「巨大な城艦は希望になるか」 (Kyodai na Fune wa Kibou ni Naru ka)
“Does a Huge Ship Bring Hope?”

Back Arrow may still be in intro territory for the moment, yet episodes like this show that likely won’t be lasting for much longer. After all, when you throw big giant floating mecha ships at the audience and couple it with some poignant foreshadowing regarding other worldly actors, well, best know this happy go lucky cowboy adventure is anything but.

Given the experience which comes from the likes of TTGL, KLK, and even Franxx, colour me not surprised in the slightest that the literal cliffhanger turned into yet another useable war machine. While I honestly have no specific idea what to make of the Granedger right now, the implication is obvious: Ringarindo is not the entire world, something clearly lies beyond it, and the latest example of mecha Wunderwaffen will provide the means to discover all the answers. At this stage the only question is how this thing and its new crew are getting to space, because you damn well know that’s coming in the not too distant future.

Outside of the mecha charm though, there wasn’t really much to take home this time. Besides Shuu Bi setting up to be a potential turncoat alongside maybe Kai (Shuu Bi’s curiosity and his and Kai’s past pretty much guarantee some form of shifting allegiances later on) and the fun that comes from Ren’s secretive crush being made obvious, we got the usual buildup needed to bring Essha village and Back Arrow properly together. Or in other words, indulging in rapid fire emotional swings, major bamboozling, and more western flavoured cheese than you can swing a mouse at. Nothing really spectacular, however, at this stage I would take note of the doctor; when the guy himself is only a recent addition to an isolated village shown earlier to reject outsiders out of necessity, best consider he’s not there entirely out of the goodness of his own heart. There’s simply too much unknown and too much power at stake for our current crop of protagonists to all be good boys and girls.

While I don’t know if I’ll continue blogging Back Arrow (that’s a future Pancakes problem), this show will definitely be one which won’t hit its stride until later on. Whether or not the results will be worth the price of admission is anyone’s guess, but you can be sure something major is waiting under the surface for those willing to invest the time.

 

Preview

11 Comments

  1. I thought this episode was beyond stupid. I can’t believe that out of the entire village, there was only one sane person in Atlee. The rest of them all trusted someone who threatened to kill them all and wasn’t even the least bit sorry about it.

    Vance
    1. You’re far from the only one, it was a cliche setup and rushed at that. I would argue something like this was necessary to tie Essha village and Back Arrow together (it’s the ubiquitous start of the adventure moment), but it definitely could’ve been written and handled better. Hopefully what comes next is an improvement.

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