Posted by OP Sequence
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OP: 「メッセージ」 (Message) by Yoko
Watch the OP! Mirror 1 Mirror 2 (16.4MB, XviD)
I liked the OP about as much as I liked the ending – which is to say, not very much at all.
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Summary:
Having lost everything after that happened, Sara changed her last name to Cruz and is now at the Basion General Strategy Tactical Institute as part of the mobile infantry division. Sara’s been here three months and she is now on another training mission, except in a suit called a Gambee. By acting apart from the other students, she manages to catch the attention of the commanders, but is having a hard time fighting the training bots. Although she knows that she could do this easier in a Strain, she lost her Mimic on that fateful day, so she can’t control a Strain anymore. All she can do now is question why her brother did all that, and in order to find out the truth, she’s decided that she must see Ralph again. Sara hasn’t made any friends at this new school and being is ostracized by a girl named Isabella because of her lack of teamwork. However, she knows that Isabella and her group were choosing easy targets during training and that real combat is quite different. A girl from the Space Armored Division named Lottie chides Isabella for what she did and feels that Sara fights like a Reasoner.
Although there are sub-light-speed maneuvers coming up, Sara doesn’t have the required training time to participate. She goes to argue with her instructor who finally gives in under the condition that she clears the Basion descent maneuver that’s coming up in 4 weeks. With this, Sara puts herself onto a rigorous training regimen in the simulators at the cost of her sleep. On one particular day, she encounters Lottie in the exercise room and Lottie matches her running on the treadmill at four times normal gravity. Lottie even challenges her to see who will be become worn out first, but the two run evenly until both collapse at once. Sara later wakes up in the infirmary and finds herself hooked up to an IV. After the doctor tells her to rest and leaves, Sarah and Lottie introduce themselves to each other. They soon notice that the TV is airing a report about Ralph’s betrayal, causing Lottie to get quite angry at the traitor.
The day finally arrives for the Basion descent training with the goal of retrieving a float from inside the gas cloud and returning with it. But because of a strong magnetic storm, the students’ electronic equipment – such as radar – won’t work very well. In order to watch the training mission, Lottie goes to see the Technology and Engineering Division instructor Melchisedec who has a small probe following the action. Sara passes through all the asteroid obstacles and finds the target, but her Gambee gets pushed aside by Isabella’s. The two girls race forward, but Isabella doesn’t notice the large asteroid that floats into her path. Seeing Isabella knocked out, Sara had actually shoots her rival’s Gambee with an electrified arm. This shocks Isabella awake and might have saved her life, but she doesn’t know that until Lottie explains it to her later as she’s confronting Sara.
Having passed the training, Sara is allowed to go on the sub-light-speed maneuver by her instructor. But when she gets out of the shower later, she finds her uniform ripped apart and her pendant gone. Since that pendant is so precious to her, she searches everywhere from the garbage to the Gambee cockpit, but can’t find it. Though dejected, her search eventually takes her to a room of junk with a Strain in the middle that’s covered up. Sara also notices that there’s a dirty doll sitting in a chair nearby, which she takes pity on. Upon closer examination, she realizes that the doll has a Mimic in its back – one that’s labeled E.M.L.Y. Sara feels that this Emily probably doesn’t have a Reasoner and must be lonely. It is to this doll that Sara confesses that she’s lost both something and everyone precious to her. In that respect, she feels that she and the doll are the same and starts crying to it.
At that same time, far away on a Deague ship, the girl that Ralph took from the military lab at Glabella is recalling that her name is Emily.
We find out that Sara is now hiding her identity under the name Cruz, which is probably to get away from all the anti-Werec family and traitor sentiments. Though everything else about her and around her may have changed, including her hairstyle, Sara’s goal of seeing her brother again remains the same. She just now has a really has a good reason to want to see him again, as opposed to just wanting to be reunited with her brother. The intriguing aspect here is that the girl Ralph took is named Emily, just like the doll/Mimic that Sara finds. The connection between the doll and the girl may be obvious, but how they got there remains a mystery. For now, I imagine that Sara will probably reawaken the doll somehow and that they’ll take control of the Red Strain that’s shown in the opening sequence.
Given how fast Sara’s friends were killed off the first episode, I wonder how long this new cast will last. Maybe Ralph can show up next episode during the sub-light-speed maneuver and kill half of them or something.
come to think it: on ep 01 –
did she trnsfer the MIMIC to the second strain?
she still can control the strain at that point, while using another MIMIC?
“Maybe Ralph can show up next episode during the sub-light-speed maneuver and kill half of them or something.”
Geezz, Omni, at least you could be ‘a bit’ more optimistic. They’ll die all 😛
They can’t just go on and kill of characters since otherwise you are not able to get feelings for them, which is an important part of a anime I think.
Her Mimic was destroyed in that second strain.
This anime reminds me to Tomino(The Producer of most Gundam series) with his kill’em all style.
what a weird doll…:p
I bet the “doll” will be alive soon^^
An anime based off the book A Little Princess?! … or not. The connections are obviously there, though. Maybe I’ll check it out ^^;
A couple of things;
Should Sara’s alias be spelled “Crewe” as in “A little Princess” ?
Not only does this remind of Tomino as wahahaha said but the pilot death toll and pilot rivalry reminds me of the original Gunbuster.
Interesting episode. I’m planning on watching this until the end.
I was surprised when I read an info over at Anime News Network that S-Strain is actually a sci-fi adaptation of A Little Princess. Well, the character’s names are a given, not to mention Sara’s decline from the top to begin with.
@Fuse01: If you’re referring to Gundam’s Yoshiyuki Tomino, I hope he doesn’t or a LOT of people will die in this series. Maybe he actually intervened the first episode, hence he was the mastermind of the 30 second kill of Sara’s friends. ^_^
All the characters’ names for the cast were taken from “A Little Princess” by Frances Hodgson Burnett.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Little_Princess
In fact, Sara from Soukou no Strain passes through a similar situation that parallels to that of the Sara character from the novel.
Second, Shinsen-Subs has the surname displayed as “Crewe”
I don’t know… we either know how long this series is… but maybe in the next episode somethings can be showed
The 3rd episode aired and yes, Show Spoiler ▼
dies.
Emily seems to be a MIMIC or at least acts like one since she gets on a Strain in ep. 3 but the episode ends before she engage in combat.
[spoiler]We only see a explosion, it is not definte that Isbella is dead[/spoiler]
“But when she gets out of the shower later, she finds her uniform ripped apart and her pendant gone.”
She had it coming in my opinion, who does she think she is? If you keep stepping on people’s toes and refuse to acknowledge them (even if you’re talented) of course they’re going to cause you trouble. Bunch of elitists, those Strain pilots- if anyone had a MIMIC they could probably pilot a Strain. I like the GAMBEE design and weapon though, the taser rifle-extremely practical as it doesn’t use ammunition unlike firearms and beam weapons-etremely practical, well done Fantasia!
As for Ralph, I somehow get the impression that he changed sides because he saw the endless stalemate and wanted it over. Especially seeing as how the reason for this polarization of humanity isn’t explained yet.
All this talk of Gundam and Ralph reminds me of Char.
He did choose a loli over his sister ala. Char ^^;
As for what Emiliy is, we need to wait till tomarrow or probably next week. Depending on how much action time Sara is given.
That last screenshot in the opening seems sort of wrong.
That last screenshot in the opening seems sort of wrong.
Glad i’m not the only one that thought that…
The Sara Crewe thing makes perfect sense, as 1) it’s from A Little Princess and 2) it’s a scrambling of “Werec”. However, the katakana suggests “Sara Cruz”, and the animation itself (episode 2, 3:01.6) states it as such. I’m taking “Sara Crewe” as a fansub error.
I liked the OP. It reminded me of an NES-era RPG for some reason.
“Given how fast Sara’s friends were killed off the first episode, I wonder how long this new cast will last. Maybe Ralph can show up next episode during the sub-light-speed maneuver and kill half of them or something.”
totally agree with you there OMNI. lol. i dont know why but that statement gave me a good laugh. it’s so morbid but so true and entertaining. hahaha. thanks for the update.
i’m pretty sick and disgusted of all the retarded girl characters in anime with their under developed personalities and lack of depth in personality. hopefully sara won’t be like that… although it gets kinda cheesy at times and her fighting all hard just to see her brother seems… o watevers. it’s better than what’s out there right now fo shoooo.
“Given how fast Sara’s friends were killed off the first episode, I wonder how long this new cast will last. Maybe Ralph can show up next episode during the sub-light-speed maneuver and kill half of them or something.”
*SPOILERS*
lol, that actually does happen in episode 3. Well, at least the blue hair girl was killed.
Whatching Ep2 remind me of a old article in regard to how some women never out grew high school and the difference between man and women on holding a grudge. A man while having a more violent reaction to a grudge will forget it faster while a women will tend to hold on to it far longer then any men would.
Also how some women just never outgrow thier bitchy tendicies and even as adult will react the same way they do in high school.
@Sahakiel, Ralph reminds me of Zechs, actually. Well, I do hope we’ll see him kick more metal ass in the future, and maybe the anticipated meeting with Sara.
To be honest, I ended up watching this one because no one was subbing Olynssis and I needed my mecha fix. _|¯|O
Wrong because you have a nude brother on one side and a nude imouto on the other. If it’s some love-love relationship, I don’t mind but that felt like incest.
[quoted from Xellos] “Watching Ep2 remind me of a old article in regard to how some women never out grew high school and the difference between man and women on holding a grudge. A man while having a more violent reaction to a grudge will forget it faster while a women will tend to hold on to it far longer then any men would.”
To quote Robert Jordan: “Men forget, but never forgive. Women forgive, but never forget.” The pity with Isabella is that she doesn’t even try to see the other person’s point of view. If she were willing to take a step beyond her view of herself as being the natural leader, she might learn things and do better. Of course the problem with Sara is that she’s so bloody pigheaded and, yes, arrogant …
The only thing that may save this batch new friend is that they are all from the book so it give them some hope lasting more than one episode.
Why does this look so much like a gundam seed clone?….
I REALLY happy the Isabella bitch dies. God i hope she suffers A LOT. Maybe hand her over to the Higurashi cast for a few days.
I love soukou no strain it’s my fave japanese cartoon EVER now heres somfin random VOTE FOR MUFFINS