That’s going to hurt…
I am quite conflicted about how this all ended on the one hand I felt that it was cop out of sorts, but on the other hand I was on the edge of my seat right up until the initial response to Kanata’s rendition of Amazing Grace. While in a way Rio was the one who saved the day as she marched in with her Royal Guard out-flanking both armies, since the Helvetian Tactical Commander didn’t buy into Kanata’s Version of the Minmay Defense, it felt less than satisfying. In the end it wasn’t really a song that ended the war but it was Rio to the rescue the situation with a treaty backed up by force. Rio and her flanking maneuver was fairly plausible since the Helvetian commander could not ignore orders from his Rio-hime and the Roman commander would have fucked himself if he chose to fight the Helvetian Army in front of him and Rio’s Royal Guard on his flank. Even if the Helvetian tactical commander of 9th, 1st, and 3rd wanted to fight he’d be in a similarly bad tactical position with Rio on his flank and the Romans in front of him. Kanata’s concert and subsequent pause was plausible (as both sides are attuned it listening to signals) but extremely fanciful that two opposing forces within sight of each other would stop for a moment when hearing Kanata’s Amazing Grace, that was a big stretch even if there are plenty of people who get distracted by shiny objects. The playing of both Helvetian and Roman trumpet calls was plausible (and much more desirable) as it basically prevented both the Helvetian commander and the Roman commander from maintaining tactical control over their troops. It was the equivalent to jammed comms at which point confusion can reign as each commander’s radius of command is limited by shouting distance. I would have liked it better had Kanata been blowing off mixed signals right up to the end, but for the sake of cinematography Amazing Grace was used, and while beautiful as always it just didn’t sit too well with me, thankfully the Helvetian commander tried to call bullshit and attempted to regain tactical control. Since none of the rank and file had much stomach for fighting anymore and with the general population being war weary and all, the situation was ripe for them obey Rio’s commands even if they could not see the treaty she held.
I was prepared to see them all die or many of them to die, but it doesn’t piss me off that they didn’t go the rout of killing them all off to show that WAR IS BAD since it has been done before. I was relieved when Takemikazuchi did not rout two field armies in one sortie and only beat off a over strength tank platoon. Instead what we got was a mixture of fanciful song ends the war which to be fair ultimately failed to bring about peace, and the rather believable scenario of Rio hammering out a peace treaty agreeing to be a third wife and racing to the front to prevent the saber rattling from turning in to another shooting war. Despite the World War II inspired equipment it seems that it was more World War I in that after the massive losses from the first war a general mutiny could bring things to a grinding halt. The Christmas Truces of the First World War are fairly well known since it was tragic that it did not amount to anything and was one of those things you can’t make up. I think the situation was more along the lines of the French Mutinies of 1917 where the French Army mutinied en masse not because they disagreed with fighting the Germans but because they were tired of how the war was being fought. Given the way the Helvetians and Romans were just going to run up against each other in swirling melee I’d have mutinied over such tactics. In the case of the French Mutinies it basically meant that France was finished as an offensive force, but not out of the defensive fight. Felicia did the morally right thing but the militarily wrong thing by protecting Aisha, though in a sense Hopkins had already mutinied when he decided to escalate things and Felicia did end up sawing Aisha from becoming a war crime victim. Thus it’s hard for me to crucify Felicia since at the time she did the wrong thing which ended up being the right thing after Hopkins confessed to have been acting against orders from the Arch-Duke. I am not sure whether that was a smart move on the part of the writers or just accidental laziness, in any case I have no easy answer in regards to Felicia’s actions.
I liked how they dealt with Hopkins as a character as all too often there is that one irredeemable bad guy that every one teams up against, but here you don’t really have that. Hopkins was what we would now call a war criminal because he used bio-warfare agents, but the thing is that he used them defensively and even if he didn’t give two shits about how many Romans he killed in a single day he wasn’t maniacally evil since his reaction to Roman saber rattling were understandable as was his aversion to simply shooting Helvetians who got in his way. He wasn’t a completely ruthless murderer because he could not bring himself to wipe out a whole town of the people he was honor bound to protect so there was some human decency left in him even if he had none left for the Romans. It makes him a little more human in that sense rather than the archetypal monster. Hopkins to me is like one of those crazy bastards you need to fight a war, a guy who didn’t pull punches but still cared about his own side. There have been plenty of guys like him who fought for the Allies in WWII, such as Harris, Le May, Patton, and Halsey, none of them were afraid of hit the enemy with everything they had and all of them could be callous and in the case of Patton horribly racist and anti-Semitic. Every person has that line that they just can’t cross and for Hopkins it was shooting Helvetian civilians, keep in mind he could have gotten away with it but he chose not to. I think that is rather important since the most amoral guy is less of a mad man but a Knight Templar that is willing to use any weapon he can get his hands on to beat the Romans to death with. The Romans might hate his guts but his legacy in Helvetia is far less clear cut. Hopkins’ hostility towards Roman saber rattling was understandable given his kill ‘em all attitude after all any person with an ounce of patriotism would not take kindly to demonstrations of force to compel their compliance. Even if in the end he was ingloriously disabled by being stepped on I am glad that the Helvetians and Roman field armies didn’t just set aside their differences just to kill the guy.
Rio saving the day was somewhat expected but I would have hoped that it was more of a race against time to add to the tension of whether or not she would make it to the front. Given that there is no wireless comms to speak of Rio had to haul ass as fast as she could with an army to back her up since there was no guarantee that either side would wholeheartedly comply. It would have been more forgivable it she forced a parley but for the sake of a happy ending we got the tossing of weapons and helmets, and while it captures the joyous cessation of hostilities it remains to me as one of the dumbest artistic licenses they took given how it goes against weapon safety and a helmet is going to fall with quite a bit of force. The Roman story of the angel was wonderfully told and I was moved and liked how Aisha was the angel, it was poetic in a nice sort of way even if the mention of a miracle caused me a bit of dread as to what miracle might be in store for us. In the end I think that the anti-war message was very muted it wasn’t as vociferous as it usually is as most anti-war media usually entails some sob story and an indictment of the military, of money, and of politics while offering a simplistic solution to bring peace. In Sora no Woto plenty of romantic notions are brought out but the real galling ones like Kanata’s song stopping the war or Takemikazuchi shooting both sides into accepting peace was subverted though not as horribly as I would have liked. Ideally Rio would have just outflanked both armies and did what she did, the troops would disperse back to defensive potions until a parley could be made under a flag of truce for both field commanders to verify the treaty, and then once the order to stand down is passed down they troops can dance and all that jazz. The chain of events was good, but the speed at which they happened were hard to swallow. In the end it was thankfully less about war bad, armies are bad, we need to think of the children, etc… but about peace prevailing but only if both populations are truely tired of war and if there is still an army to enforce it. In that sense it was better than I could have hoped for since it was realistic in that it didn’t argue for simple solution, Rio had to marry as a 3rd wife (costing Helvetia a good amount of prestige points), and the Romans did not get any new territorial concessions, reparations, nor did they turn Helvetia into a protectorate. The emperor however did get a new wife so there was at least one clear cut winner from all of this even if Rome and Helvetia did not get much out of the war besides a depleted treasury and population. There was peace but not a perfect peace, still that imperfect peace was acceptable because both sides had been bled almost white by the war, the peaceful interlude was something that the people of Seize weren’t willing to give up and were willing to die to keep it even if they had lost loved ones, they chose to not lose anymore.
The war weariness I think is the key to the ending being acceptable as in any other case that treaty would have been a truce good for maybe another decade as Helvetia and Rome pretty much spent most of their military strength fighting each other to a standstill and spend a lot of blood and money to do it. I am perfectly alright with having no explanation of what Rodan was since it isn’t an answer any of the characters can provide and as for everything else it was wrapped up fairly decently. In the end there was enough attempt at subverting peace through music, the only shooting that was done was by the 1121st and Hopkins’ 9th which means that while shots were fired there were none when the Helvetian 9th, 1st, and 3rd were marching up to the Romans for a melee. Quite why they didn’t open up on each other is something I take issue with even since they were well within shooting distance. I like how they bothered to mention that they were using HEAT rounds as the primary anti-tank ammo in the setting since it makes Takemikazuchi shrugging off HEAT rounds much more acceptable since Chobham is designed to defeat such rounds and Helvetia was probably using lower grade HEAT ammunition given the tech decline. I am also glad they decided to add battle damage since with most mecha you would see so much as a paint scratch. Rio’s return wasn’t what I had expected namely the Emperor being anything other than a lecherous old hack or a shameless polygamist. Instead Rio has nice things to say about the guy which caught me rather off guard more so because she hints at liking the guy which I find unacceptable from a yuri centric perspective. Hopefully now that Noel, Kureha, and Kanata jumped Rio they will never let her return to the imperial palace. Still as much as I hate the Emperor for winning over Rio even if it’s just a little I have to say that bastard was smooth and I bet he’s thinking long term to win Rio’s heart. Rio was impressive for the most part as she finally stepped into the role of princess quite surprised she would wear a dress let alone take to the field in one, though any Helvetian military uniform would have made convincing the Romans almost impossible.
In then end it was an unexpected surprise that had two hard pills to swallow at the end, its a series that remains good right up until the end at which point things are no longer perfect as they once were. I can accept that none of them died, I can accept Takemikazuchi wiping out a platoon, I can accept Hopkins as a Roman hating bastard that still has a sense of decency for Helvetians, I can accept that Kanata was able to confuse for a while, but what I find hard to accept is how Amazing Grace caused such a long pause and how both Roman and Helvetian Field Armies were insight of each other but not shooting, either optics are just that bad or they have trouble drawing distances. The average fire fight occurs at 300m and a WWII era tank gun had a max effective range of 1000m, probably less with inferior optics, but it didn’t feel like there were that far apart and as much as the lack of artillery explains the lack of bombardment. Thinking it over as much as I RAEGED at the sight of the massive blobs of men and machines the lack of wireless really does explain why they weren’t grouped into fire teams and not using fire and maneuver since those tactics require two way radios if you want to use it large scale. Here for once realism took a huge bite out of enjoyment for me since it wasn’t WWII era warfare but Republican Rome era tactics with mecha but without the Romans leaving only disorganized Celts. For me there was just so much to love but there was a lot I don’t want to accept though some of it like army blobbing was justified even if uncool. Rio’s heart flutters of the the Emperor are to me very galling but a minor issue if an issue at all. I wish they spent more time to make the end easier to digest a little more time in between Rio’s flanking maneuver and the jubilation over the war ending would have helped immensely, but it was not to be. If there is a 13th episode I hope they make good use of it. As it stands it felt like having a good steak dinner but having a super market cookies for desert, not enough to ruin the whole experience but enough to have misgivings.
Other than brilliantly telling the Roman story of the Fire Maiden Legend, they did bring up how one of the most difficult things for enlisted and conscripts is to go that close to mutiny for the sake of being morally right. Most of the time it’s just preferable and easier to avoid the problem entirely but given Felicia’s situation I am not sure what I would do in her place, I think that enlisted and conscripts would be more able to sympathize with Felicia’s dilemma even if they would solve it differently. Aisha’s forgiving Noel was one of the most touching moments in the whole series and for me it was very well done and powerful. All in all the first 11 are really worth watching, but the payoff isn’t as grand as one would hope. They did a great job with the setting and hinting at future developments, the characters were great even if they had their own faults and fit with most of the kinds of people you would encounter in a garrison setting. The faithfulness to garrison life is to be applauded since it is a realm that anime seldom goes for. It’s much more than a K-On with guns, but at the same time the ending is as imperfect as the final peace agreement, the only saving grace of the 12th ep is that the first half was really good. It wasn’t GRIMDARK and might have ended up as a soap box for the words we have all heard before about war being bad if it went GRIMDARK, but the happy ending is ideal either. It’s hard to grade this series because on the one hand I feel that the first 11 and first half of 12 was some of the best anime I have seen all winter, but the rushed end really left me troubled. In the end I still think Sora no Woto is a good series overall despite the flawed end which isn’t completely bad but took two liberties that were difficult to accept, namely Amazing Grace, and lack of shooting between massed armies. What I do like is that they don’t harp on a particular message and try and pound it into the audience’s face, it respects the viewer’s intelligence and leaves enough hints and clues to keep the mystery going, it also doesn’t give out a clear good and evil nor does it pander to chaotic good non sense or feed into an immature world view. I can only really recommend it strongly to conscripts and enlisted since much of the fun is lost if one hasn’t experienced military life. The feat of having good German alone makes it even harder to forget how Sora no Woto shined so brightly before the 12th ep. In the end I can say that the only faulty part is the end which will have varying importance to various people based upon how they enjoyed the first 11 eps. I guess it’s recommended with reservations and a warning.
Final Grade: A-/B+
Who’s it for: Recommended to people who are at least curious at how real military garrison life is like, those expecting adventure, excitement, and killing need not apply. A good bet for fans of yuri real or imagined. A must see for those who have endured conscription and enlisted folks who want to reminisce about their own time in service and how funny it all is in hindsight. Side effects include loyalty to Rio-hime, imaginative punishments for subordinates, putting twin tails on your private major, poking pill bugs, yelling at caged birds, extreme happiness when caressing one’s military ride, religiously looking for billets with Fortress Maidens, distilling spirits, a burning desire to kill the Emperor of Rome, and cosplay with real weapons. Do not take if you need perfect ends. Those looking for a pole tent for a peace rally and an overt anti-war agenda series should shoot themselves in the face or hang themselves with wet spaghetti. Those who cannot draw their own conclusion may experience anger and frustration that their agenda was not pushed through should contact Chaplain Crusader for a tough shit card and hurt feelings report. Use only as directed.
Good to see that Hopkins brought in more troops.
I bet he didn’t see that one coming.
I guess I have to hand it to Hopkins for doing recon on the Romans.
I guess saber rattling is still part of diplomacy.
At least the guy has resolve.
He couldn’t forget such a pretty face…
Well at least he wasn’t your boyfriend Noel…
DEAR GOD HE’S MAKING A PASS!
I wonder whose stockpile the came upon…
You forgot to post a watch on him…
For a long time we have been marching off to battle…
Looks like there ain’t much fight left in the rank and file…
Good Question…
Not the answer I was looking for…
Wait Kureha, please save your confession until after the battle…
One the one hand it makes Hopkins sound like a monster but on the other hand out of context it makes him sound bad ass…
What’cha talkin about Willis?
It can also eradicate a civilization and bring about a dark age too…
Hopkins is hurting for internets…
That must have sucked, but you did your duty.
Well you’re pretty damn close except in size…
And again at least you weren’t romantically involved with Hopkins…
Aisha just has such beautiful words for Noel…
I was quite moved.
Hehe FAP…
Now let’s see what you can do with a big gun…
Wow Takemikazuchi is like a girl’s dream weight reduction included!
The last domino falls here…
Helvetia Prime online, all systems nominal…
Did you bother to check the hangar?
Enemy of Noel detected…
Hopkins fell in love…
Nuts protesters…
I bet Hopkins wanted to be the Hero of Vingt…
As tempting as killing Kid Kaifun was…
Hopkins just wasn’t ruthless enough to kill Helvetians…
I’ll get you next time…
Here fell Rodan…
I guess the myth is all jacked up Aisha’s bust is not modest…
But then Aisha met Noel…
Would be funny if that giant spider was always Takemikazuchi…
They each gave Aisha a hickey?!
That evil Kid Kaifun…
Man those things would be murder on infantry…
Your HEAT rounds are no match for Takemikazuchi’s Chobham hide…
Maybe Aisha was the one with a Ispano Guymelf…
Well there were no aircraft for dramatic effect…
Such an inefficient design…so easy to get a mobility kill.
Thank got it did not Trans-AM…
Densha Otoko wannabes…
Seems neither side inherited German tactical finesse…
I am glad they bothered with damage modeling, such a rare thing for a mecha to get battle damaged.
OH YEAH so who’s go the best ride now bitches?
First time was not a charm…
but as you can see…
…it caused a whole lot to confusion.
The Lion Spider King…
The guy in charge was like WTF?
I think they have heard this one from somewhere…
Is she a girl worth fighting for?
One guy did not by it…
…
It’s Leveled up Rio…
NOOOOOOO…I am sure there are some furious fanboys out there right now howling with RAEG.
At least she didn’t take the Emperor’s last name…
YES YOUR HIGHNESS!
Nice dress by the way…
…Or you will not be invited to the wedding!
So I guess the Romans were actually ersatz Romanians…who messed up the old tri-color and started speaking German.
Well it’s just a piece of paper…
WHO DO YOU THINK SHE IS?!
Also Rio-hime has both of you guys outflanked…
Not that you really can anyways…
That’s some poor weapon safety…
It’s going to hurt on the way down…
Yuri FIST.
Seems Claus got an honored and dangerous position and standard bearer…
Too bad they couldn’t climb up fast enough to give an end of war kissu…
Kureha beat them to it…
It was a letter of love…
You’ll get something better by courier…
Boo Rio how could you?! Why didn’t you go warrant instead?
That’s right Rio hasn’t gotten her end of war kissu yet who will she choose…
I was kind of ticked off by this to be honest…
…Damn that Emperor is smooth.
No you cannot forsake the Yuri!
…
Thank you Noel for bringing her back…
Good job crew never let her leave again!
41 Comments
Gotta agree with you on the points how it slipped a little during the final scenes. I rationalise Kanata’s contribution as having won Rio enough time to arrive at the front by distracting the Helvetian and Roman forces with Amazing Grace – presumably if actual fighting had broken out between the two armies the battle would quickly gain enough momentum to make it difficult/impossible for Rio to declare a ceasefirem (aside – Kudos to Klaus for being willing to risk himself in the line of duty as Rio’s standard bearer) . If the Royal Guard started whaling on both armies in an attempt to make them stop the odds are both they and Rio would have been quickly knocked out of the game, which would possibly have led to a total breakdown of diplomacy and the resumation of hostilities.
However, as a writer myself, I can’t help but think how a slight tweak could have changed things for the better;
How about having Kanata repeatedly blowing both Helvetian and Roman ceasefire calls, but failing to prevent the charge from starting. In a fit of desperation she starts playing Amazing Grace, causing a brief lull as the troops automatically stop the charge to try and interpret the new signal. At the end of the first verse, the Helvetian commander comes to his senses and attempts to restart hostilities, but then a second trumpet is heard joining in harmony with Kanata on the second verse. One dramatic pan later, Rio is revealed atop her tank, playing her heart out as well. The arrival of the Helvetian Royal Guard (surely both sides would be familiar with the red paint-scheme?) would cause a genuine stall in the charge to engage the enemy, and then we could finish up with the nice orchestral arrangement filling the sky with sound on the final verse as the other members of the 1121st climb out and see their former Lt. wearing a yuri-licious dress. Then the rest of the scene plays out as it was in the show. For me at least, problem fixed.
The return of Rio to the fortress I found the most galling, but it seems that yes, the Roman emperor hasn’t given up on her – just because she’s his fiancee doesn’t mean they’re going to get married immediately, and he seems to have dedicated himself to winning her heart and love by giving her what she most desires. As you said, smooth, and plausible.
For me Sora No Woto was one of the highlights of early 2010, and it took me on a real emotional rollercoaster. The scenes between Aisha and Noel, and indeed the remarkable range of emotions that Noel showed (particularly when Hopkins began taunting her) really won me over and moved me deeply.
And the depiction of Rodan as Aisha was inspired! The girl’s only in two episodes but immediately manages to endear herself. Brava to everyone for that accomplishment, indeed brava to everyone involved in the series!
Last week I had my fingers crossed that Hopkins was a double-agent or a traitor, and since he’s appointed himself Helvetia’s Agent Provocateur I’m glad that I was going down vaguely the right path. As pointed out though, he is refreshingly three-dimensional for a villain in this vein, and Sora No Woto as a whole is refreshingly ‘anti-anti-war’. None of the characters ever resort to pithy platitudes about how war is bad (indeed I wanted to applaud at Kanata’s declaration that she thought she could fire a gun in anger, and how she was a Fortress Maiden too, and the observation by the Helvetian soldier in the trench that ‘we’re soldiers’). Instead, war is shown to be merely undesireable, and in some cases a necessity, even if tragic and (often) a terrible waste of lives.
And am I the only one who thinks that Hopkins may have been killed when his tank was carried away by that snow-fall. Wasn’t there a massive ravine just off to the left?
In conclusion (after a long and rambling post) too many people have disregarded Sora No Woto as K-ON 2.0, but having now finished the series and rewatched some of K-ON, I can only find slight similarities. K-ON was just fluff. Funny, silly, cutesey fluff. Sora No Woto was fluff with a strong story, a lot of heart and soul, and a damn sight more substance!
Thanks again Crusader for getting me into this series through your blogging, and thankyou Sora No Woto for a twelve-episode wild ride of delight, danger, fortress-maidens, spider-tanks, French-speaking Japanese, German-speaking Romanian Arabs, owls and Yuri-princesses!
Here’s hoping for a second-season, or at least that the two additional DVD episodes live up to the rest of the story!
And now I’m off to hum Amazing Grace and rewatch the series. Cheers!
A few tweaks here and there would have made things run smoother but in the end they ran out of elbow grease, at least they didn’t blow a cylinder.
The Royal Guard had the advantage fo being on the flank of both armies, considering the slow turn radius and the lack of side armor the Royal Guard would have come off better in any engagement, also the Helvetian Field Army would have to obey the orders of Rio-hime, even if there were a few mutineers it would have caused confusion in the ranks of the 9th, 1st, and the 3rd. If I were the Roman commander I’d get the hell out and forget about wining and just focus on getting off the field.
I though it was great that Rio came back I found it galling that her heart wavered and her shoujo kokoro skipped a beat for the Emperor. It was a rude surprise to say the least. Hopkins’ isn’t a traitor but a mutineer he never went to the Roman side nor was he planning to usurp the Duchy he did what he felt was the best for Helvetia even if it went against the commands of the Duke.
Thanks for reading, I am glad you enjoyed it.
On Amazing Grace and why it stopped both armies my theory is that it is the unifying music among the international forces who fought “Them” . Remnants of those forces integrated with the local Europeans.
The Fire Maiden legend coupled with a school, mecha, probable highschool girls as draftees and a mysterious monster foe I keep picturing Gun Parade Orchestra. The Genjyu or Phantom Beasts have been threatening humanity for decades with humanity constantly retreating. High School students are drafted into the service. In there is a shred of truth in the story then we are seeing a SDF Macross end with a Macross Frontier plot of a Vajra taken in like Ai-kun.
Hopefully Hopskin gets public execution for disobeying orders. Also for making Noel suffer. Filicia pointing a gun on him was badass though.
Ironic that Aisha was looking for the Angel… No Aisha you are the Angel!
Kureha doesn’t want to be tortured thus she will work hard wit the others to stop Hopskin. Really the Geneva conventions should be resurrected dear Helvetia. (Formerly Switzerland)
Tank-kun is probably the same spider… With spare parts lying somewhere nearby. That’s for the Blu-Ray exclusives likely. After all these years he still kicks ass. (Actually it was stomp)
On Rio… Damn it that Emperor is worse than I thought! He is a damn harem male lead! While Rio was gone from the 1121st he was raising her flags! The fanboys of Seize will rage! Rio was embarassed and seems impressed with him. Rio the tsundere is now in dere-dere mode for him. This guy must not visit Seize at any cost as he’ll probably raise all the girls flags and include them in his harem. That must not happen!
On another front Kanata gained fans. Some those guys a year earlier probably thinking since she is a year older she’s willing for a date. Especially the one who gave her those caramels which is still around.
Oh Klaus is the best damn postman there is. Ceasefire? He’ll bring it to you with royalty and an army to boot!
I never finished Gunparade Orchestra since it fell victim to subs where? Maybe it is as you say the Lili Marleen of the world, but stopping while in clear view of the enemy is something of a stretch.
I think if Hopkins were tried and executed the same fate might befall the majority of the 9th, 3rd, and 1st that followed him. That’s three divisions worth of frontline strength that Helvetia can’t really lose. Hopkin’s was a bastard but he has always been Helvetia’s bastard. As for the Geneva conventions it only works when both sides agree and then there is the issue of not every one having a uniform, it’s really hard to enforce at any rate.
Yes it seems that we have woefully underestimated the Roman Emperor, if his charms and overtures can draw out dere dere Rio it is an ill omen. He must be confined to the palace and we must help distance kill what ever spell he has cast upon Rio!
As for Kanata’s husbando, anyone but Kid Kaifun will do, preferably Kureha and/or Rio.
It was a good ending.
I would be very irritated, when the episode ended without some military interference by Rio, because this was not the type of anime, that would resolve an armed conflict just with music.
And the flame maidens story sounds like a bomber pilot with a trumpet, shoot down by some female flak helpers. But as bomber pilots were hated, the villagers killed him when they found him.
I wanna see the spec of that spider! The spec and a glimpse on the program architecture! This spider was designed in a way, that a complete novice was able to handle it to do some complex stunts without knotting its legs, moving over problematic ground etc ^^. Awesome.
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That`s the moment, when I hate fiction
I want to have a full episode with that tank spider!
Perhaps it was a bomber pilot that started the legend but that fossil was real and headless, and what ever Rodan was it seemed more organic that machine.
It was a good ending, but not a Great ending, certainly if a few minor changes in timing were made then it would have been a much more smooth experience, probably as smooth as the Emperor courting Rio.
H2O is a very aggressive beast and as I recall, the fossil was in a lake. So unless there were some very specific chemical abnormalities like epoxide to cover the bones or a full transformations of the bones to a very water resistant material, this fossil is a hole in the story. Since the whole story isn`t based somewhere near magic, I treat it accordingly.
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Actually I tried to ignore the whole “there are no fishes in the water” – thing combined with the catastrophe of the past, because “there is not enough data available to evaluate the situation” thus results in one of the 1% possible scenarios where it is actually working
The tank spider was great. Not as great as the first episodes with replicators in “Stargate” or the introduction of the Borg in StarTrek .. but building such a spider is possible in the near future .. and we are working on the replicator – issue in its infantile phase
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BOY OH BOY WAS I GLAD THAT I WAS WRONG…
in that there’s no Tomino ending for the girls of the 1121st… I almost guessed it correctly that Hopkins was going to pull a General Ripper and break the ceasefire, although there was no way the Helvetians could have known that the Romans were just posturing. He’ll probably get through this relatively unscathed, there are still walls where his ilk is needed. Although if the Archduke has any brains left, he’ll assign a leash handler to rein in Hopkins whenever needed.
The fight seemed a bit contrived (LISTEN TO MY SONG!!!). Guess the typical charge into battle and let the super robot win shtick still remains in force here. If Rio-Hime finds the Roman Emperor a decent sort and he let her return to the fortress, maybe he really is into the YAOI or probably doesn’t want the pain of being a typical harem lead…Or hope that when us viewers meet him, he’s a cute little boy (younger than Kureha and Kanata even!!!) with a high potential for harem membership…
Yes, trumpeter girl has won a few admirers of her own too, but she is still an adherent of TEH YURI and probably won’t be married off for quite a while yet.
Yeah if the Arch-Duke is smart he’ll keep Hopkins on a short leash and never promote the guy to Brigadier, also he would do well to keep Hopkin’s away from Noel. It was great that they all lived to tell about it, but it was nevertheless tragic that Rio’s heart was somehow touched byt the machinations of the Roman Emperor. I still think that Rio’s flanking maneuver and Treaty sealed the deal since there was one Helvetian TC that waved the bullshit flag.
That TC (a Major-General?) who insisted on attacking? I hope whoever holds Hopkin’s leash has more testicular fortitute than that guy…
The fight between the Takemikazuchi and Hopkin’s tank company was rather one sided, given the disparity in tech levels, one nice surprise was that it has jump jets and had enough finesse to do close quarter fighting…
You mention the following:
“Side effects include loyalty to Rio-hime, imaginative punishments for subordinates, putting twin tails on your private major, poking pill bugs, yelling at caged birds, extreme happiness when caressing one’s military ride, religiously looking for billets with Fortress Maidens, distilling spirits, a burning desire to kill the Emperor of Rome, and cosplay with real weapons”
I think I suffer from most of the side effects in the list, including cosplaying with real weapons and not knowing whether to glomp or bully Kanata, Noel and our twin-tailed Private Major.
Is there any cure for these symptoms?
Takemikazuchi had Chobham facing inferior tanks armed with the same HEAT ammo it was designed to defeat, also it was firing superior munitions against what was most likely homogeneous rolled steel… Hopkins never stood much of a chance.
My advice is to stop taking Sora no Woto to avoid the side effects, that said some might find the side effects to be highly desirable. Note that none of these side effects is a indicator of a serious condition…
fluck the Emperor
Yeah fuck that guy.
I mostly agree with your criticisms. The two armies not opening fire is an acceptable suspension of disbelief since it would have been next to impossibile to stop the fight once it started raining bullets. Let’s say that they still weren’t in fire range. It’s more difficult to justify the soldiers pausing when they heard Amazing Grace. At least the Helvetian commander did give the order to resume fire immediately after, so it’s not like the battle was stopped by a song.
The last-minute arrival of Princess Rio with the peace treaty was a bit unrealistic but I can forgive it, since showing the two military commanders and Rio examining the paper in a tent would diminish the impact of the scene.
The one thing I disliked is Rio going back to the Time-Keeping Fortress. I understand that Franz Leopold wants to get on Rio-hime’s good side but still it’s unbelievable that he would leave such an important member of the royalty unguarded at a peripheral fortress.
All things considered it was a decent-to-good ending which left me craving for more. I eagerly await the two DVD-only episodes hoping that they will shed some more light over the ancient war.
I suppose that tha looking the treaty over would have deadened the impact, but still it’s tough call between dramatic effect and realism. I did like how they prevented Kanata from ending the war by herself, it just wasn’t a brutal subversion, but a really soft and gentle one.
Rio going back as an officer is probably some devious ploy for the Emperor to win Rio’s heart and have an excuse as her husbando to be to visit the fortress and work his charms… As galling as it was Rio was always a caged bird and the Emperor letting her fly off for a while is a devious ploy to convince Rio that the Emperor is a decent guy. Wouldn’t be surprised if Aisha were posted there as the Roman envoy by Franz to earn more points. unbelievable as it is the most galling thing is that it working… T_T
I am hoping for more fluffy DVD only eps though I doubt they will explain much about Rodan since I think they want to keep it ambiguous.
Given the setting of the Sora no Woto PSP game that Helvetia and Rome are allies it is likely post episode 12. The VN features Kyrie Kuon voiced by Marina Inoue. Better known for Boss Kana Minami and Valkyria Alicia Melchiott.
Oh yeah next week is The Making of Sora no Woto on the same timeslot.
On Seiya… He called Kanata a lot of bad things but seriously why did he add Not Sexy in the list?
Damn brat has an ultior motive. When Kanata said her parents would’ve prefer her to settle down I don’t think Seiya is what they had in mind for their daugther.
OH THAT Kid-Kaifun… back to the end of the queue for you, Kanata has at least seven or eight more years to develop sexy Onee-sama characteristics…
Indeed I am hoping for a time skip just to see Kid Kaifun lament his actions.
Kid Kaifun will rue the day that he insulted Kanata when she grows into the flower of her maiden hood, may the bastard be lonely forever until the day he dies.
Kana is coming back eh? i wonder if she is dragging mako-cakes with her…
Maybe it’s as I said and the Emperor is a cute 12 year old who looks good in a dress… Rio-hime probably wouldn’t mind taking ownership of him/her in a later date…
As for BOSSU, I think there’s character designs floating around on the interwebs (not sure if she carries a Yoko-sized sniper rifle though…), let’s just say that she won’t lose out to Felicia or Rio in the “development” arms race…
I’ll believe that when I see it, though to be fair we really have no idea what the Emperor looks like, only that Rio being with a guy is anathema to the Yuri.
As for Boss Kana, sauce please… it shouldn’t be an arms race it should be FRIENDLY.
(From Animesuki forums, posted by Hypernova)
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l14/skwf1985/1267434480266.jpg
I’m sure you’ll want to know the context of what happens in the third pic… Enjoy!!!
Excellent now there is a 1:1 ratio of onee-samas to imoutos.
Every Imouto an Onee-san! Every Onee-san and Imouto!
With Yuu Kobayashi as seiyuu for both Rio and Setsuna you give me an image of the emperor as Negi Springfield.
That would be a horrible revelation for Rio fanboys everywhere…DO NOT WANT.
I disagree about Hopkins deciding to not go against civilian as sign of decency on his part. His troops are tired of fighting and that order would push them enough in the open mutiny. Hopkins is smart enough to now that.
I don’t think the 9th at least was ready to stop fighting, he did convince them all that what he was doing was the right thing for Helvetia. His men seemed ready to fight for the guy and the weren’t sad when he came back but glad, They also labeled the Fortress Maidens as traitors so they feel some loyalty to the guy. The 3rd, 1st, and the 9th were pretty much mutineers already by disobeying the Duke’s orders to leave the Romans alone, enough of them felt that it was worth the risk to ignore a royal command to confront Rome. If he ordered it some of his men would have done it, it’s not like they know the townspeople and they did after all harbor a Roman POW.
He didn’t convinced them that what he do is right. He simply DID NOT tell them that he go against orders. He spewed his intentions only when nobody of his men were able to hear him and would not believe accusations of ones that heard it. And his men were very happy that war ended. That he was “father to his man” and that they were glad to have him back do not change that.
Hopkins had a reputation that was well known as the Demon of Vingt and even then after what he did he still commanded the loyalty of the 9th and even if he is a full bird Colonel he would have no control over the 1st and 3rd Divisions. Hence he had to convince the commanders of those formations to follow him. Unless the chain of command was utterly broken the commanders of the 3rd and the 1st would have had the same orders as Hopkins to let the Romans parade around, but they sided with Hopklins. He has killed Helvetians before, and yet his men stuck by him and sided against Felicia. Everyone would have been happy the war ended but Hopkins was not alone in thinking that the Romans were not to be trusted, hence why the Helvetian commander was still ordering a general advance after Kanata’s concert. They may be tired of fighting but that doesn’t mean there isn’t enough fight still in them if they think that the Romans are invading again. They had reservations about it but nobody believed that the talks were going well and the sight of a massive Roman Army on their territory is reason enough to believe that negotiations have failed. Desperate times call for extreme measures and if they can label the 1121st as traitors then they can easily label the towns people the same.
His men had little trouble shooting at an unarmed girl in crutches that was no threat to them, moreover he could have shot Naomi before taking off as a display of contempt, but he did not. His men weren’t pressuring Hopkins to favor the towns people. If Hopkins ordered it his men would have shot, since they didn’t just follow the guy they were loyal to him despite his reputation and the fact that his use of gas killed Helvetians as well as Romans. History has shown that people can and have done terrible things because they were ordered to, I doubt the Helvetian Army would be any different since this same army willingly used a WMD that killed Romans and Helvetians.
If you think he is just an irredeemable bastard with no decency then I think you underestimate how there are guys like Hopkins who have had commands. But believe what you want I think that Hopkins isn’t a one dimensional monster and that because he isn’t it makes the general story richer. You cannot command that kind of loyalty by lies alone, even if people are tired of fighting they can still harbor bitterness and hatred.
Enjoyed the series but was let down mostly not by what was show but by all that it was not.
I will say this, hands down this world, setting, premise, call it what you want is perhaps one of the best I have seen in any anime, movie, science-fiction novel, ect. The series set an amazing tone for itself and created dozens of mysteries and myths to be explored and explained., all with a decently believable cast of characters given the circumstances.
In the end a great idea somewhat fell victim to a limitation of 12 episodes and perhaps a lack of boldness to explore the thematic elements presented to us a bit more, it is almost sad that things seem to be simply returning to a status quo. If they aren’t going to give us a continuation at the very least it would be nice to see some progression, i.e. a re inspired Noel working to better the world by rediscovering beneficial technologies, Kanata setting off to heal the world through music (lololol), w/e w/e but I think you get my drift. These do not necessarily interfere with the non-happy/non-WARISBAD end it did have, rather it simply shows that yes, the world still sucks, but now that we’ve matured through even more hell we are trying to do something about it.
Regardless a highly recommended series from me. It was a different kind of music focus and a different depiction of military life, one that as stated by Crusader was actually very authentic in many ways but with a nice dose of fluffy topping of course, haha. It was willing to deal with some serious issues including chemical warfare, post-apocalyptic nihilism, and a daunting sense of loss (both personal and to humankind) without it ever feeling too out of place in a rather cutesy show and it gets major major props for that.
To wrap this up I guess I am also enjoyed the retelling of the angel story at the end. Its quite likely that the Roman iteration is just a flawed and mystical as the Helvetian one. The way it was presented to us simply gives us a bit more to think about, continuing on the same theme as the POW: misunderstandings (theological and cultural) can lead to conflict. Until Noel starts accessing some very old video archives somewhere I doubt we’ll know what truly happened.
Vector tank was also awesome
Thank you Crusader for taking the time to write this great series of reviews. I get the feeling much of this show is much more personally enjoyable to you thanks to your military career, and the insight you have provided from that angle made these reviews spectacular. I look forward to your future post and all the great comments from other visitors as well that make this site great. Sora no Woto will always remain one of a personal favorites, and I will do my best to keep the Yuri-goggles on regardless of context for added enjoyment.
Thanks for reading, I am glad my hard won military experience helped illuminate somethings for you, it’s not the easiest life int eh world but it can be rewarding if torturous at times. I am sure there will be an epilogue down the line with DVD specials, though I am not too excited to watch Rio get charmed by the Emperor. I can forgive the lack of progression to a degree since a billet usually lasts for about 4 years, Kanata at least had three more to go until she moved on to new things so it was faithful in that sense. It would have been odd to see Hopkins drop by for a bottle of Calvados. But like garrison life it’s still more of the same until the next billet rolls around.
Not that bad of a series suprised me in some episodes after this first came out as K On with guns, great character development too mostly in Noel with her starting out as the “quiet” girl to really emotional during the final two episodes. Kanata was interesting too a bit slow at first but changed fast in the show also showing emotion in several episodes, she did bring that cheerfulness that the show needed.
Kureha brings a bit of cute factor to the show but showed she can push people, but by far the character i liked the most was Rio I enjoyed how she acted and treated her team even thou Felicia treated everyone like a big family which was nice as well.
I enjoyed every episode there were a few Zzzz episodes, great music too even the Amazing Grace episodes where nice. Wouldn’t mind seeing another season -nod-
Always had fun reading your reviews of this too great stuff.
Rio was my personal favorite, and sadly she did disappoint in the end a little when she confessed to having some good will for that Emperor…
Overall it was good but it was ever so close to being EPIC. Thanks for reading, I hope you have a good spring season.
Loved the series and loved your blogging
Definitely adding Felicia to my list of Waifus as well
Thanks for reading, and may you have a blessed spring season to watch.
I must confess though I am hoping Felicia elopes with Rio, no offense
Menage a Trois?
I’m pissed that ‘invade for waifu’ pope got his way but still 2 more special episodes.
oooo Spring Season.. I’m really looking forward to Angel Beats!
I havent finished it yet, still lagging on ep 6 =/
i have to say i not really impressed about it, its just the whole thing is kinda weird to me.
anyway i guess ill have to finish it.
I agree with everything this review says.
And that goes double for the listed side-effects.
Personally, I figured the Emperor surrendered when Rio showed him some of her “cooking”. No one ever wants to tell Rio to her face about that…. So his overeagerness to get away from her wood sandwiches might have come off instead as being “reasonable”. Rio’s always been pretty dull and thick on that side of things….
But it’s not like he could just lightly throw her away, since the entire premise of the peace is her existence. Also, 1121st is clearly the best equipped to protect a single, important person, considering their tank that’s basically invulnerable in the face of all weapons used today.
Also, I think you guys are making a great omission. The theme of the “sound ringing true” did not manifest in the Amazing Grace segment, though that’s part if it (that, I think, was more to emphasize the cultural overlaps that the nations’ people did not realize themselves), but the part where Kanata was amazingly able to pick out Rio’s far signal for ceasefire.
Had not that sound rung true, the 1121st may have not known what was the proper course of action, and instead dawdled. In all likelihood, the 1121st may not have even interfered, at least not as decisively. Without the signal of ceasefire, they had no grounds to act on.
I do agree, with the amazing grace sequence specifically, there were a few directorial errors. The lull in battle was a bit too long, and the battle probably should’ve resumed mid-song (leaving enough distance between that they’d still have to charge quite a ways, especially considering the acceleration on their tanks probably isn’t all that great), and then have Rio-hime bust out in the center while playing an accompaniment. I’m personally not that disappointed, however.
Lots of good sequences, a few small clumsy ones. I still really like the show, and now my appetite has been whet to see more, if only in the form of DVD specials or possible rallies to translate the light novels.
As a side note, I wonder how effective their tanks are at defeating trenches in the first place. I can’t imagine them having a good time at charging over those very easily.
I think that your bewilderment by Kanata’s Amazing Grace is very understandable. However, you maybe missing a crucial piece of information in concluding that it is just too, deux ex machina. The world, as we know it, has effectively ended. If you were to think back to the beginning of the series, the pieces played by the trumpets were the only semblance of music that was ever shown throughout. I believe that the reason the people of the Treize were so understanding, and perhaps even anxious of Kanata’s nub trumpet, was for this reason. Additionally, there was quite a bit of importance given to the “golden horn” in Aisha’s account of the Roman rendition of the fire maiden lengend.
How do you think that a large group of men so weary with war would react to the music of Amazing Grace? I think that the reaction shown in Sora no Oto was an interpretation of this question, rather than general laziness on behalf of the writers.
What ruined the series for me was Rio coming back to stay. The whole “the emperor ain’t a bad guy” destroyed a lot of the depth created by Rio’s development and subsequent sacrifice.