「真夜中の少女」 (Mayonaka no Shoujo)
“Midnight Girl”

Whether it’s providing oodles of Zessica goodness from her seductive side to her absolutely hilarious scaredy cat side, utterly awesome super robot action with flashy transparent CG, or combining with the extremely young Yunoha Surool (Ogura Yui), Aquarion EVOL is here to deliver. This episode also provided a bunch of firsts for me too, as I’ve never heard Hanazawa Kana scream like Zessica did here, Satellite animate high-speed city battles with explosive Shoryuken-like finishes, or Ogura Yui make orgasmic noises that should be illegal to record (she’s only 16!). Best of all, this episode was absolutely hilarious from start to finish, starting with Andy proposing a seating rearrangement so that he can mingle with some cute girls, only to end up with the invisible Yunoha, then making a ghost story up out of spite that had Zessica going all the way until the very end. Throw in a misunderstanding by Mikono after seeing Zessica run off with Amata in a very precarious position and all the humor just went off without a hitch.

I sure as heck wasn’t expecting to laugh as much as I did, which kind of overshadowed some more important plot points such as how Shrade survived his first union (unsurprisingly), how Kagura’s been locked up and still obsessing about Mikono, and how Jin came up with an well-simulated “attack from all directions” strategy against Aquarion that had Zessica, Amata, and Cayenne pinned down. However, while Aquarion EVOL doesn’t tend to combine the comedy and seriousness as seamlessly as Rinne no Lagrange — hence the oversight — it’s pretty darn entertaining when it goes all out on either end of the spectrum. Just looking at this episode, the action side of things continues to be a real treat, since it feels like I’m watching Macross with the impressive visuals. At the same time, it provides a level of suspense and excitement that’s noticeably different, because Aquarion is a super robot that defies both physics and logic, pulling out new over-the-top moves as the need arises like it did here with Yunoha’s ability. Up until now, we haven’t seen many Elemental abilities channeled through Aquarion, save for Zessica’s back in the premiere, so it was pretty awesome seeing Yunoha turn the legendary robot completely transparent to evade all of Jin’s attacks. That proved to be an exciting reversal of epic proportions, with Aquarion running through all the laser beams and unleashing a flurry of invisible attacks that Jin couldn’t defend against in his Radius Gunis. That was only made better with the opening theme playing in the background — a formula that I don’t think I’ll ever get sick of.

As for Yunoha herself, she’s a very cute addition to the cast and hilarious enough, is also sending Amata airborne much to Mikono and Zessica’s dismay. What that says about Amata is naturally pretty questionable, as he was fine getting all friendly with her when he thought she was a ghost but couldn’t contain himself as soon as he found out that she’s alive. (Hmm…) Anyway, I’ll let you draw your own conclusions about that. I will say that while Andy continues to get shafted much more than he deserves, it’s only a matter of time before he gets through to Mix. That’s definitely something I’m looking forward to, amidst all the “special attention” that Amata gets.

* Yunoha was added to the ending sequence, so I used the opportunity to include screen caps of all the other characters. I love the artwork.
* Full-length images: 03, 04, 05, 06, 15, 17, 30.

 

ED1.6 Sequence

ED: 「月光シンフォニア」 (Gekkou Symphonia) by AKINO & AIKI from bless4
Watch the ED!: Streaming ▼

Preview

68 Comments

  1. I was right! Well half-right anyway, Yunoha was indeed a girl but not a hot one like I predicted. A heart-attack inducing loli is fine though. I like her Element Power too since it seems kind of broken. Though I’m still sad that Gepard is still the designated jobber.

    Seeing the normally cool Zessica scared of ghosts and clinging to Amata is just too cute. I couldn’t stop laughing when Mikono saw Zessica buried on a floating Amata’s crotch. Honestly I don’t ship her with Amata (largely because I think she’s too good for him). She works better as a buddy foil to both Mikono and Amata. If the end indicates anything, she’ll probably be friends with Mikono now.

    I also really like how they are milking the “Floating Amata” gags for all its worth.

    fragb85
      1. I can understand Amata getting a hard-on for Mikono because he likes her, Zessica because who doesn’t, but Yunoha… it’s funny :3

        Loli orgasms… heavy risks, but the priiize.

        I hope Kagura gets Mikono and Amata gets Zessica. That way everyone will be happy.

        We are severely lacking the presence of Apollo though. Amata is too normal… like Jacob from Mass Effect 2.

        Suppa Tenko
      2. I disagree. While Amata might be normal by real-world standards, in Anime I think Apollo was the most cliched hero ever; he’s basically goku in a robot. I much prefer Kagura as the Apollo stand in, he takes most of the Apollo traits and wraps them in a package of pure badass. Though Amata could use some more story hooks.

        KaleRylan
  2. Didn’t they say that Amata floats when he has a strong emotion? It doesn’t means he is aroused. He was scared of the “ghost” and started floating.

    Also does Amata and Kagura has the same thorns and symbol background in the ending sequence?

    ssj4jw
    1. Yeah, that was my thought on that scene. Personally I loved the episode but that scene didn’t work for me. There was nothing particularly ‘strong’ about the scene other than maybe surprise. Given the kind of show this is, I’m sure they’ll try and play on the idea that he’s a lolicon, but this gave no evidence of that whatever.

      Why did he fly? I’m honestly not sure. Every other time it at least made sense; fear, lust, anger, but what was this supposed to be?

      KaleRylan
  3. Yunoha is just too cute both for actual looks and dat voice. Although while I’m loving every second of it now, I hope she won’t just remain so shy because that’s the basis of her power and get more used to people because it’ll probably get boring if she doesn’t change.

    I really wonder why they even use that seemingly worthless Gepard form, I hope they either show us something about it that makes it more useful or just stop using it. So far all it has is a gun that’s useless against basically everything.

    Also was there anything that showed the emotion to trigger has to be his attraction? I assumed that it just had to be a strong emotion (even if the girls will think it’s arousal every time :P) and he was just embarrassed this time.

    HakumeiJin
      1. translation and functional reality are not the same thing. While I find lolicons a little weird because of the potential implications, that does not mean that everyone that likes cute younger girls in media has deep inappropriate fantasies about real little girls, or even inappropriate fantasies about fake little girls. Maybe they just think little girls are cute.

        KaleRylan
      2. I don’t think you realise that in Japan they are exactly the same damn thing. And if you readily admit to being a lolicon, then yes, you are thinking inappropriate thoughts about little kids – and you should be prepared for other people to find that awful. Finding kids cute in a non-sexual manner is not being a lolicon. It’s being a normal person. This dude is just creepy. Can’t believe you’re apologising for him.

        Pandorakun
      3. Listen, being a lolicon and Having a guilty pleasure does not equal being a disgusting pedo, and as Divine said Ogura Yui is 16, that is one year above legal age for sexual activity in Denmark where i live

        Pellino
      4. Dude, I’ve lived in Japan, and no, they’re not the same thing, or a disturbing amount of the adult male population would qualify as pedophiles. Lolicon as it was used around me is a somewhat-disparaging term for adult men who are in to little-girl anime usually, and even though the meaning is strong, it is used primarily as hyperbole. Similar to the way someone might be called gay in the West (i’m not condoning the use of gay as an insult or a joke, I’m just saying that people use it when they know the person is not gay, they’re just exaggerating).

        The direct definition of a word is always secondary to how it is used in real action. There are all kinds of words that are used in a way that does not line up with their exact definition.

        And no, I’m not a lolicon, I’m completely indifferent to the new character and hope she doesn’t take too much air time. And I’m not apologizing for the poster, I’m assuming that the poster was not suddenly admitting to being a criminal degenerate, which is how you took it for some reason.

        KaleRylan
      5. From Wikipedia:

        “Lolicon…is a Japanese portmanteau of the phrase “Lolita complex”. In Japan, the term describes an attraction to underage girls (whether prepubescent, pubescent, or post-pubescent)or an individual with such an attraction…. The phrase is a reference to Vladimir Nabokov’s book Lolita, in which a middle-aged man becomes sexually obsessed with a twelve-year-old girl. It was first used in Japan in the 1970s and quickly became used to describe erotic dojinshi (amateur comics) portrayals of young girls.”

        tl;dr Lolita does mean to have a sexual attraction to underage girls. “Lolita” originated from a book about a man sexually obsessed about a 12-year old and the phrase was first used in ero dojinshi.

        So the formal definition of lolicon is a pedophile. However, how it’s used in contemporary society is different from it’s true meaning. For example, if someone called him/herself a lolicon in Japan it would be synonymous with a subspecies (for lack of a better word) of otaku. If someone used it here, someone else would probably call the cops.

        Moeronic
      6. Thank you, that is my exact point. The meaning and the use are not the same thing. It is used, as you said, to describe a form of otaku. Now let’s be clear, this is not a form of otaku that most people, japanese or not, proudly admit to being, but it also is not truly synonymous with being a sexual deviant in the way it is used in every day life.

        Also, let’s be honest, this character is in there to be to appeal to lolicons and people like them. If they had just wanted her to be cute, they would have gone significantly younger and kept her the hell out of the cockpit, seeing as how fusions in this anime involve spirit orgasms, which is not something a non-sexualized young girl should be shown as part of.

        KaleRylan
    1. I have no problems with lolicons, I like lolis too. I say whatever gives you a flying boner.
      When Mikono starts wearing less than Zessica (or beach ep minus Amata protects Mikono from perv friends bs) I will seriously watch this.

      jingoi
  4. I should hate this anime for making me (unintentionally) ship a loli with a hole-digging fetishist and thus is barred from entering heaven forever. However this is all just too lulzy to hate. Plus the art is so very very pwetty (especially the ending, Chinatsu at her best fantasy form since Lamento <3).

    Anyway I shall continue shipping SharadexCayenne + red ferari+ Sazanka since I'm damned already.

    Momogoldfish
  5. So I laughed, and everything. The one thing that stuck for me in this episode was the fact that Mikono couldn’t stop thinking about Kagura… though she still has feelings for Amata… Love Triangle >_>. Another big plus was to see another side of Zessica and of course see that our resident doll is actually a very cute shy girl. Well I assumed so anyways… The only thing I couldn’t get at was has no one even notice that doll before or something or the fact that it moved!!!! Also, the fact that Cayenne said that she was cute was something new, never expected to hear that out of him. All I can say, is that with Andy’s prank, he kinda missed out on a very cute girl lol.

    Btw, speaking of ending songs… that picture with the guy in the hood… that’s Andy right? or is it a character I’m totally missing. And the fact that they mention Jin is the last son of Altair? More for back story… cause who the heck is Altair and what does he have to do with the plot?

    Sora no Kaze
  6. Hmm, has no one mentioned how Jin keeps quoting lyrics from the original Aquarion’s 2nd OP theme GO TIGHT! or is it only me noticing? In this episode he says “Zettai zetsumei abisetai”. He said “Shoutai fumei no showtime” in that episode he attacked from the asteroid. Cool thing that the creators keep putting references to the original series for the people that watched it. I predict them using the first opening theme Sousei no Aquarion for the final union in the last episode.

    Sirius
  7. Is it me, or does image#11 give you an armpit fetish? Don’t you just get the urge to lick it? …it’s just me, isn’t it =0(?

    Yunoha is absolutely adorable X03! I’m thinking she’ll win over Mix in terms of compatibility with Andy, even if the shippers disagree.

    And like Sora no Kaze said, Mikono saying she can’t forget about Kagura is really starting to make me think about their connection to previous incarnations. I mean, in the original, one of the aspects that stood out was that the feelings of the original incarnations(Apollonius/Celiane) overridded the feelings of the current one(Apollo/Sylvia), despite the latter’s original disdain for one another. It’s quite possible that, assuming they are reincarnations of previous pilots, that this phenomenon will occur again. Well, it may not be as likely as the orig series, since the angle of reincarnation isn’t really being played, but if the current incarnations are implied obviously(i.e. Amata/Kagura/Zessica/Mikono are reincarnations of A-nius/Apollo/Celiane/Sylvia), then the obvious relationship pairing of Amata/Mikono could be influenced by this factor.

    frubam
  8. Hey Guys!

    I’ve been reading a majority of the ‘Reincarnation Theories’ of the Aquarion Evol characters out there and I’ve been trying to get my head around one particular thing about Mikono. If anyone has seen the OVA, in a flashback Apollonius has a pet cat looking thing just like Mikono has that pet cat thing thats always with her either in her hair or on her shoulder. Now they don’t look ENTIRELY ALIKE (I’ll need to look at that part of the OVA again)but dont you think it’s suspicious? Also look at Ep 1 of Aquarion Evol at the part where Apollon reaches out to Sylvie and has his hand on his heart and then compare it with the scene of Mikono apologising to Amata (cos she said they are useless…or something like that) she has her hair down. She looks just like Apollon (the girl version), if you notice their hairstyle is similar with the side burn parts are long (only thing is that mikono has a short fringe, but its parted the same direction as Apollon’s long fringe) and I had a close look at both their eyes! The colour is the same, only Mikono’s seem to shine more (cos she has big eyes LOL)Anyways that’s my theory take on Mikono 😀

    Ria
    1. Rena Rune (semi-human) was the reincarnation of the winged beast/cat in the first lifetime of Apollonius. She has by the looks of it reincarnation as Crea as the school director. Rena was a character I wish had more development and mobility, so seeing her in charge put’s a huge smile on my face.

      Ani_BEE
    2. The Mikono is Apollo reincarnation actually makes some sense if you look at it this way: Mikono is Apollo. Amata is Sylvia since, IIRC, Sylvia was looking for the reincarnation of Apollonius and Amata was looking for someone who would wait 12,000. Kagura would then be Toma (the shadow angel that was always after Apollo/Apollonius). This would explain why Mikono feels that she has to apologize to Kagura since Apollonius betrayed the shadow angels.

      Asta
  9. So, to get things right:

    Zessica’s Power is some kind of “Power Up”?
    Amata’s Power is Flying
    Yunoha’s power is Invisible
    Andy’s power is Earth (or finding Weak points. Perhaps he is necessary for “Critical Attacks”)
    Mikono is a stronger Version of Power Up the Mecha?

    And.. Looks like i need to know the Previous Animes, to understand this Reincarnation things.. Someone has a Wiki link?

    Germanguy
    1. Considering how Sylvie’s power is powering up Aquarion, can we assume Zessica and Mikono are both reincarnations of Sylvie?

      BTW, I don’t see how Subliminal Punch can be that effective aside from the fact that Aquarion just did a SHORYUKEN!?

      Zessica buried in Amata’s crotch while screaming “Don’t leave me” was so amusing that I actually watched it thrice!

      Ah, Amata you lolicon. You’ll fly for anyone.

      Suppa Tenko
    2. Zessica is that flaming hand so it’s something like Pierre’s from Genesis.
      Mikono’s is probably something psychic in nature like her brother and Shrade. Possibly creating a stronger gattai.

      Durifto
  10. I think Zessica is the reincarnation of Scorpius (from Sousei no Aquarion OVA) ( they both look similar…both have the hair string thing going on and both have very short hair) only difference is hair and eye colour and their gender.

    Ria
  11. This series gets better every episode.
    I support AmataXMikono, and AndyXMix. As finally developed to Yunoha, I hope to see the glasses boy, Sazanka, the girl with braids in a blue suit (I like the character design, I hope there development), and others, and also to see the powers of Mikono if she has.
    Will there be more characters in the ending, or will be alternated appearances?

    Shadow74
  12. Looks like Shrade is back in action next week from the preview.

    On another note, when are they going to show a union of Amata, Mikono and Zessica? I’ve been looking forward to it since it was implied in the OP.

    Rakkyo
    1. I too loved the way Yunoha is the opposite of what everyone expected. She is so cute and tender, I should clarify that I feel is tenderness, no excitement, like how it feels to a puppy or a stuffed animal, I’m not lolicon. I think that really should not sexualize children in the anime, it seems that promote pedophilia, and so arise laws limiting the anime and give a bad image.

      Shadow74
  13. Huh, who would have thought that Zessica was such a scaredy cat! Mikono’s feelings still continue to be vague, and Sazanka is creepy; how did she manage to get Shrade and Cayenne to sit next to each other in a randomized draw?

    Joking aside, I don’t know if I’m reading into the series too much but, I just realised what those portals connecting the two ‘world’s are called: Dimensional Gates (well, at least that’s what the subs say…).

    Loved how Omni Magnis started playing in the background (yes, I finally got around to watching the epic first season)!

    Beedle
  14. It seems that when he’s not piloting the Aquarion, Amata mops the classroom’s floor, that’s a good indicator of his current value to Neo Deava. About Amata and Zessica it was nice to have the former not behaving like a broken record and the later acting this shy, plus the total lack of drama/angst in their relationship made the fun parts damn smooth.
    And…
    Yunoha, a pile of moe when not invisible.
    Mikono, wants it all.
    Jin, the last son of Altair.
    Shrade, will die for Aquariorgasm.
    Mykage, still trolling from afar.

    Ananas
      1. Man, this series brings back memories! Granted I haven’t seen the original series since, but the over the top mecha and hijinks were really what made the series enjoyable for me. XD Hearing Omna Magni was a nice nod to the original series, though after reviewing the Sousei no Aquarion OSTs it seems like they are reusing some of the BGM too?

        mangaka-chan
  15. This episode had a great balance of the humor and action that made me fall in love with Aquarion the first time! And we even got a new element, a cute loli of all things, and a new punch for Aquarion! Makes me wonder when we’ll see the return of the Mugen Punch.

    I imagine Malloy and Sazanka will be the next elements to get focus and be added to the ending, if only because they’re both in the opening.

    And yes, compared to Aquarion Luna, its equivalent on Evol Aquarion Gepard just sucks. Off the top of my head, I’m sure Luna won at least one fight by now. I really hope the creators are aware of this, and have a plan for making Gepard either much better than it is now, or have it somehow win a fight.

    Frontier
  16. Really loving this show. At first I was rooting for AmataxMikono. But you know changing my mind here. I want them all to be happy so AmataxZessica and KaguraxMikono works more in favour.

    However funnily enough the couple I can’t wait to see inThat’s going to be such a great achievement for the guy who just has no luck with girls.

    PonPon
  17. Correct me if I’m wrong, I understand better:
    The ships that form the Aquarion called “vector x”, “vector y” and “vector z”.
    The Aquarion Guepard is formed with vector x as the head, is the only form they have always accessed before Amata, but boys and girls separated.
    The evol Aquarion is formed with vector z as the head, only accesan this form with Amata.
    The Aquarion spada is formed with vector y as the head, thus by using Shrade.
    Is there anything else that I forget, I’m wrong or not know?

    Shadow74
  18. Theres something I have noticed since I watched Episode 1, remember the symbol that is on the chest of Solar Aquarion, above the green crystal? That same symbol was on Kagura’s mech, could this imply something?

    Whatsht

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