「African Golden Butterflies phase. 1」

Week after week, I watch Jormungand. And week after week, it finds yet more ways to show why this series is so good. Unrealistic fight scenes aside, it takes a special kind of show to juggle such a large cast of characters. Yet, not only does the show allow each character to have their own turn in their spotlight, it also makes sure that the others aren’t completely neglected of their few moments of coolness as well. See, this episode could have easily just been all Valmet and nothing else. But with the inclusion of the pirates in the beginning and the fight versus Karen (Saori Kato) at the end, the rest of the group also get some ass-kicking moments.

Moving on, another notable thing about the series are the adversaries that Koko’s group face on a continuous basis. In shows like Jormungand, where the main cast is both numerous and notable, it’s easy to fall into the hole of having adversaries that are too bland or not at the same level. And as you can imagine, if no real worthwhile adversaries ever/rarely show up, a series can easily tumble down a slippery slope of failure from there. But, as per usual, Jormungand avoids this pitfall, among many others, that trip up quite a few shows. From Orchestra to Scarecrow, and now the Daxinghai Company, we’ve consistently been given the pleasure of seeing adversaries that are both memorable and similarly skilled. As such, it makes the show a thrill to watch as you not only wonder how Koko’s group will combat them, but also wonder if there’s that slight chance that one of the group doesn’t make it. And what makes this even better is the fact that we’ve already been given multiple of these notable adversaries, when some shows struggle to even introduce one properly, or at least one worth talking about.

In any case, this arc’s revolves around Dr. Miami plot wise, but the spotlight is definitely on Valmet, who shows virtually every side of her character this episode. We see her Koko loving carefree side, her playful side, and her “I’ll kill you!” side… and well, let’s just say I’d definitely prefer not to have to face the latter. In the end, I can’t say it was surprising Valmet would come face to face with Karen, considering how much foreshadowing we were given the previous episode. But what was surprising was how alike they are physically, as well as the fact that it’s revealed that Karen is actually not the one responsible for Valmet’s eye injury, but rather someone else related to her. Still, given the reaction and the preview, I can’t see that stopping Valmet from wanting to rip her to pieces though. I reckon it’ll be quite the fight coming next episode, but I somehow can’t see Karen getting killed so easily, considering how easily she dispatched Scarecrow’s goon. Though, with what happened to Chinata… I wouldn’t bet on that.

Speaking of Scarecrow, the CIA agent of destruction is back and… serving as some nice comic relief again. I can’t stop thinking of him as some kind of satire about America/Americans in general though. It’s not that I mind or anything, but it would be a noticeable trend in anime this season, as Eureka Seven: Astral Ocean also had some as well. Regardless, I wonder if he’ll constantly serve as comic relief, or if he’s something who they’re making us intentionally take lightly until he does something big. I’m personally hoping it’s the former though, as the only big thing he could do otherwise would be to take down a member of Koko’s group, and that’s something I don’t want happening at all.

Overall, what else can I say? I expected a lot out of this multi-part arc after what happened during Orchestra’s arc and it’s delivered so far. I mean, when you get a few new and crazy characters, some character development, and a set-up for a great second part, what more could you ask for? I know I’ll be watching the next episode. Still, it’s kind of hard to believe that half the season’s already passed already!

Full-length images: 24, 32.

 

ED1.06 Sequence

Preview

64 Comments

  1. Again the screen writers made up fantasy scenario and tactics that are unrealistic. If KOKO can afford 2 minigun, then she can get a piece of manpad (stinger/SA-7)and a laser guided ATGM(AT-14 Kornet). She would not try to use RPG-7 on a speed boat or throw a wire guided sticky bomb down the side of a freighter (molotov would have been more effective).

    dh19440113
    1. Unfortunately IIRC, they took it from the manga. So blame Keitaro Takahashi for that.

      ‘Sides, the pirates didn’t know that Koko’s cargo ship was armed with miniguns.

      Ominae
    2. Why waste some high tech one-offs on just some pirates? I’m sure a minigun is much cheaper to reload than stinger missiles. RPG’s are most likely pretty cheap also. Molotov’s would be efficient, but they are makeshift weapons that a well supplied force would not go out of their way to make when they have C4 lying around.

      1. It is true. It is cheaper for the US Marines to send a few black hawks and little birds to light up an area for a 5 min straff run than to send a laser guided missile.

        Pen3
      2. Blackhawk is lost quite often due to enemy fire or pilot error, no chance a lost helo is cheaper than a tomahawk(gps guided not laser). A laser guided bomb require a man on the ground or a plane point a laser at the target until it hit. Marine don’t use little bird only army and delta do.

        dh19440113
      3. I saw a video of laser being pointed at a small compound and 5 helicopters came for straff runs. 3 little birds and 2 other chopper i cant tell if it is blackhawk or not but about the same size. They just pounded the compound with rockets, 30mm canons and miniguns for about 5 mins. Sometimes A-10 show up, but don’t see any laser guided missiles used cause of the price.

        Pen3
    3. They are running a business selling weapons there, they are not an army. At 0.51$/round(probably less), one minute of firing a minigun should be about 2000$. One RPG-7 round is 50$.
      Stinger is 38000$ apiece. AT-14 is 2200$

      SinsI
      1. Adding to the cost of simple ammo vs smart weapons. Here’s my view on C4 vs Molotov. C4, stable and safe for storage or handling. Wilee can simply grab a brick, detonator, plug cable and done. Molotov has the disadvantage of not being safe for storage in it’s prepared state since it’s a breakable container with a flamable liquid, more so in a ship. On the other hand it’d take time to prepare one from zero, maybe considerably more time than an explosives expert grabbing his tools.

        Kamui04
  2. It last seen with Valmet looking like bloodhound (maybe a rabid wolf) that got a scent of her pray was creepy as hell… I’m expecting some serious shit to go done just from that alone. ^____^

    Ani_BEE
  3. If I was the pirate with ownership of a Oryx, I unload my rocket keeping safe distance away from the minigun and unload my rocket on the crew and do a combat insertion from the helo. It is the most effective method.

    dh19440113
    1. The whole point of the chopper was to intimidate the crew. They don’t want to let loose any rocket if they don’t need to (no point in damaging something you’re going to pinch). Of course that’s why Koko had them hide the fact that they were armed.

      Scruffy
    2. Like people mentioned. They were taken by surprise with the minigun and an armed crew. Also the whole point of armed pirates is intimidation. Since the whole reason of being a pirate is taking control of the ship, steal the cargo and take the crew hostage for ransom. What’s the point of going apeshit blowing up a container ships or tankers with your rockets and killing the crew?

      And reading your post, yeah you’re a weapons nerd, but it seems you’re so lost in the details that it seems you don’t give a damn about storytelling and the different situations presented here.

      Kamui04
  4. Karen has a pair of custom 1911, definitely an american made derivative, no one else is infatuated with a 100 year old design by browning. Pistol rail has a set of 6 inch bayonet. This is not plausible, as the aluminum rail are design for laser and light accessories.

    Valmet made a good demonstration of knife combat, you go after tendon muscle and legiment of an attacks legs and inpair mobility first and then go after major artories and veins next. If done correctly jonah will not have the ability to jump after initial strike.

    dh19440113
    1. her advice about jumping is also spot-on, jumping, unless you can manipulate gravity, puts you on a predictable trajectory skilled opponent can intercept with well aimed strike/shot/cut and you cant dodge it mid-air…

      ewok40k
  5. if I am not mistaken, lehm uses M24 as his prefered marksmanship rifle, the first batch of these rifle has a trigger fault. When you put the safety on and pull the trigger if goes click. When you disengage the safety it immediately goes off without touching the trigger. The trigger mechanism was notorious for going out of alignment and remington was sued and now uses a new design in the 700 rifle.

    dh19440113
  6. After reading somewhere that Lem is ex-Delta Force, the shot of him filling the chopper full of holes with the chaingun threw me back to Modern Warfare 3. I wonder if he got some practice shooting down Hinds in the skies of New York?

    Also, am I the only one who laughed at the weapons expo they had going on? Not that it’s implausible, but the sight of men in business suits checking out the latest tanks and attack helicopters as if they were show cars was quite funny. Another way the show takes something outlandish–constant exposure to violence–and makes it seem mundane and commonplace. Yet another reason to love this show.

    Finally, Valmet’s rack seems to get bigger with every episode.

    Actene
  7. Okay – what did we learn today? Well, we learned that weapons dealers are
    pretty low – but friggin’ pirates even piss those people off! I’ll be honest
    (I haven’t read the Manga), I thought the kid he saved was going to become a/the
    new member of the group
    . So it was with shock when Koko told him to jump (in real
    life, at that height, it’d be a death sentence anyway) and swim for shore. Upon reflection,
    maybe Koko was protecting Jonah?

    Maybe I misunderstood, but I thought this was a series about Japanese weapons dealers –
    then why did Jonah ask how to say “doctor” in Japanese? Are the enemy Japanese and Koko isn’t
    (very confused)…

    Still a very strong episode – I would love to take knife lessons from someone like Valmet;
    you could feel Jonah’s awe…

    mac65
    1. He asked how to say doctor in japanese coz he wanted to lure the enemy out by making them think that they are looking for the doctor miami in the area and not knowing that they are hiding for an ambush

      Len
    2. Does Koko Hekmatyar sound like a Japanese name to you? To answer your question: no, they are not Japanese arm dealers. They all speak Japanese for the convenience of the audience.

      Kaka
  8. this week ep

    koko & crew quick battles with pirates goes boom.
    yea spake kid pirate by “jump the plank” koko version with sea donuts for a gift.
    meanwhile scarecrow doing meet with meet with chinese people
    then go “leak” but female chinese show “legs” ko scarecrow guard & run.
    cause they got issues with koko’s brother aka kasper.
    then we meet dr.miami who was to meet koko but want butterfly searching.
    valmet doing training then here johan some rubber knife spare total velmet win.
    koko goes weapon meet no dr.miami oh here ccat crew give short then old chinese.
    koko bit hmm send her crew get dr.miami all “red eyes” & mu ha ha ha.
    dr.miami on butterfly search see her smoke is sense looking.
    while female chinese & her crew wait plan something.
    johan see something make noise here they come.
    yea female chinese not happy cue dual guns-knives boom own crew member.
    yet it cause valmet to go loco.

    next ep her name is valmet she is loco i said oh no.

    KLAC-vengers
  9. Know what I love about this show?

    I love that because it’s garnering so much attention right now… and because it’s an action anime set in a somewhat realistic modern non-fantasy setting…

    that a bajillion haters have come out of the woodwork to gnash their teeth and shout “Oh I hate this show! It is soooooo unrealistic!” week after week… like this isn’t an only semi-realistic made up anime or something. Or the only one.

    I wonder if they do the same thing with movies, tv, wrestling and the Food Network?

    It’s sooo unrealistic. Can’t yout tell how fake it is by listening to my obviouly superior knowledge of the fakeness it portrays?

    I love it.

    What
  10. I learn something while reading the comments…. HOW MANY OF YOU GUYS ARE A WEAPON AND/OR STRATEGY SPECIALIST WHO WATCHES ANIME!? Man week after week we have an intellectual (?) discuss abt tactics and weapons….

    Yeah I know I am late to the party…… (IRL stuff…..)

    D-LaN

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