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「(ウォー・ヘッド／humanoid secret」 (Wō Heddo)
“War Head”
It’s never a good idea to get too comfortable with what you believe is happening in Astral Ocean, because this is not a seismically stable landscape.
In some ways this episode was downright relaxed compared to the frenetic pace of the last couple, where the revelations were flying fast and furious. Even so, an awful lot still happened – and we seem to be inching ever closer to the heart of the matter. But what’s clear is that a lot of characters in this series have been either lying or operating under incorrect assumptions since the beginning, and that makes it awfully difficult to feel confident about where things stand now. Not only do we need to separate the liars from the truth-tellers, but sort out who the misguided are, too.
What is certain is that Ao is deeply troubled by the growing realization that he can’t trust any of the adults in his world. I think that all along the strand that Ao clung to was that he was doing the right thing. No matter what doubts he had about GenBleu, about the politics of his homeland, about his parents – he always believed that the Secret were a threat to innocent people (especially kids like him) everywhere, and he was doing the work of the just in doing everything he could to save them. There was an instantaneous reaction to Nakamura and the Japanese government’s assertion about the Secret being “antibodies” that it couldn’t possibly be true, that it was a ploy to sow confusion (and a successful one) – but the boy remembers the words of the astral image of his mother, “The Secrets are not your enemies”.
There’s no way of knowing whether Eureka and Nakamura meant the same thing, of course – but the notion that Ao may in fact be working for evil, not good, along with the loss (again) of his mother and the seeming betrayal from Naru has turned Ao into an insomniac, and he turns to Gazelle for sleeping pills to help him through the worst of it. Ao remains an idealist, through everything, and it seems as if his immersion into the ugliness of politics and then global intrigue is highly toxic to his nature. It’s also driving him to take more and more chances with Nirvash, which leads to him being shot down when Pied Piper go up against a humanoid Secret that’s appeared in the vicinity of a newly reawakened (more on that in a minute) Scub burst.
I don’t know what to believe about the Secret at this point, to be honest. The Japanese have hooked their pet Secret up to a supercomputer and – if they’re to be believed – been able to establish communications with it. They’re referring to it as “he” and seem quite determined to have the rest of the world believe their story about the Secret being antibodies, fighting the foreign Scub Coral. Dormant Scub bursts are reawakening all over the world, and Secret are appearing in the vicinity (it’s hinted that Truthie and Naru are involved) – and it can’t be coincidence that they’re all looking very humanoid, all of a sudden. Pippo and Han are in Kyoto investigating the Japanese findings, and Han manages to find a way to hack into the Japanese network – with the upshot being that the “Japanese” Secret itself hacks GenBleu’s systems, and proceeds to use Georg to communicate to the world. Its message seems very much in line with what the Japanese military have been saying – the Scub are foreign, and the Secret a sort of autonomous defense mechanism (the “white blood cell” analogy I used last week seems to be a pretty good fit).
Somehow, that story still rings false for me – or at the very least, incomplete. Perhaps Gazelle is right in theorizing that Eureka’s presence has caused the Scub to reawaken, as every prior appearance by her has had dramatic results (Ao refuses to believe this). The timing of all this seems too convenient for me. And what to make of the ending – where Christophe calls the US Secretary of State and announces that GenBleu has been gathering Scub quartz in the orbiting space station, in an attempt to draw all the Secret to one place and destroy them? Just like that – the mask is removed, and GenBleu revealed as the top boss? No, sorry – again – too easy, too convenient, and too early in the game. There’s more going on here than we know.
It’s also worth noting that pretty much every character in the series is clouded in shadow in some way, not least of which the brass at GenBleu – and we can’t pretend that brass are necessarily all pulling in the same direction. Stanley has been working covertly in opposition to Christophe (probably with Rebecka) and was horrified that Blanc revealed the “truth”. Mama Hannah is way, way more interested in Ao than she has any right to be, just based on what we know. Rebecka has just staged a mass health exam for the entire GenBleu staff as a pretense to get a closer look at Ao’s current physical state. We still don’t know Elena’s true identity or purpose, or how she relates to Ao and Eureka. And then there’s Chloe, who reveals that she grew up in a heavily trapar-infused area in Norway (further confirmation of just why these kids can pilot IFOs) and seems to be taking a very direct interest in Ao – though I think it’s safe to say in her case that it’s purely personal – she hasn’t forgotten the kindness he showed her, and seems to have come to view him as her big brother.
One last point about the episode – there was a line of dialogue from Hannah that really stood out, to the point where I’m sure we were supposed to take note of it. Of Ao and Eureka she said, “If his entire world can be changed by a single mother’s ego, shouldn’t all mothers side with her?” This can be taken any number of ways, but for me it’s a sure implication that Hannah knows much more about the truth of what’s happening here than she’s admitted on-screen. In any event, the sad news is we’re going to have to wait until August 16th to find out where AO goes from here, as the series is going on a two-week hiatus due to the Olympics. What a nasty time for that to happen, with the series as fully engaged as it is – it’s going to be a damn long three weeks.
Preview
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sigh 2 weeks…. though i guess olympics will be able to help me keep my mind busy while waiting for E7ao. NTR stuff is really happening to Ao bad. I keep getting the feeling that something is going to happen to/with chloe. The way they portrayed her in this ep game me a kinda bad vibe. that preview of future Eureka is so taunting….
Wow, any possible interest I could have had for the Olympics is gone now.
Anyways, good episode. Especially the secret hacking Georg made me o3o.
Now let’s hope Cloe’s *something bad is gonna happen* flag is false and Gazelle keeps putting his nose everywhere where it doesn’t belong (with permission from the top.)
Cloe will probably be fine. They wouldn’t kill off the youngest pilot…Her parents on the other had…She really shouldn’t have bought them up. Gazelle is starting to grow in me. He’s far more straight than most other guys.
I feel Gazelle (Jiro) is the Holland of AO, an extremely straight shooter and acts like a big brother to Ao Fukai Thurston.
“…is not a seismically stable landscape” is an understatement.
That being said, I’m glad that they’ve cleared up quite a few things in this episode, although that doesn’t really change much as we’re still mostly in the dark about Eureka, Ao, Truth, Naru, Renton, Secret, Generation Bleu, Big Blue World and Scub Corals.
Well, it’s to be expected in anything that has a time paradox and parallel universe twist in it, I suppose…
My biggest qualm would be that there hasn’t been enough character development and it’s all been “hurr-durr”.
Why so serious, BONES?
I think there’s only 24 episodes? BONES doesn’t have the luxury of 50 episodes this time to do character development properly.
Ao, you can’t help but feel bad for the kid. This is kinda like what Renton went through the revelation of how the world really was in the original E7, except up to 11. Chloe did raise some ominous flags like JHN mentioned and I hope nothing bad happens to Gazelle for his snooping, his character is starting to grow on me. And it looks like Eureka wants to have a word with her son, probably gonna drop another bombshell on Ao, judging by her serious expression in the preview. Overall, this was a really good episode.
The ending animation has me thinking that Ao is gonna go off on his own to see the truth for himself. He’s gonna probably leave Fleur and Elena behind so they don’t get involved and try to keep them safe.
Wow, and I thought Renton had it tough. All Ao needs is the death of a parent figure like the Beams and he’ll probably snap. The fact that they showed Eureka at the end of the preview and we have to wait an extra two weeks now seems cruel to me.
2 weeks!
WTH is the Olympics have to do with anime for E7:AO to be suspended for 2 weeks? It’s just a glorified sports fest >:(
And Eureka’s back next episode too. Sheesh.
sorry my sarcasm meter is off, i’m guessing it’s taking up the time slot that AO airs in?
Small mistake – it was Hannah that made the “mother’s ego” comment, not Rebecka.
Heh, it’s the hair – many times I mean to write one of their names, and my brain slips the other one in. I usually catch it in the proofread, thanks.
This episode wasn’t great and bad it was one of those Okay episodes. Can’t wait for the next episode since they showed Eureka in the preview. 2 weeks is a pretty damn long time !! GG
what if, the secrets are the ‘antibodies’ for this dimension? rather than their world? I think the plot could be taking a similar direction to Dr. Who’s episode where rose changes the past, and ‘Reapers’ appear to right the break in time. In this case Secrets are Reapers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father%27s_Day_(Doctor_Who)
in other words the scub that’s appeared is not just alien to that world, but alien to that entire universe, and it just happened to be on earth. it would explain why they go after Ao Eureka and Nirvash, who are all ‘foreign’ to this universe. The secrets would also not necessarily be evil or a threat, since they are trying to prevent the dimension breaking effects that likely come with inter-universal/time travel.
Wtf? A break because of the olympics? Are any other shows getting caught up in this crap?
Ginga e Kickoff for sure – there might be others.
One sub’s translation of Hannah’s line to Gazelle is, “Even if she irreversibly changed the world, all mothers in the world will still sympathize with her. Don’t you think so?” And although I think it sounds much cooler than, “If his entire world can be changed by a single mother’s ego, shouldn’t all mothers side with her,” would someone mind verifying which is a better literal translation? And by context too I suppose if that presents a different answer.
i don’t know which is a more accurate translation, but the former line makes much more sense. in terms of the mother’s need to protect their children.
Has it occurred to anyone else that the hacking was done by Truth?
Given that the secret was in the hands of the Japanese military with an all too familiar affiliation with Truth, doesn’t it make sense for him to ‘slip in’?
Why is the broadcast taking a break in Japan due to the Olympics? They’re in London. Is everyone watching that instead??
The most likely reason is that the Olympics are going take up the time slot that AO currently has.
Enzo, I’m loving your posts on this series so far. I enjoy reading your thoughts and interpretation. As a note, however, I think it was Mama Hannah rather than Rebecka who set up the physical checks and said the line about mothers siding with Eureka. Keep up the good work!
Great reviews Enzo, they really help clear up what we see every week, or at least make an already confusing whole into slightly more coherent pieces. It’s interesting that in Ao’s world, trapar keeps being mentioned as something toxic to humans in certain ways, when in E7 it was said that only thick concentrations, such as that found in enclosed caves, was dangerous. Wouldn’t Ao’s world have less trapar than Renton and Eureka’s world just based on the fact that there’s less Scub Coral present? Or is it that people born in Renton and Eureka’s world are already biologically used to so much more trapar (a good analogy is probably something like getting a booster shot as a child)? Just wondering to myself.
As to the two week break, Bones is certainly cruel to taunt us with Eureka before going off air for that long. What a look she’s giving Ao too, almost accusatory.
I think it’s safe to assume that the Secrets actually are an autonomous defense system, as well as what Eureka said about the Secrets not being their (Ao’s?) enemy. I can’t imagine how this works out, but I think we can take the conversation with the Secret as a confirmation of what the Japanese claimed in the previous episode.
On another note, I’m curious as to how the quartz plays into this. If the Secrets were after the Scub Coral because it’s foreign, then I don’t think they should stop attacking once a Scub Coral deactivates. Also, if this were the case, then the Scub Coral wouldn’t have been able to merge with the Earth in the future, as the Secrets would have stopped it. So right now I’m assuming that GenBleu is correct in that the Secrets are after the quartz, even though this is a piece of information that is likely false. Seeing as we can’t really piece together any part of this situation well, we are definitely missing some vital information.
Those are some dangerous assumptions, remembering that the only people we have to go on that the secret is hooked up and the one talking is the Japanese government, and some wires hooked up to something vaguely head shaped.
Someone else mentioned it could be Truth who’s just feeding into GenBleu so they could find out the location of the quartz… I think that’s a very real possibility.
Just think for a moment on the conversation they had. It was very direct, very nuanced, and very human. Why would an automated defense system/suicide bombing robot need such a sophisticated system to communicate? It’s trying to convince everyone that it’s the same as human white blood cells, well white blood cells don’t require the ability to carry on conversations to do it’s work and I don’t buy it would need to either.
Again, look at how well it communicates… even if Japan “taught” it to speak, and it had some means of communicating all it would be doing is translating the secret’s impulses… you’d expect it to be fairly simple, non-self aware, and very single minded. Think along the lines of “locate foreign objects, remove obstacles, destroy invaders”. Direct and non-conversational.
mark 1 is wrecked again, so what will Ao be piloting next episode? The typezero? 😮
that severed secret’s head looks awfully like Eureka’s Nirvash without his armor.
Gah. All of us side with Konata at this moment: FREAKIN SPORTS~. XD.
Buh, need to go back and watch eps 10+ to try and get a grasp on what is going on as of late @_@. It’s not something you can comprehend in a single watching.
Until Next Ep!.
Ok seriously i haven’t watched the last few eps so can somebody please tell me. Is this either a different dimension or some sort of time travel thing.
time travel
Both actually
In the final episode of E7, the Coralians said something that indicated half of them were going to travel to another dimension. In episode 12, Georg theorized that the Seven Swell effect could be a portal to other dimensions/worlds. Time travel is definitely involved as well. We see flight type IFOs in a 2025 AD and its been mentioned before AO began airing that the events in the first E7 TV series happen thousands of years in the future. There are also scenes in ep. 12, 13, and 14 of AO that further confirm time travel elements, but since you mentioned you haven’t seen last few episodes I won’t spoil them for you.
Basically, the theory is that there are mutiple worlds/dimensions that operate under the single timeline theory (meaning that if you change something the past you override future events).
3 weeks till the next eureka? Sounds like a good excuse to rewatch the original series.
When I read something like “If his entire world can be changed by a single mother’s ego, shouldn’t all mothers side with her?” I can’t help but wonder if something was lost in translation. I have no way of knowing what she really said, but this phrase stood out partly because it looks like it was poorly translated. I’m not saying it necessarily was, though – but it certainly looks that way…
Wouldn’t surprise me, considering who is translating this series.
An non-depressing Neon Genesis Evangelion? I love it!
God damn you Michael Phelps. GOD DAMN YOU!
Eureka caused it so she came back again to teach the people how to fight?
I was thinking that Ao’s sister is in the Nirvash Renton made, but it seems ridiculous, lol.
Time travel and parallel dimensions.
Possible tool to make endless sequels, side story or whatever 😛
Unless they cleanly finsh things off this time.