Blue Drop / First Impressions

Summary:

After waking up in the morning to find Hagino still gone, Mari has breakfast and does her laundry with no idea what Hagino is really up to. At that time, Hagino is onboard the Novaal meeting with Master Commander Shivariel and hands over a data disk with the details of the accident. It seems that the Emil Force Drive went out of control, and the accident wiped out the crew, including Onomil. In addition, 804 local people died from the Emil Force waves, and Hagino takes responsibility for all of it. This leads to a furious Azanael pointing a gun at her, and as Shivariel has the guards take Azanael away, she accuses Hagino of killing their 200 compatriots and Onomil. Back at school, Mari finds Michiko working in the library, but Michiko gets really embarrassed when Mari approaches her. As it turns out, Michiko is writing a story, and it all stems from her having made up her own stories as a kid when her parents were busy. Mari is curious about what kinds of stories these are, but Michiko is too embarrassed to let anyone know and makes Mari promise to keep this a secret. She feels that she can only behave freely in her stories and that she’s running away from reality.

The two then go out with Akane, and while they’re walking through town, Mari notices that a lot of the stores are closed. Michiko apologizes and reveals that this place used to be busy, but Akane tells her that it’s not her fault, and the three continue on. They eventually arrive at restaurant with delicious food, and after they finish eating, Mari accidentally reveals Michiko’s story-writing secret. In return, Akane admits that she wants to become a chef, and Mari admires her and Michiko for knowing what they want to do. Their conversation is interrupted when two thugs enter the restaurant to settle something with Akane. Meanwhile, Hagino has returned to her own ship after the meeting with Shivariel, though she does also report about the person who was unaffected by the Emil Force. Shivariel is interested in Mari, so she decides to send a probe after her, and when Hagino finds out, she quickly takes off in a personal craft headed in the same direction. Mari is at that moment involved with a fight with the thugs, and she manages to get kidnapped in the process of trying to save Michiko. They take her to the docks, but it is at that time that the probe appears in the sky above them.

The probe targets Mari and captures her with its tentacle arms, but before it can do anything more to her, someone in a space suit arrives and frees her by shooting at the probe. When this person then protects her from the debris of an exploding car, Mari realizes that it is actually Hagino. After the probe explodes from the damage she inflicted on it, Hagino takes off her suit and faces Mari’s confusion and anger. Saying that she was scared, Mari surprises Hagino by hugging her. By the time Akane and Michiko arrive on the scene, Mari has regained her composure and runs happily with Hagino to rejoin her friends.

 
 
 
I gotta say, I laughed out loud when the giant phallic-shaped, tentacle-equipped robot probe showed up. Similar tentacles had appeared in the beginning of episode two, but it was a lot funnier once I saw the entire thing out in the open. More importantly though, this episode offered a lot more action than we’ve previously seen in this series, and that ended up being a positive for me since it keeps things interesting past just the heavy relationship drama up to now. Hagino saving Mari will probably the uniting event that I had been expecting to happen, though this also means that Hagino will now have to reveal everything about being an alien, and it would seem to put her at odds with the rest of her race. The preview says that another ship will attack the Blue, so we might be in for some ship vs ship action next week.

28 Comments

  9. The “nice boat” phase is a joke that started after the harem series “School Days” last month. Because the last episode was thought too violent for prime-time airing, it was censored and replaced by a program called “Nice Boat”,some footage of a yatch sailing.

    lol_matt
    Reply

  21. Well, Blue drop – Tenshi no Bokura – might qualify as H (it has pretty explicit images of both yuri and straight sex) though it’s still Shounen (published in a Shounen magazine (afaik) and it has furigana for literally all kanji).

    I thought the action sequence kinda looked kinda crappy, and Mari’s reaction (or lack thereof) to all the SF flying around (Hagino in her suit, the probe) somewhat confuses me… oh well, maybe I missed something without the subs again.
    Still, so far the best episode of the (IMO) best anime this season 😀

    Gloranor
    Reply

  25. Blue Drop continues to tell the story in a really nice way. Yes, there are enough details to criticize if I felt like it… but somehow I don’t. This is really really solid entertainment, and I’d also count it among the best shows of this season.

    Mentar
    Reply

  26. ok, as an Anchor.. The Ship needs 5 Years for a repair…. And Mari’s accident lies 5 Years in the past…

    and other so noreallyspoiler… The Bond between Hagino and Mari is here to begin…

    Germanguy
    Reply

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