Break Blade / First Impressions / OVA/Movie

「凶刃ノ痕」 (Kyoujin no Ato)
“Scar from an Assassin’s Dagger”

The conclusion of the second movie with Rygart about to abandon Hodr and Sigyn to their fates was pretty emotional for me, and really touching when he decided to go against his father’s advice to try and save his friends, so it’s been a pretty grueling wait for this third movie. It was incredibly sad seeing both Hodr and Sigyn say goodbye to Rygart knowing very well that it was going to be the last time they see him before they’re executed, and even sadder considering that Sigyn still has feelings for Rygart that he had no intention of reciprocating. Thankfully, he stayed to do what he can as the only person who could ever stop Hodr and Zess from fighting, and from that moment on, I was completely captivated by every aspect of this movie series. The characters, the Golems, the fantasy world, all of it.

While each movie is relatively short, spanning about the length of two episodes, there doesn’t appear to be any shortage of powerful scenes within that time frame. The battles between Golems always seem to deliver in that regard, and watching Rygart plow down Argath in his newly-armored Delphine set the tone for the rest of the movie. It was pretty intense watching his fight with Zess unfold, and I really thought for a moment that Rygart was going to kill his friend right there and then. I could really sense Cleo’s tearful explosion of rage shortly after, as she plunged right into Baldr’s forces with very little concern for herself. Then there was Elekt hesitantly abandoning her to save Zess, which made it really hard not to feel for them even when they are the ones invading. If there’s one thing that this series has done really well, it’s showing both sides of the story and how there really are no winners in war. Knowing what I do about both sides and how friends are fighting one another, I’d go as far as saying it’s been nothing but tragic thus far.

In hopes of seeing an end to it, I was curious about the direction the story would’ve taken if Zess was captured instead of Cleo. I gather nothing would have been resolved any quicker, but it would’ve been interesting to see Zess’ reaction to Krisna’s surrender conditions. I highly doubt he would be okay with them, that’s for sure. What I can’t foresee is what he would do in light of them, especially when his older brother Loquis (Hashi Takaya) is the Secretary of War for Athens and the one pushing for the invasion of Krisna with the secretive motive of securing their quartz mines. I suspect that eye-opening revelation will come to Zess at some point, after which he’ll probably try to do something about it within Athens. It’s probably still too early for that development though.

In his place, Cleo has proven to be a really unique character who’s able to hold back against her enemies, even after both Lee and Argath were killed. Sigyn’s attempt to reach out to her and prevent her from committing suicide didn’t go any smoother than I was expecting, so watching their precarious conversation was riveting in its own way. However, Cleo’s been made out to someone who’s been misguided by all the twisted history she’s been taught, suggesting that she may come around and try to put a stop to the war. She’s definitely shown quite a bit of depth to her character, beyond the amazing body she has for a 12 year-old, much to Rygart and just about everyone else’s disbelief. If there’s one thing that I wanted her to learn, it’s that Rygart, Hodr, and Sigyn are good friends with Zess, which she sort of did from Rygart’s talk with Hodr’s owl, Graham.

I’d imagine things will only get uglier from hereon in, now that the seemingly kind but actually ruthless Borcuse (Nakai Kazuya) has been pardoned for his war crimes so that he can put an end to this war quickly. On Krisna’s side is Baldr’s son Girge (Toriumi Kousuke), who’s also been pardoned for a yet to be revealed heinous crime, and been tasked to pilot Cleo’s captured Golem. The more honorable Io, whom Borcuse’s daughter Leda (Sasaki Nozomi) loves, will likely have to keep his commander in check, while Rygart gets the equally difficult task of killing Girge if he does anything suspicious. Internal and external conflicts abound. Luckily, I don’t have to wait very long this time, with the fourth movie slated for DVD/BD release later this month on February 25th.

* Sigyn’s body proportions are much more believable as a 25 year-old.

 

Preview

54 Comments

  2. Nothings fair in war, but that’s to it. Most of the time, war is glorified as we only see the side of one group. Heck even though Gundam attempts to do this, they fail because the antagonist has some twisted ideal which everyone can’t stand. Here the reason for war is justified, to keep one’s way of life. Though I believe we can all agree that there are the mad ones which make the situation worse, it’s nice to see that there is one on both sides. Now the problem is that there will be a lot of unneccessary death if these two people take pleasure when they get out of control.

    Shadiic
    Reply

    1. Gundam attempts to show this from a completely different perspective. Most of the invader usually try to take other country because they lack resources that they need for their citizens life(whether it is basic resources like food and space, or resource to defend themselves like in this one), basically they take what other needs because the supply available is not enough. On the world of Gundam on the other hand, this problem is already solved since they have a unlimited space to live(colony) and resources(self-supplied). The reason for war in Gundam is usually discrimination and ideology, things which should have been easily solved through discussion, but somehow in real life also always occur.

      I never thought the enemy in UC Gundam(they somehow manage to make the enemy in later AU Gundam completely psychotic XD) to be evil, they just can’t stand discrimination and try to realize their ideal, so I think both Gundam and this series is a good portrayal of war.

      Sorry for the long comment XD

      aiueo123
      Reply

      1. There ain’t no enemy in Gundam. The Principality of Zeon fights for the freedom of oppressed spacenoids, while the Federation tries to repel Zeon’s way of doing that: destroying the Federation government. There ain’t no right or wrong in UC, partly why its the best. Down with SEED and its black/white morality!

        ImpetusVenti
        Reply

      2. Zeons leader was compared to Hitler in the show itself that makes that argument invalid. Unicorn episode has Banager point out the reason why Spacenoids like him wont join Neo Zeon’s cause. They are too damn crazy and fanatical. Crossbone Gundam showed resources are actually finite in the colonies that even air is rationed.

        Here Athens it seems has taken its fail economic model from the Soviet Union. It focused so much on the military that its economy is bound to collapse. War is after all robberry on the national level. The old man in Zess team points out what is being taught in school nowadays wasn’t written in his time. Suggesting rewriting history for propaganda purposes. We will see Athen’s even has a Ubermensche and Untermensch mentality. Zess and Lee hasn’t figured out yet their country is a bastard to others.

        ReddyRedWolf
        Reply

      3. I don’t think Zeon’s leader is the same as Hitler(heck, if they can be compared to Hitler, the earthling who target spacenoid like Titan should be called the same). The winner of the war always get to write the history, and more often than not, they disregard the original ideal behind their enemy and brand them as evil or fanatic. For example, in this anime, if Krishna could won the war, the history will said that Athens people are a bunch of barbaric people that only things of invading other, while Athens already planted the idea in their young ones that Khrisna’s citizens are just a bunch of barbarian that loves to kill brutally so their citizens wouldn’t have any guilty conscience taking Khrisna’s resources and land. In Gundam world, Char’s ideal wasn’t to eradicate all earthling, but to make earth inhabitable so all the people can evolve to the next level by moving to space.

        We see during Z gundam how nasty can the Earthlings and Titans can be to the spacenoid while the earthling is actually afraid the spacenoid will take their resource and “invade” them economically. I’m not saying that waging war is the right way to do this, waging war is never the right thing to do, but it’s understandable why some of the oppressed people would want to break free and make the earthling taste the same thing as them.

        Back to this anime though, I don’t think Athens runs out of source only from waging war. Energy resources is always a problem, even in real life(some theory said that US invade Middle East to secure oil resources, but let’s not stray further from the main point). And BB world, they use quartz from making golem even into small task like light source in household. For country that lack natural resources in their territory, how can they survive without invading other country(or making them surrender their resources willingly)?

        aiueo123
        Reply

  3. This Ova getting better every episode, CLEO with SEED mode was awesome she can disable 5 golems without injure the pilots. Somehow i completely agree with rygart how can be her body so HOT when her age just 12???

    Tama
    Reply

  8. They should release each movie every month like Katanagatari.
    Since this is a mecha series I’m missing explosions.
    With Rygart’s Delphine being a relic from the highly advanced past, -think Turn A-, they should have excavated some old tech weaponry that it can use to blow things up.

    Hagiri
    Reply

    1. I wouldn’t really compare it to the Turn-A, Turn-A is pretty much a god gundam since you can destroy most of the solar system with only one attack whereas the Delphine can only operate at full power for a few minutes and it doesn’t have any weapons of mass destruction built-in.

      Ayle
      Reply

  11. Another excellent Break Blade movie. There is just so much to love about this series. From it’s realistic portrayal of war to it’s exciting and suspenseful golem battles. Even that characters are interesting.

    One thing that many series about war or mecha suffer from is a a blatent black and white showing of good guys vs bad guys. For example, in the recent Gundam series there is Celestial Being vs ALaws, the 3 ships vs ZAFT/Federation, etc etc. In reality war is not nearly so simple. Opposing countries fight for their own reasons, and they all have their own beliefs and citizens. The people of Athens love their country, and they believe they are fighting a just war. The people of Kirsna like wise believe that a militant country is invading unprovoked.

    Both the pilots of the invading side and the defenders are protrayed to be realistic human characters. Borcous may be a ruthless bastard who defiles his enemies, but that’s not because he’s some psychotic mad man. He’s become jaded from experience in countless battles and believes ruthlessness to be the best way to defeat his enemies. He’s a father who genuinely loves his daughter too. If it was say, Gundam, we’d get “LOLOOL I HAZ TO RULE THE WORLDZ FOR TEH GOOD OF HUMANITY!!!” On the other hand, even some of Krisna’s Golem pilots aren’t fully righteous. For example, Grige may be the most skilled pilot in the whole damn world, but that’s not going to be very helpful for the country if he kills all his allies.

    Another plus of Break Blade is the exciting battle scenes. The fights actually have a sense of tension and suspense. In some Gundam series the over powered Gundams and their one sided beat downs completely ruin this. For example, seeing Strike Freedom go LOLOL I HEAD SHOT THE WHOLE ENEMY ARMY may be cool the first time around, but it’s just boring to watch over and over again. You might as well be observing a video game for all that happens. But in Break Blade, the limit capabilities of the Golems forces the pilots to bring them to their maximum potential. Pilots maneuver to get into range, formations and traps are set,and the fights can go either way. When the warriors clash you can see a match of skills and tactics playing out. Finally, the normal soldiers actually mean something in battle like real life, instead of just being “mooks” for the LULZ OVERPOWERED MAIN CHARS to shoot down.

    That being said, I can’t wait to finally see Girge into action. His fights show some serious piloting skill. It’s absolutely amazing what he can do with just a gun and an Artemis.

    FlameStrike
    Reply

    1. Athen’s using the propaganda machine along with brain washing means they know their aggression is wrong. Its leaders just want their people as ignorant stooges. Hodr would’ve gladly surrendered to avoid bloodshed but having his wife killed along with him in the conditions of Athens is unacceptable.

      Zess keeps going the conditions are acceptable. What he doesn’t know he was lied to. It his own brother directing this war of aggression. Lee believes what is taught during her training that the enemy are monsters not knowing those were lies.

      Borcuse is the man Athens relies on to take the villain role. And he is a villain committing war crimes.

      ReddyRedWolf
      Reply

      2. It’s not like propaganda is 100% evil either. I’m not supporting propaganda, but in WWI the US openly depicted the Germans as savage Huns, in WWII the Japs were likewise demonized. The Japs themselves portrayed the US as the demons. Propaganda is a common tactic used by both sides of a war to motivate the citizenry into fighting blindly for their cause. Zess realizes this. However, it can have some very unfortunate side effects though.

        The surrender conditions regarding the execution of the Royal family were kept out of “official” documents. The reason Zess doesn’t know about it is not because he was specifically lied to, but because the messenger personally told those conditions to the King. It wasn’t put on paper.

        FlameStrike
        Reply

  12. Yeah the wait between episode 2 and 3 was almost unbearable lol. I’m really hoping Cleo and Zess learn the truth about what’s really going on but i’m guessing that, with the next battle coming up so soon, there won’t be any time to explain it to Cleo and Zess will most likely be back at Athens unless Elekt joins up with Borcuse. It looked like Zess may have lost an arm though which could possibly mean he won’t be piloting any Golems or at least not be able to pilot them the way he used to which also means that I won’t be seeing a Rygart and Zess super golem team later on. I really wish I could watch this in 1080 because this anime looks AMAZING! My comp can only handle 720 which is still pretty good but I really wanna see the 1080 version. One day i’ll get me a new comp with better everything and the first thing i’ll do is re-watch the entire series in true HD. That day will be glorious!

    Justa_Dream
    Reply

  15. Rygart is a freaking Beast in his armored Delphine!
    Every episode continues to impress; the characters, plot, great cast, not to mention all the nice golem action.
    I can’t wait for the next installment, especially with Toriumi Kousuke joining the cast (Yuri Lowell from Tales of Vesperia).

    P0NCH
    Reply

  16. OKAY WTF 12YRS OLD!?!?!?! Rygart had the right thoughts! What the HELL did Athens do to her body!??!!? D8<

    [Comment]
    Right now, I'm rewatching the first season of Sengoku Basara so I can just roll into the second season and find the movie too. After listening to so much of Yukimura ♥ [Hoshi, Souichirou], I instantly became a bigger fan of Rygart. Also, I’m a big fan of Narvi now too! ♥

    Baldr: “We would like to hear your thoughts on this matter.”
    True: “…”

    Narvi: “-insert epic verbal military dodge-”
    True: “WELL SAID, NARVI LET’S GTFO!” >8]

    I LOL’d so hard. xD

    Shirt
    Reply

  17. There is always black and white in the world. No matter how much someone tries to cover it up, a side is wrong ang other side is right. It doesn´t mean they are wrong in their ideology, it could just be wrong in their methods or actions.

    This is what makes war what really is: chaos and bloodshed. It´s useless try to find a winner, there isn´t any because all parts crumble under the whieght of wasted lifes.

    haseo0408
    Reply

  19. How are they going to finish this with 6 OVA, They are going to leave all of us viewer in a major clifthanger I tell you, luckily I still got the manga to keep me going or else there be hell.

    After watching and reading break blade for so long my one and only complain is their WEAPONS, they look so old and crappy, the sword look so rusted and fragile like its goner break in one stroke, their guns look like a bb or air gun, shooting platic pellets.
    Everything else is good, storyline, plot, character and mech design all good, except the crappy looking weapons.

    arixx
    Reply

    1. I get what you say, and agree with you to a point…

      …but to me it’s actually kind of refreshing to see a mecha series (especially after the Gundam00) that doesn’t have super massive beam cannons that destroy 50 random suits all the time. While the weapons seem puny, their “old fashion” feel goes with the whole setting and plot of Break Blade IMO. Rather than the weapons/mechs, the focus is on the individual pilots to a much greater extent. That’s what draws me back to this OVA series.

      PhoenixBurning3
      Reply

    1. I’m 12, and what is this!?

      Honestly…there has to be some believable backstory as to why Cleo’s that mature for her age, both mentally and physically, or else I feel like this is some joke played by the story director :3.

      Zanibas
      Reply

  26. https://randomc.net/2011/02/08/break-blade-03/comment-page-1/#comment-634992

    Dude Gihren Zabi was called a Hitler wannabee by his own father. You didn’t watch MS Gundam did you? Zeon killed 2.8 billion Spacenoids on Side 2 just to terrify the Federation with a blitz. Their whole Newtype ideology is comparable to Friedrich Nietzsche’s the Unbermensch. The whole evolution to Newtype by Spacenoids never happens, for the simple fact it is just a mutation of a few. Char’s logic in Char’s Counterattack of dropping Axis so humanity will evolve going to space while destroying Earth’s surface so it can recover from humanity is utterly moronic.

    Gundam Z climax was about a civil war between factions within the Federation, Titans and AEUG. With Neo Zeon emerging the winner at the sidelines. Gundam ZZ was about ending Haman Karn’s Neo Zeon. Both iterations of Neo Zeon showed fanaticism and tyranny that even repelled Spacenoids like Banager,Gundam Unicorn, abhor. Both Neo Zeon groups committed colony drops on Earth. The first Neo Zeon was successful wiping out Dublin. The original Principality of Zeon committed colony drops killing billions in MS Gundam.

    “Back to this anime though, I don’t think Athens runs out of source only from waging war. Energy resources is always a problem, even in real life(some theory said that US invade Middle East to secure oil resources, but let’s not stray further from the main point). And BB world, they use quartz from making golem even into small task like light source in household. For country that lack natural resources in their territory, how can they survive without invading other country(or making them surrender their resources willingly)?”

    It is called trade. Even the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany traded with each other for a time. Plus Athens would have to scale back on spending their resources on the military. Golems and its weapons are made out of Quartz. The Soviet economy collapsed because it overspent on the military and weapons. The same thing is happening to Athens.

    ReddyRedWolf
    Reply

  27. THANKS fo covering this D! not much development BUT good Action! i like the whole “natural resource” angle…..lets see how it plays out, cuz lord knows i probably wont be alive to see how IT plays out in REAL LIFE.

    BROOKLYN otaku
    Reply

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