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「オペレーション・ヘヴンズ•ゲート」 (Operēshon Hevunzu Gēto )
“Operation: Heaven’s Gate”
By now, we should all have figured this out – the word “action-packed” hardly does the show any justice! What we saw and what we have experienced were the essence of a mecha porn at its very finest – a striking feat that Majestic Prince has made it seemed way too easy. This episode had just about everything to keep me on the edge my seat – great character drama, political bickering, sweet saccharine revenge, and of course, adrenaline-pumping action sequences! The attention to detail continues to impress, both in its mecha conception and in the battle choreography of its big set pieces! Evidently, Majestic Prince is leaving the best for the last – Red 5, the poster child of its mecha goodness, was completely absent from this episode. But make no mistake about it – the thrills and exhilarations were most definitely alive and kicking, and we have the Godinion and the rest of the AHSMB to hold the fort in Izuru’s stead. Blue 1 and Gold 4, in particular, were a standout in this respect – the former showcased a brand new set of weaponry that look somewhat similar to a curling blade, while the latter, combining its sniping capability with that of the Godinion’s fire power, dealt a severe blow to the Wulgaru by taking out Lutier! Clearly, the wide array of mecha and action is front and center in the spotlight – but let us not forget, the character side of the equation is just as fascinating and Majestic Prince has surely delivered on this front with flair and excellence!
Our expectations have been toyed with more than once and the show has certainly racked up more than its fair share of bombshells! A chockfull of death flags were featured early and throughout – it’s hard to figure out when and if we should take any of them to heart, but such a facet has surely made this episode all the more intense, ablaze with both anxiety and exultation! Any one of the vanguard trio, Toshikazu, Tamaki or Ange, could have kicked the bucket easily – Operation Heaven’s Gate was fraught with peril right from the get-go and the death flags were most certainly running rampant! Fortunately enough, none of them has met an unfortunate fate just yet – they’ve been dealt a tough hand but as always, Team Rabbit was able to improvise and emerge from this ordeal stronger than before. Their performance in the battlefield was nothing short of stellar – every one of them had their moment in the limelight, but there were two who made an especially strong impression. First, there’s Toshikazu who has proven once again that he’s just as capable of a pilot as Izuru, and second, we have Tamaki, our favorite bumbling airhead, who has embarked on a quest for revenge! Toshikazu’s steadfast devotion for both his comrades and his mission is utterly beyond doubt – but there’s also a sense that he’s making it a point to prove his own worth, finally putting his self-doubt behind him and moving forward with conviction. Toshikazu was the one pilot who succeeded at launching the marker into the Portal Gate, and he was able to put up a good fight against Lutier as well – with his very own trance-like power-up, no less! “We have to succeed no matter what, for Izuru and for Earth” – Toshikazu is more than just Izuru’s backup and his many accomplishments pretty much speak for themselves, both as a team leader and as an AHSMB pilot!
Not to be overshadowed by Toshikazu, Tamaki has also made her mark in this episode and she was certainly quite a badass! Tamaki has always been portrayed as a bona fide baka, a simpleton who doesn’t think before she acts – but little did we know, she also has a spitfire-like persona in her, a Tamaki that is both vehemently incensed and determined! It’s payback time – Lutier, the Wulgaru General who killed Patrick in cold blood, is an obvious target for revenge and it’s hardly a surprise that her advent would send Tamaki on a warpath! The ensuing showdown was quite a majestic spectacle to say the least – it was a roller-coaster ride of frenzy, from the mad chase, the sneak attacks, right down to the massive snipe that eventually took out Lutier! Lutier’s demise is surely a huge win for the humans – but it remains to be seen how Team Rabbit can make it out of the latest tribulation alive. The vanguard trio has been completely surrounded by the Wulgaru fleet – and to make matters worse, the Wulgaru’s Portal Gate appears to be undamaged, even after it received a direct hit from the Straggle Laser. Energy-based attacks have been rendered useless and the humans would need to find an alternative to destroy the gate – presumably, that’s where Izuru and his Red 5 come into the picture. Izuru is a game-changer who can turn the tide around for the humans and he’s most certainly not going to sit still, not when his friends are in grave peril! Then there’s Jiart who, of course, remains the most fascinating element in the mix – his eyes are fixated squarely on the pilot of Red 5 and as soon as Izuru makes a sortie, he is for sure going to follow suit. The imminent clash between those two is bound to resurface very soon, and Teoria, who is both Jiart’s sister and Izuru’s genetic parent, is going to find herself right at the middle of this conflict – a circumstance that is, no doubt, extremely dicey and precarious!
Random tidbits:
- It looks like Toshikazu might just have his very own trance-like power-up – It’s not quite similar to that of Izuru’s or Ange’s, he remains relatively calm and composed, no sign of any personality flip-flop or a berserker!
- The comparison with the SEED factor in Gundam SEED is almost certain – unwarranted but inevitable!
- The “awakened” Blue 1 looks pretty darn awesome – but not nearly as grand and as majestic as Red 5! It has a pretty fascinating set of new weaponry as well, one that looks somewhat similar to a curling blade!
- Kei’s strategic advice was crucial in this battle, but her screen time was somewhat limited – I’m still hoping for a hand-in-hand happily-ever-after ending. Make it happen!
- “Douzo, douzo, please have some tea” – Izuru is tied up on a leash, just like a dog! I’m sure there are some onee sama’s out there who would gladly make him their pet.
- “I brought rice balls for everyone!” – Gotta fill up your tummy! You can’t fight on an empty stomach.
- “I like something low on calories and I don’t like natto!” – Rin Rin’s a pretty picky eater! I love natto, just had it for breakfast two days ago!
- “Shiokara Power!” – Tamaki’s pretty badass is her very own right and she doesn’t even need any form of power-up!
tl;dr: @SeishunRC – #MajesticPrince 22: Mecha porn, mecha porn and more mecha porn – the word “action-packed” hardly does the show any justice! #Anime
Full-length images: 02, 04, 17, 19, 20, 30, 35, 36.
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The end of the episode had me going “Noo…no more death flags!”
But, yeah…great episode. =D
Death flags everywhere! Make it stop >.<
end of this episode-Shit Just Got Real
Indeed. Please please please let me have my happily-ever-after ending =X
Loved their teamwork to bring down Lutier! It really was a group effort for the 4 of them. Though it is really shows how strong the wulgaru are to only be taken downdown
by 4 fighters…
Dat cliffhanger. Can’t wait to see how it goes!
Four? Don’t you mean five? Don’t forget Kei, her support role was critical in this battle
Smart and beautiful, Kei’s the whole package :3
Oh darn, I’m ashamed to admit but I did totally forget about Kei there. Maybe because she didn’t have that much screentime this episode?
But yeah, She totally deserves all the credit she gets from you and the rest. Both for the battle part and for the smart & beautiful part. 😀
Also, sorry my first post turned kinda messy. I blame the laggy internet on my mobile 🙁
Maybe it because there is no actions with Izuru, but this episode seems to me are little “lazy”. You know, then you see super-good action scenes, then you see “normal” action scenes and think: “They begin getting lazy on animation”. Especially scene there team rabbit finally kill Luthiel. In past (and especially in actions with Izuru) you can almost feel: it’s combat, it’s war, but here it’s feels unnatural. I can’t place my finger on whats wrong, but sure others can tell the same. Maybe it’s slowing of action-combat pace or what they used the same sequence before and after opening… Nevertheless good episode, team rabbit is surrounded, laser attack failed and seems earth in deep hole. I am sure in next Episode Teoria man here mech and will head into battle to help team rabbit. Can’t wait to see her dialog with Jiart and Garukie. And after that it’s sure Izuru’s time to shine.
I think the problem was with Lutier here. She did little damage here and died without much resistance once tied up. I believe the lacking feeling comes more from her being the opponent and offering little resistance if you compare it to Jiart or Kleinm Not from the animation, but from the script. Just my thinking.
Now I think you are right. Lutiel almost resigned to her fate without too much fight, her death or more precisely how she died very dissapointed. Besides she didn’t get in melee with anyone and melee combat in majestic prince in most awesome in all anime I have seen, so it no wonder it’s disappointing. But still good episode, I just hope they don’t drop quality further, but rise it even further.
Interesting observation – I didn’t feel that way, not one bit. There were so many death flags and it was very intense. “Please don’t die, please don’t die” – that’s what I keep telling myself while I was watching this episode =X
It’s true what there is death flags everywhere in episode, but I didn’t feel all what trill here because main heroes don’t die (only in the end if thats the case) till end of plot (name me one if you can, I’d like to watch it). Then team doberman scouted the gate – THAT’S was thrill, they there no main characters so they death was quite are shock. Death flag don’t trill me, something unexpected – yes. Not saying its good or bad, everyone have they own tastes, so yours opinion are interesting
Remember, the enemy’s gate is down! Couldn’t help but think that. Anyway, excellent episode showcasing the rest of the fail five, they’ve come quite far since the beginning! Looking forward to the next episode to see what happens next.
+1 for Ender’s Game reference.
Can’t wait to see how this show ends, it’s epic.
I honestly barely noticed Blue 1’s “awakening”, I just figured it was another weapon that Toshi didn’t use yet, because man does Blue 1 have a lot of weapons. It just wasn’t as big as Izuru’s.
Same here. I thought it was more like a moment of clarity and perhaps somewhat of a prelude to the true “awakening” of Blue 1 that is yet to come. In any case, I had been wondering for the longest time if those spirals on his unit had any functionality! Nice to see that the warmachines in this series are so detailed in their designs, packed from head to toe with weapons, even in their default load-outs. 🙂
You could be right, who knows. Blue 1 is all lit up, it sure as hell look like an “awakening” to me. I’m watching the episode in slow motion – to make screen caps and full lenghts – the way I read that scene could have been slightly different from yours :3
In hindsight, the show has made it a point that the Wulgaru have tech that can deflect laser-attacks…
You mean the EDF operation failed spectacularly? What a shock!
No way they could win that easily, especially since Izuru hasn’t gone into the field yet. Not much to say about this episode, its just one really awesome battle. Its great to see how the Fail Five(Four?) have grown more competent even without Izuru with them though.
Despite the lukewarm reception MJP gets I will say this: Studio Orange(the one in charge of the CG) needs more work. Along with a great action choreographer, they can work wonders. They’ve been saying in their blog how hard at work they are for the finale so expect something epic in the next few episodes.
MJP’s actually doing pretty okay commercially, BD sales has averaged about 4k and it should be a profitable project for the studios.
I’m definitely keeping my fingers crossed for a second season :3
I don’t think anybody from the Zannen 5 will die until they show their complete awakened state. From what I saw, Toshizaku was starting to awake but it got stopped thanks to the intervention from his comrades.
I’m still calm they can’t die because they haven’t awakened, no matter how many death flags they claim. In shows like Gash Bell, characters were usually standing a death’s doorstep when they unleashed their most magnificient spell. So I like to think true main characters can only die when they have shown their all, and even there, there’s room for survival.
I hope nobody dies, awakened or not-awakened 😡
really liked how asagi managed to awaken his unit without fanfare. and tamaki is just simply badass adorable.
also have to laugh at them taking the whole “purring a leash on izuru” metaphor too literally. very clever.
though i must say that this episode is indeed a bit slower than i expected. and with just two episodes left and the pace they are going, i can’t help but wonder. who knows, maybe that rumor of the producers considering a second season isn’t just that and that they already have that possible season two on the way. lets see how they would end this.
His unit isn’t “awakened”. He just used the new weapons added onto his mecha. If you compare his mecha to the previous episode, it’s still the same exact one. None of them other than Izuru has awakened their mecha and I doubt they will. Their mecha were given redesigns already so they are less likely to be given an awakened form. The only one out of the Zannen 5 likely to do so is only Asagi while the others might in the Second Season (They’re contemplating on it currently).
I like to think he has partially “awakened” – but who knows, you could be right :3
Would you like to have an Izuru as a pet? He would make such a great otouto :3
wow, with some mamy death flags, for a moment I think that somebody was going to emerge from the gate, cath the marker and kill blue one =0
Let’s hope the death flags are all a “troll” 😡
nah. we thought death flags was just a troll for the dobermans, and they left us depressed afterwards (very well done actually).
Episode 23 is out
There was Deaths, but of the unknown Gun-fodder Soldiers in their Ships.
The Final? has still all Ends Open. Me Likes. me likes Cliffhanger, too
And this Anime here, was hard for me in the Start. it took me 5 Episodes to be a fan, and i am not regret it 🙂
and please, or more i hope, that we dont get a Tragic Star Trek “reboot” version of the father of Kirk… If you saw the Movie, you know what happen to him…
Just hope that the Autopilot function to the end…
oh and 1 Important thing about Human Nature…
Will Humanity acknowledge Toeria’s Work for them, or will the Humanity racism overcome them, and MJP has to protect them of Revenge Wild Human factions?
This is a Key Scene. Please take thoughts into this. even Claymore (Manga) is working on that (i hope. Protecting the only City that can save the Claymore trainees Children)
Fun letdown for those who believe there was a Gargantia reference…