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「オペレーション・アレス」 (Opera shon aresu)
“Operation: Ares”
The action-packed space battles are broadly perceived as the main attraction of Majestic Prince. But in reality, the show is also carving out its own niche as a heartfelt drama, and the latest episode was yet another beautiful display of character individuality and intellectual depth. Tamaki, in particular, was a standout this week and while her unfailing optimism was always apparent, it was not until this episode that she rose above the level of comic relief and connected with me emotionally. On the surface, she seemed like a fairly normal 15-year old – innocent, lovestruck and mostly harmless – but what makes her especially distinctive is how shamelessly she indulged in her inner goofball and there’s absolutely no pretense whatsoever in everything she says or does. Clearly, the instinct-based JURIA system is very much dependent upon the user’s mental state and it could be such naiveté that makes Tamaki exceptionally well-suited to be an AHSMB pilot. But for all her childish and cockamamie demeanors, Tamaki has proven more than once that she is a very competent soldier and the display of her raw skills was never more conspicuous during their latest mission on Mars. I don’t think anyone would question the significance of Tamaki’s role in Operation Ares – the spinning top-like maneuver that she performed with Rose 3 was quite a visual feat and it was her quick thinking that opened a pathway for Suruga to make his crucial snipe, thereby making the mission a success!
Speaking of Operation Ares, it did not turn out to be the rescue mission that I suspected last week. Instead, it was an infiltration operation that gave the show the perfect chance to further explicate on the alien’s warfare technology and perhaps more importantly, the prevailing ethos of their civilization. The stark difference of their technology to that of the humans is certainly quite jarring and it appears that the Wulgaru is leaps and bounds ahead in terms of biomechanical development – the entire capital ship is constructed with organic tissues, as a case in point! Then there’s the grand dilemma surrounding the basic rights of an evolved sentient being and the fundamental view within the Wulgaru society that completely disregards that. Their cloned soldiers are not capable of free will and function only as killing machines – nothing more or nothing less. That the Zannen 5 is suffering through an identity crisis of their own is utterly beyond doubt, and Toshikazu brought up an interesting question that compares their own intrinsic worth to that of a Wulgaru trooper. The similarities on the face of it are uncannily apt – after all, Team Rabbit themselves are genetically modified soldiers created for the sole purpose of fighting this war. But there’s also huge discrepancy in that particular notion and as Izuru appropriately pointed out, the Zannen 5 have their full intent and discretion intact – they are not robots that blindly follow orders, and their participation in this war predominantly comes at their own choice, or so it seems.
No matter what their actual role in this war is, it appears there’s at least an adult out there who cares for their well-being and the fact that Suzukaze Rin is in charge of the Godinion indicates a higher survival probability for the Zannen 5. Unlike the dopey Captain Komine, Rin has notably proven to be a more proficient leader, and her keen decision-making aptitude and the ability to keep calm under the most dire scenarios makes her the perfect fit for the job. It remains to be seen if the success of this mission could turn the tide of war around and Commander Simon seems particularly interested in the location of a certain Gate, which I presume to be the space passage that connects the alien’s planet to Earth. What comes next for the Zannen 5 is hard to say – as it always is, but it looks like Teoria and Daneel will become increasingly involved in the human’s affairs and such a development has, no question, introduced a brand new character dimension to the series – one that, I suspect, would bring Team Rabbit closer to finding their own identity!
Random tidbits:
- A mandatory ass shot for the guys and a full-length image of Daneel for my female readers – who were kind enough to make their presence known last week!
- The many faces of Tamaki was such a blast to watch – excited, ready-for-battle, Nyaa!, relieved and bouncy!
- Hideauze (aka Space Squid) spotted, exterminate all of them! – I like them better as the delicious ika shiokara.
- That’s quite a nifty trick that Daneel has over there – I would have aced all my papers in college if I could do that!
- “3D girls are a pain in the ass” – But… there’s nothing to grab onto in the 2D world. I much prefer my 3D girls, thank you!
- “Master Daneel is in danger, we ought to hurry” – Tamaki has forgotten all about Izuru and Toshikazu, what a great friend she is!
- “Who is that? Is it Master Daneel?” – Wrong, all wrong, it’s just your lovable pit crew, who was busting their butts trying to save your life!
- “What’s with all this nyaa crap!” – Kei had the best line in this episode and it had me laughing-out-loud!
tl;dr: @SeishunRC – #MajesticPrince 11: A spinning top-like maneuver that clears the path for a crucial snipe – the attention to details in Majestic Prince continues to impress, both in its action sequences and character drama! #Anime
Full-length images: 01, 02, 07, 10, 18, 31.
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I am 100% agree with the grab point lol XD. Not true, I would never be so miserable out of my mind XD.
I love this episode. Tamaki finally has more advance. But I’m still not satisfied XD. I really hope to Tamaki better growth as a character, and also all Zannen5. The next episode apparently will have more character development and nurses … (drooling) … excuse me, I lost my composure lol XD.
But we also need more Reika XD. I hope you next publication Seishun, I want to see what will be your new image links, now also had “fabulous” details lol XD. I bet you’re dying to see to Kei in nurse complete picture XD
Now I understand why Tamaki has small pigtails as cat ears – nyaa. lol XD
I’m glad you like my fancy links :3
Kei cosplaying as nurse next week – that is going to be EPIC!
why the late post Seishun?
Sorry about that, we were all busy working on the Summer Preview. Gotta manage my time better next time, still a noob writer over here. Hyakka’s coming out next 😉
Summer preview huh? Tell me you booked a blogging space for High School DxD!
Ohoho, as a matter of fact, I did! Stilts has the first call though, so I’m only getting it if he’s not interested/or too busy blogging something else :3
In any case, I’ll be blogging the two OVAs for DxD so you have that to look forward to – very soon, I promise 😉
This keeps getting better and better!
Hey Tassadar- where is your gravatar from? I like it!
I accidentally stumbled upon it on the net. She is Shiina Mashiro from Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo. This one I think is fan art.
I’m gonna get a lot of flak for saying this, but Team Mashiro Banzai \o/
Daneel!!!!!! (squealing)
Ahem, in other news, Tamaki was awesome in this episode, but I want to see more from Suruga, I feel like he’s the only one who hasn’t gotten as much development as the rest of the cast in my opinion.
I’m glad you like Daneel’s full-length, made it just for you 😉
Suruga was the character in focus of Episode 5. I hope to see more of him though :3
the next episode… #WIN
Anyone else bothered by how Tamaki might not even be able to breath in her own mech?
Great episode and great post yet again. Tamaki was indeed awesome, in all the right ways!
On another note, the whole military structure of Wulgaru, with the lower soldier classes being simply “robots” who follow orders, reminded me of both Suisei no Gargantia (Galactic Alliance) and Uchuu Senkan Yamato 2199 (Gamilas). On one end you have disposable troops that have no free will and are only supplied with enough autonomy to complete the mission, in a similar way that these guys from Yamato do:
http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/7725/k5zg.jpg
On the other hand, you have the apparently free-willed Zannen 5 who function in a similar way Ledo from Gargantia does. They are out there to obey orders but have the intelligence and freedom to choose their own actions in the end (although it took Ledo quite some time to familiarize himself with this concept; anxiously waiting for the next episode to see what he does concerning the Gargantia mission from Kugel).
My point is that sci-fi shows tend to present us with familiar concepts of “The Soldier”. They are soldier stereotypes present in the real world and will probably apply in the future world too. It might actually always come down to whether the soldier will choose to be a “robot” or not…
I could feel the jealousy coming from Kei lol.
The Hideauze said they would use that Warp Gate to spread their genes across the galaxy, but looks like the Wulgaru has been hunting them too lol.
I liked that maneuver Tamaki pulled to give Satoru his chance to snipe.Tamaki’s unit has more uses than I expected.
This episode was the second time Tamaki got a false death flag.Stop playing with the audience and stop having dinner parties with Urobutcher!
Next episode will be full of fanservice goodness. I need a shot Nurse Kei <3
The scene were Tamaki is saved from her unit was really well done. Both the musical and technical parts were intense and she was able to maintain morale high even with that level of danger and heat(not easy).
It was a great scene with that final “ugeee” and “arigato”. 😀
On another note, the chapters always manage to end with the right character with a good question mark, this time with Commander wondering about the Gate’s location. That’s a strong point of this series, the good managament of the end of every chapter and the cliffhangers.
I still find the blush.. awkward. idk. It’s just me, perhaps.
https://randomc.net/image/Ginga%20Kikoutai%20Majestic%20Prince/Ginga%20Kikoutai%20Majestic%20Prince%20-%2011%20-%20Large%2003.jpg
Note: this explains the weird bracelet both Theoria and Jiart have; its actually their source of nourishment.
Gonna point this out now but you can bet the real, hidden message to this series is the power of family. All of the protagonists have had their childhoods erased, so they don’t really know what the word “family” means. But over time they’ll eventually relearn it; through bonding with their mechanic teams.
The Wulgaru machines operate on instinct. The MJP mechs are much the same, being copied directly from their technology. However, the protagonists are incapable of exhibiting the same raw instinct the Wulgaru commanders (in particular Jiart) have. So how will they fight back? Simple: their instinct to protect their family will be stronger. So far Wulgaru family dynamics are woefully inadequate (some would say downright primitive) to an average Earth family. Since the hidden message of Majestic Prince is “family”, it’ll come back to bite the Wulgaru’s ass.
/theory
If only the Rabbit Team could switch out their pit crews! I bet Tamaki would love Ataru’s beefcake, Kei would work with Toshikazu’s “family” and Toshikazu would take Tamaki’s nerds. Izuru would be a fool to give up Reika Saionji.
guiliano calling tamaki koneko-chan is really cruel, sad, and heartwarming rolled into. cruel in that it’s like dangling food to bait an innocent kitten to follow orders. sad, because guiliano knows all too well that this is the only thing he can do to remind the kids that they are still normal teenagers and not some mindless machines. and heartwarming, cause he essentially tells the zannen 5 that he and the others in the godinion crew greatly cares for them.
oh, and i got to say that i like how this episode showed tamaki’s raw skills and fast thinking. goes to show that she isn’t just some airheaded fanservice girl.