Summary:

Having abandoned the car, Jin and company are trying to cross over a mountain so that they can reach the ocean on the other side. Unbeknownst to the others, Gio suddenly senses something from Thanatos and disappears. At the ISDA base, Sakaki assigns Kazuki to take care of the operating experiment for something called the Aigis. Howling Star meanwhile has grown frustrated with his captivity and his inability to do anything about it. Itsuki and Otohime understand how he feels because they know that Thanatos is approaching the planet while they’re stuck there, and the ISDA is currently more interested with gaining mass popularity by hunting dragons than anything else. By now, Jin and company have reached the ocean and are met by a submarine piloted by Yuuri and Nozaki. Jin still doesn’t know what happened to Gio and wants to wait, but since they’re running the risk of being spotted for every moment that they’re out in the open, he follows the others into the submarine.

Once everyone is inside, Yuuri and Nozaki explain that they haven’t given up on the possibility of humans and dragons coexisting, so they want to stop the ISDA and help the dragons. The plan involves sending Jin riding Toa out to attack Tartarus while the rest of the group sneaks onto the island. Toa is willing to do it to save everyone and to protect the bonds between humans and dragons, and she transforms after Jin kisses her. Kazuki is thrilled when he realizes that Jin has come, and he quickly boards Widow so that he can go after his former friend. Surprised to hear that Jin is glad that he’s alive, Kazuki laughs and declares that he can’t die until he kills Jin. Kazuki is still pissed off about the scar he got from their previous battle, and it doesn’t help either that he thinks Jin is in Toa right now because he got tired of riding Gio. Kazuki also doesn’t believe it when Jin claims to want to protect the bonds between man and dragon because Kazuki still remembers how Jin originally broke the bonds between him and Gio.

Nozaki and the others have meanwhile made their way into the base and manage to find Raina and Itsuki. Guards had taken Amadeus, Howling Star, and Otohime away earlier though, and Nozaki quickly realizes that Sakaki intends to use Aigis on those three. According to him, Aigis is an ultra-high power directional CSS field generator that was developed to stop Thanatos, and living dragons stand no chance against it if they get exposed to it. Nozaki figures out that the only way to save the dragons is to take out the power reactor that’s supplying the facility. Before they can get too far though, the group gets attacked by Laura, and Nozaki decides to face her by himself while the others go ahead. He is wearing a CSS neutralizing device that allows him to use his powers against her, but she still proves to be quite a handful. When Nozaki breaks a hole in her helmet, he realizes who Laura really is and tries to tell her that Sakaki is wrong, but she doesn’t care.

At the reactor control room, Sieglinde has a hard time getting the system to shut down, but she finally succeeds after Raina reminds her to believe in herself. Free from the Aigis system now, Amadeus and the two dragons are able to save Sieglinde, Raina, Yuuri, and Yonamine Kou who had all just gotten cornered by ISDA troops. Sieglinde and Amadeus are especially happy to be reunited. Back outside the base, the battle between Kazuki and Jin appears to draw to a close after Widow knocks Toa out of the sky. Kazuki prepares Widow to fire off the killing blow, but Jin and Toa are saved when Widow suddenly gets attacked by Howling Star and Otohime. The others meanwhile make their way back to where Nozaki was fighting, and upon seeing everyone, Laura turns to leave. Referring to her as Raum, Nozaki tries to warn her against returning to Sakaki and points out that Sakaki will make her unhappy. Laura ignores him, but what ends up stopping her in her tracks is her sensing that something is coming.

At that very moment, Widow gets shot down by a massive energy beam that appears to come through the clouds. The culprit is none other than a transformed Gio, and though Jin is initially excited, his attitude changes when Gio proceeds to shoot down Otohime and Howling Star too.

Preview

Well, I literally yelled “WTF” out loud when the first thing that Jin said to Kazuki was that he was glad that Kazuki was alive. When is Jin going to realize that Kazuki isn’t his friend anymore and that he’d be a lot better off if he just killed Kazuki? At this point though, I think the chance of Kazuki dying by the end of the show are pretty low. He has a cockroach-like ability to survive, so I’m more inclined believe that Kazuki will reconcile somehow with his former friend before this is all over. That doesn’t stop me from thinking that Kazuki is a complete idiot for that stupid eyepatch though, especially since it turned out to cover just a puny scar (no third eye or anything lol).

As for Gio, it’s probably too soon to write him off as a bad guy since we don’t know what happened really with him and Thanatos. Given how they’ve spent the past 19 episodes building up his relationship with Jin and Toa though, even if Gio is indeed now evil, it seems pretty likely that he’ll eventually realize that friendship trumps all or something similar to that. For the time being, he makes the story a little more interesting because he’s neither on the ISDA’s side nor on Jin’s side anymore, and the preview for next week even shows him attacking Toa in his dragon form.

35 Comments

  1. Wow, I can’t believe I’ve been watched this crappy show up till now. Lots of boobs and a poor plot. They could have at least made the character reactions realistic. I bet Jin would have forgiven kazuki even if he had killed his mother. I mean, do the directors think we are retarded, or is the show made for a younger age group? Why can’t these peop This anime is just a load of random emotions. Anime is in a state of decay. Five years from now 80% of the stuff on the market would be crappy like this show(maybe it already is). I can even overlook stuff thats too emo, if the emotions had been drawn out due to logical reasons or for some logical purpose. You cry over a loved one. You grieve when you’re betrayed. But for god’s sake, you dont forgive someone who gobbled up your *ick. Maybe production IG can save us. Their spring projects seem to have potential.

    nofizzleforshizzle
  2. Can’t correct the typos.
    Now I’ll tell you the source of the problem. The root of all misery is the fact that a lot of people like these crappy kinds of shows. Let’s just check some of the posts above. “Wow they kissed”. “This episode is cool” .What exactly was so cool please? What joy did you from a kiss between two cartoons? In what way can even connect or sympathise with characters that are so underdeveloped and over-sensitized.
    At the end of the day, producers are gonna tally the numbers and look at their sales. And when they find out that these crappy shows are selling like hot cakes, they’ll just produce more. All you need to do is have a mecha based story, a love triangle, a soap opera and kaboom!!!!. You’ll do great. Parallel timings make things even worse. Why would people appreciate a work of art when an emo show for a much wider demographic is on air at the same time. The ratings for good shows fall and producers get more hints as to what they should be making.
    I am not criticizing your selection of shows. I am grateful to you for some amazing anime you’ve recommended. But even when i look at you list of shows, theres plenty of stuff that makes me cringe. And i know its not there because you love it, but because there is just nothing better to watch.
    I am just disappointed with the direction this industry is headed.

    nofizzleforshizzle
  3. > I bet Jin would have forgiven kazuki even if he had killed his mother

    Hah, if Luke Skywalker can forgive Darth Vader despite him having chopped off his hand and tortured Han and Leia (among other things), I guess Jin forgiving Kakuzi for attempting to kill him is really minor in comparison XD.

    > What joy did you from a kiss between two cartoons?

    Are you saying people can’t think that it’s cute nonetheless? Doesn’t much matter if it’s a cartoon or not IMHO :p.

    Dragonaut could all in all have been a better show, that much I can agree on – it has all in all a lot of unused potential. Regardless, it’s still an entertaining enough show that doesn’t bore me and that’s why I watch it. It may even redeem itself in some ways, who knows?

    SpectatorBeholder
  4. Anyway, your complaints aren’t exactly new, friend. Even ten years ago when I started watching anime, people used to complain that “80% of the anime that the market produces is pure crap, man!!!!” XD. Not everything that people produces is gold, it’s as simple as that. But of course, as the saying goes, one man’s trash is another mans treasure. There’s show that I think are pure crap, yet other people praises those shows to the skies. And there’s shows that I think is pure gold, but which other people call pure crap. It may all come down to a matter of taste in the end, or how high requirements you have, perhaps…

    SpectatorBeholder
  5. Yes i went a bit overboard. If it was that bad i wouldnt have watched that many episodes. Romance is also not without its points but why instead of adding to a story does it end up being a central attraction.I was just frustrated at the whole jin kazuki thing and let it out in two posts.

    nofizzleforshizzle
  6. @SpectatorBeholder

    That’s definitely true to what I’ve said before; there will always be people criticizing a show, while others will praise it, and there will be people who don’t want to hear other peoples opinions…

    I will stand up for the show once in that for those who want to see a show that is truly crappy as hell, Watch CartoonNetwork at 6am EST. and watch the transformers show (Can’t remember the actual name for it and I’m not going to waste my time looking it up), compared to that, dragonaut is the shit lol (Also, for those people who actually like the “new” spin-off series they keep producing, they are crap, and no I don’t care if you like them, also if your still reading this part, no I’m not a Transformers fan of any sort, although I think the movie is the shit)…

    Anyways, I find it hilarious that they made such a big deal within the show about the patch (Though I may just be relating to people’s reactions or whatever), only to have it turn out to be a small ass scar… Also, it seems that they did another random ass thing and made one of the main protagonists “evil” apparently, not to mention he now sports a new wardrobe, which resembles the one from when Thanatos sent the dragon to earth to cause destruction (If you don’t know what I mean, it was the fire one). I can’t believe they actually made him go evil within one episode without any hint to him turning “evil”… If they did hint at this, the only thing that I can think of was when he went “super” dragon on mars, and if that was the so-called hint, then that was one shitting ass hint…

    IfOnlyYouKnew
  7. > Romance is also not without its points but why instead of adding to a story does it end
    > up being a central attraction

    Jin and Toa’s relationship is in a very real sense the whole _point_ of the story, at least from how it’s being told. Don’t forget that this show emphasizes the importance of the relationship between dragons and humans. That’s the “read thread” of Dragonaut’s story as I see it, which is why Jin and Toa’s romance get so much focus.

    > I was just frustrated at the whole jin kazuki thing and let it out in two posts.

    Heh, it’s not like I can’t understand how you feel though. Kazuki should be killed and buried in four directions as far as I’m concerned. But by the looks of it, Jin never wanted Kakuzi to die as such. Perhaps Jin’s reactions could have been a bit more realistic in this regard (though I want to see the episode itself before I make any judgement either way). Anyway, this is hardly the first time where we have a story where the main character has a “friend” who tries to kill him or the like but being unable to really hate him despite that…

    SpectatorBeholder
  8. (note: in my post above I made a spelling error, it’s supposed to be “red thread” ^^;;; )

    IfOnlyYouKnew:
    Well, there will always be people who’ll dislike certain shows, no matter how great they are, and vice-versa…
    Anyway, as far as Kazuki’s patch go, I think it’s probably just him making a big deal about it. Maybe to _him_ it’s important that it’s hidden, because it symbolizes the fact that he lost to Jin or the fact that he failed to kill him when he had the chance. Or something like that.. *shrugs*
    Well, it isn’t for sure that Gio is “evil” yet, even if he as Omni says may have become an antagonist at the very least. That seems more likely to me at least, especially if he sided with Thanathos for Toa’s sake or something – thne that’d certainly make him an antagonist, but not really an “evil” guy as such.

    SpectatorBeholder
  9. @Omni:

    Love the “no third eye or anything lol” reaction. 😛

    Sounds like you’re at the same point I am with Dragonaut. i.e. 1.) not expecting anything from the series anymore and 2.) taking anything the writers come up (however bad) as-is without passing judgment. It’s a, “lol, I wonder why I’m still watching this but oh well, let’s keep going cause it’s almost over” attitude. 🙂

    With only 5 episodes to go, we might as well finish it だぞ!?

    Based on the last 5 episode titles, it looks like someone else is going to die in episode 23. Wee… fun times. /sarcasm
    http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=7819&page=25

  10. Kazuki’s patch does not bother me the least bit. I don’t even care whether kazuki lives or dies,as i don’t see how he is important to the story overall. He starts out as jin’s best friend and in a few episodes he goes emo over a stolen dragon and now wants to kill him .The organisation allows this guy to continue with his irresponsible behaviour even though it may jeapordize their own missions. Instead of being reprimanding him at an opportune moment,the commander(who up till then seemed very sensible) gives him the green light to go fetch the damn dragon(that’s what I would do if I were you bro!) It is just an endless sequence of stupidities.
    What bother’s me most is the relationship between two people who’ve tried to kill each other. Imagine being in a fight of death with your best friend one day and inviting him over to your place for cake the other. What is wrong with a lead character being vengeful or having some deep personality flaws? Why do the directors want to portray him as a fountain of virtue?

    nofizzleforshizzle
  11. > The organisation allows this guy to continue with his irresponsible behaviour even though > it may jeapordize their own missions. Instead of being reprimanding him at an opportune
    > moment,the commander(who up till then seemed very sensible) gives him the green light to > go fetch the damn dragon(that’s what I would do if I were you bro!) It is just an endless > sequence of stupidities.

    Hmm, I wonder about that. Personally I’m of the opinion that either Sakaki thought that he could use Kazuki to get rid of Jin and/or Gio who were in his opinion far too dangerous (and perhaps then put the blame of the whole thing on Kazuki (“I had nothing to do with it, this guy ignored his orders and did it!”) – or he thought that that way, Kazuki would get himself killed or do so something so stupid that Sakaki could have the perfect excuse to fire him from the dragonauts….

    SpectatorBeholder
  12. I can only have faith about the story outcomes of the show.

    I’m pretty sure Toa, Nozaki and other dragons will not die just like that.

    I guess what happens to Toa becomes a factor of Gio being something else unexpected.

    Kazuki will take time to change I guess. Well remaining parts of the story are up to the director. He is the one who writes the stories of the show. If he cares about the fans, I’m pretty sure he will take what they felt into considerations of anime story developments.

    C
  13. I agree 100%! What a wimpy thing to say! You know what, I was more impressed with KAzuki’s reaction to Jin’s line. I would have laughed too. This is even worse than Simon forgiving Rossiou in Gurren Lagann!

    golthin
  14. I think Gio accepted something from Thanatos, a duty to bring all the dragons back and annihilate all the earth-born dragons. So he gained power from Thanatos in order to transform into this state. Or, he unlocked his power that dwelled within him from the start. What is intriguing is the fact that Gio is not an original dragon, but an earth-born one, created by the idiotic Kazuki…that’s the only thing that doesn’t make sense here. Why would Thanatos bestow such an important task to an earth-born dragon? However, all of the above is my pure speculation, Gio could be doing something completely different here.

    Geo
  15. I can understand Kazuki’s eyepatch being symbolic and all that jazz, but… He looks like he’s wearing a thong on his head.

    As for Gio, I think his character development is really messed up. Not only it is impossible to really say anything about his personality, he keeps changing between being a “good” and “bad” guy. Very early on he didn’t trust Jin, but then they spend a good 10+ episodes bonding and now suddenly he’s an enemy. Wtf?

    C.C.
  16. Just watched the sub and this episode nearly made me damage my computer screen. I punched the screen, didn’t realize my arm was that long and knocked it over, when Jin said im glad to see you alive!

    But i personally think that because Kazuki did do the resonance with Gio, if Kazuki dies Gio goes berserk. And now if Gio has gone to the DARK side. I think Kazuki may redeem himself by killing himself off.

    hmm..

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