are losing to the ersatz Italians…though this might be excused bit it being ersatz 1930s.
Not only was this a ward of defense but also a War Against non-Yuri Harem!
Maybe though I am sure Iliya could have kicked his Imperial ass crom one side of the palace to the other.
Iliya would never consent to marrying a man…
I guess this was the War of Iliya’s Honor.
I think he died in the war…
That must mean Spring will soon be upon us!
You already have old on your resume lady, you don’t want to add hill billy too…
She could always use her son’s house…
Well let her eat cake then…
I like it when Rio calls out other people’s bullshit.
Wait they’re invading Parthia?
How irreverent…
HOW AWESOME!
OPSEC remember OPSEC Kanata…
That’s a good girl never tell the truth when a lie will suffice…
Seems as though the public was aware of a hidden heir…
So who’s first and second?
YES!
Kanata you are anything but normal…
I suspect Kanata’s family is quite rich in this world…
Near the Ducal summer retreat I bet…
The Melancholy of Rio-hime…
What no imaginary friend?
I wonder if Rio and Iliya did “this and that” as well….
Indeed for she stayed true to the Yuri to the bitter end…
Then break through with a Sekiha Tenkyoken…
That’s why Noel had the map and compass…
Yeah Kanata makes the search and rescue teams earn their pay…
A dead end is only a dead end until you SMASH IT INTO ATOMS…
It was fate.
But it was still Love…
At least they never fought right?
I bet he promised a lot of things…
Jacott might merely be delusional…
In HELL…
So the war wasn’t as long as we thought…
I see that time was not kind to Jacott…
Sad that she was deflowered, even sadder that she lost her pony tail in the process…
If zeus wanted his wife to have kids he’d have miracled it by now instead of SMASHING HER OVARIES INTO ATOMS!
That’s why you buy insurance…
…and an insurance check in the mail…
…and with insurance a little bit better off.
looking at lokd pictures is like watching Helvetia scrape the bottom of the manpower barrel in real time…
I guess the old bird has a thing for pretty girls…
I’ll take that as a yes…
During your Road to Rome how about starting a scrap book?
It maybe time to say good bye but Kanata knows that fate will be most cruel to the Emperor of Rome…
Keep in mind Kanata that there is no stipulation that you have to marry a guy…
Rio the Unforgettable…May she slay the Emperor Molor with a Bat’leth on the steps of the Forum.
Iiliya knew it to be true…
I know that the day will come when Emperor of Rome is cast down and tossed in to the Tiber…
Kureha is taking this rather badly…
Do what you must Rio, you must defeat the Emperor using any methods necessary but I want him DEAD…
Her love will reach you…
Until we meet again your highness…
13 Comments
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.
Madam Jacott and Rio’s mother have sad fate being the other woman. But the fate Rio is about to venture is much worse. With Madam Jacott and Rio’s mother it was a mistake but it was their choice to begin with. Rio is forced to do this for the sake of the Helvetian people.
At lwast Kanata gets mail from her mom and her family seems at least willing to let Kanata get lost for the time being.
How we can measure Akira is a douche bag s going to be highly dependent on his actual chances for military victory we know that Helvetia is scrapping the bootom of the man power barrel, and with any luck we will get a better idea of how badly off the imperials are. I doubt that asking/begging Rio to marry the Emperor to save the country was Akira’s first instinct he could have ordered Rio to go as he is the head of the Army, but he didn’t. Whether or not him not being there was the result of him not wanting anything to do with Rio or a case of Rio refusing to so much as talk to the guy is a matter of debate. For now I think that much of the estrangement wasn’t the result of Akria not being there and not wanting to be there, but Rather Rio’s anger at him that sees Rio always hanging up on him and never replying to his letters.
After all Rio was getting regular mail from the Duke, she never answered and to his credit the Dukie didn’t get angry about it and took his lumps and kept trying. The Duke didn’t want to marry off Iliya, hence why the marriage didn’t take place if he asked it of her I doubt Iliya’s sense of duty would have allowed for her to refuse. It’s not like the Duke has the money to pay reparations nor does he have a people wiling to give up land for peace. Given the sad state of the Army he might not have much of a choice. So far we have only seen Rio’s side of the story while I do not doubt her we haven’t seen what the Duke wrote and Rio is relying on a childhood memory to fuel her hatred.
The story of Madame Jacott parallels the trials of Rio’s mother, waiting for a worthless man who would never return. Rio’s acceptance of her fate as a substitute for her sister is in part honoring Illiya’s memory and in part her own mother’s. Did Jacott disappear into the blizzard and fell off the cliff, or did she go to where she wanted? No one will ever know…
I thought they were Swiss-Japanese, not German? Although it’ll be amusing if the legions wore black chickens on their heads and carried around the legend “Sono Pazzi Questi Romani”… With any luck the Roman Emperor is gay and has his own harem of butt buddies, allowing our Rio-hime the chance to manipulate herself into some real power.
Kanata’s parents survived the war and by her description are probably rich landowners, I’d guess Kanata also wanted to avoid an arranged marriage to some worthless guy as well, same as her Rio-sempai.
The Takemikazuci is almost complete, I’d suppose the current turn of events has suddenly bumped the 1121st up the queue of priority units. Noel has one word which sums up completing the mecha: “shiawase”. Yes, happiness is a functioning mecha with full ammo bins…
Also, the implied declarations of yuri!!! But with Rio gone, does it make our narcoleptic E-4 the senior enlisted in charge?
I think Jacott’s fate will be made clear come the spring thaw…
I am not sure what they are but they are sporting lost of German equipment, though the Swiss do buy lots of German heavy equipment. Indeed unlike Jacott and Rio’s Mom, Kanata and Rio seem to be more in tune with the yuri. If the Emperor is a stooge then it kind of undercuts Iliya’s vicotries over the Roman Army, much as I wish the Roman Emperor is a homo homo side character the guy did go to war to claim Iliya and is threatening war to claim Rio…
Yes hopefully Takemikazuchi will be mobile and take the name of Liberty Prime, whose primary mission is the liberation of Rio….
Noel is the senior enlisted for now… I think she is going to get a lot more nap time…
Seems we’re given a bit of new date info here. From the ‘yearbook’ that Rio is looking at, it appears that each picture has a single or pair of dates beneath it, presumably birth and death years, with the years marked as ‘AP’ (After /something/). Illya’s is marked with death year AP 269. Since that was two years ago, that puts the current year at AP 271, and thus 271 years since the great cataclysm.
Alternatively, those could be something like ‘academy years’ or the like, as I can’t quite make out the numbers on the lefthand page. In that case it could be something like “entered the academy/service in year X, graduated/left in year Y”. If it’s some sort of officer academy yearbook then I expect AP 269 could be up to 5 years before present day.
Either way, we now have a pretty good idea about how long it’s been since the fall of advanced civilization.
Notice two look-alike guys in the almanac is either our dear Courier Klaus the other being Desert Wolf Klaus.
Oh since Iliya is only visiting Seize five years ago the four girls were the previous Fortress Maidens. At any give time the minimum members has always been four girls. Kanata’s assignment is a calculated move for Rio to leave and Kanata take her place. Someone who Iliya personaly saved. A sly move by Archduke Akira Arcadia. The royal guard were all guys (reverse harem?) but Iliya always manages to find a girl after a battle.
I suppose that despite having a reverse harem Iliya always remained true to her yuri leanings…
I am not sure Akira intentionally sent Kanata, but we shall see how much work he has done to affect Rio’s unit. Either way he has waited a year before he started begging if it was his intention t take Rio away.
Good catch comrade I missed out on that one if has been 200 plus years then I am am surprised there is still a form of ecology at work in Helvetia. Either it is a slow death or they are on a slow road to recovery.
Great episode always fun to watch Rio and Kanata interact with each other. Finally seeing the tank somewhat complete is great too but with only two episodes to go not sure we will see any epic tank battles maybe. Cant wait for the last few episodes to see what and how they end everything -nod-
Even if Takemikazuchi only takes to the field in a solo action it doesn’t mean it can’t be cool…
After all Liberty Prime demonstrated how a lone mecha can be An Army of One and hot have it just be about pew pew laz0rs…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TCjgmqL38Y&feature=related
You bash the Emperor’s heterosexuality as if it were a bad thing, guy. In my book, that puts him worlds above certain other imperial rulers who rejected a harem of women who genuinely liked them in favor of hooking up with other dudes.
A heterosexual Emperor is not inherently better or worse than a homosexual one. It would be tolerable if this Emperor were to have but one wife and that he honored her by being faithful. However this Roman Emperor seems to be some sort of scoundrel who is looking for a third wife, neither Iliya nor Rio seem to have any love for him and this Roman Emperor is going to war expending lives to get sate his lust for pretty women and power.
For the heinous crime of starting a war to claim Iliya and Rio in the name of power and lust instead of True Love this Roman Emperor is deserves to die. I cannot understand how his sexual preferences make him any better in light of this. Besides we all know where Iliya and Rio’s preferences lie…
Crusader, may I take this chance to say I love your blogging on this series.
Military background as well as yuri goggles. Two of my favourite things put together.
Great job on your blogging.