「時空金魚 < 前編>」 (Jikū Kingyo – Zenpen)
“Temporal Goldfish (Prologue)”

That was the most abrupt psuedo-villain turn around I have ever seen.

I think all of us have been expecting Anna’s choice to stick with the girls to happen quite soon, and most of us probably predicted that that change of heart would happen, as these things usually do, right at the moment of truth. Not quite as many of us were expecting that moment to last something like two whole minutes.

I’m aware we’re pressed for time here, with only two more episodes to go from here on out, but this, at least, felt like poor writing in the works. If you’re going to build up to this moment, as the last two episodes have been doing almost far too much with all the exposition on Anna’s guilt, you might as well give it a good go on the drama-carousel and work the turn for all its worth. To be honest, I don’t even think the show needed to see Anna pretend to be on Roberto’s side, even if only for the whole of a minute or two; we all knew she was going to pick the Ferrari girls, and it would have felt better if from the start she had simply told Roberto she had changed her mind. It just felt far too abrupt with her trying to force herself onto the other side, especially when she knew already what Roberto was going to do. It was supposed to be a moment of self-denial, but really, it just didn’t quite work, and it makes all that build-up, already somewhat overbearing, come crashing down like a little girl from a thunderstorm. Which, you know, is the second half of the episode, so there you go.

I actually preferred the second half, and not necessarily because it was better territory for the show. I have a couple of simple reasons. Firstly, I’m a dork for historical fiction (which, ironically, is why I jumped on board this season) and science fiction, which, of course, is exactly what happens when little Hozuki Ferrari finds herself time travelling/jumping/warping to Galileo Galilei the bishounen himself. Secondly, there is quite a lot of beautiful landscape art in this episode, and it is quite refreshing to look at after all the snow we’ve seen all season which is, of course, the point. As far as interactions go between Hozuki and her ancestor, however, there’s not too much to point out. They are, of course, pretty similar; they’re engineers, and lovers of science, and they get along pretty well, though I don’t think Galileo understands he’s talking to his ancestor from several hundred years in the future. It’s also become clear that Hozuki’s goldfish hourglass has been sending things back to the past this entire time, and whatever that bodes for the last two episodes, it’s likely to become the key to saving her world from the energy deficiency and the encroaching glacial maximum.

Note: Apologies for the delay, I’ve caught a cold right after finishing a final paper this week, and I’ve been suffering with a pretty terrible migraine since yesterday. I also want to give advance notice that I will not be able to post the finale of Galilei Donna on time in two weeks due to the fact that I will be having finals on Thursday and Friday of that week, and will be busy moving out of my dorm on Saturday. It’s likely the post will be up around this time Saturday night, as I’ll try to get to it as soon as possible. I’m sorry for the wait, but thank you so much for your understanding!

22 Comments

    1. Thanks so much, Dualash, but even so, I do have a job to do, and I will do my best. I’ll make sure to take care though, it means a lot. ;_; Unfortunately blogging is a time-sensitive job, so we’ve gotta do our best to respect all you lovely readers to get these things out in a good timeframe. I already splurged on an extra night of rest, so I’ll make sure to finish up before sleeping for the night. Thank you so much for your concern though, it’s really nice of you! ^-^

  1. Hmmm was the person to whom Galileo wrote on the sketches none other than Hocchibi?
    And if there would be a romance, does ancestor from before half millenium count as incest? 😛
    As for the Anna, she probably was trying to get on Roberto’s good side in order to influence him into sparing the sisters. Which, of course failed considering that for all his talk about saving the world he is ruthless white-collar criminal. He probably intends to monopolize the new energy source to drive his firm’s profits even higher, hence sisters for him are just a security risk for the secret of new energy.

    ewok40k
  2. Anna’s case is indeed poor.
    I was expecting something else. I wouldn’t say necessarily dramatic or surprising, because I expect it. but I thought it would more..intense.
    maybe it’ll be when you-know-who returns.
    speaking about it..I am pretty amazed that GD entered that this corner just like that. since I am expecting steins;gate movie (this 13th Friday Muhahahaha mad-scientist) I couldn’t think about it other than..time travel?and what the **** is that mean?the great Galileo Galilei (fine,the bishounen) is somehow developed feelings toward his descendant (considering the looks and love memo he left in the sketches)it’s just…doesn’t feel right.
    I don’t know if Hozuki will find her way out (most likely she will, with possible scenario of saving the two kids from before – Karen and Theo).

    we have two very weird series in noitamina in terms of plot. both are pretty crazy in that matter. and of course I am talking about GD and Samurai flamenco. sure, they are both different in essence and performance. but you can’t deny…both are kinda crazy in course of events.
    I am afraid in GD’s case it isn’t going so well, unlike samumenco.

    p.s
    rest assured and don’t mind us. finish your exams properly (good luck!) and I wish you’ll get better asap!

    thedarktower
  3. Well, in the OP or was it ED?, we see the Goldfish traveling trough the Space. But seems somehow, they drop this kind of Direction

    Do we get some “Simoun” ending? Where the Present Couple, was the Ancestors in the Past? but here, she travels much more in the Past. How they are supposed to save the Future Energy Crisis? It can be lost with the Time

    You know “Simoun”? i even made a OVA, so i know the Anime

    Germanguy
    1. Well, for me Galilei Donna, lost the Direction in the Middle of the Series.

      First we get the Bond raising within the Sisters, then we got the Cruel World around the Sisters, and now we get some Timejumping with the Sisters. Perhaps it turn out that She is the Ancestor Mother of Galilei Family…

      Well, to much change of Chief cooks destroyed the Meal

      Germanguy
  4. I like historical fiction, too, but I guess there’s a danger in knowing too much history…. Like, the kind of chart Galileo showed Hozuki of the frequency and intensity of the mysterious cloud formations wasn’t invented for a couple of centuries (the whole idea of graphs was originated by Descartes — which is why they’re called “Cartesian coordinates”, and first published a few years before Galileo’s death; statistical graphs of the sort Galileo had pinned to his wall were invented by William Playfair around 1800).

    The flying machine makes me wonder if the original idea for the series was “Davinci Donna” which morphed into “Galileo Girls” for some reason (like the fact that Davinci had no descendents). Yes, the charts and all would be even stranger in Davinci’s time, but…. it’s Davinci we’re talking about.

    I’m guessing that something happened in Galileo’s time that set the world on its path toward global cooling. I wonder if Hozuki will recognize it before she leaves, and perhaps change things.

  5. This show has been pretty middling all season, and with this episode feels like it has completely jumped off the deep end. The sudden time shift, Galileo’s simple acceptance of a girl falling from a portal in the sky (with apparently no probing questions as to who Hozuki is or where/when she came from), and the extremely poorly written about-face from Anna all push GD towards the ‘poor’ category.

    I had some hopes for this show but it’s slowly corroded every aspect of them, from individual characterizations to now the overall storyline. I’ll stick out the last few episodes for some closure, but consider me disappointed.

    Monks
  6. “don’t think Galileo understands he’s talking to his ancestor from several hundred years in the future.”

    Descendant you meant. 🙂

    Now I need to go back and watch the last 5 episodes I have to catch up with! xD

    Kah
  7. slight observation: didn’t hozuki say she built the galileo from a blueprint in the attic? aka the one she herself just wrote in the past? time-loop. wondering if everything else related to the tesoro will be set in motion by hozuki rather than galilei

    mw91

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