First Impressions / Sidonia no Kishi

「能力」 (Noryoku)
“Ability”

It’s not an episode of Sidonia without twists and turns, and this week ends up with even more than usual—just not in a form we’re accustomed to seeing. I should’ve expected some tentacle porn at some point given the nature of the Gauna, but oh man, was I caught off guard this time around. Surprise seems to be the name of the game here though, and perhaps the greatest highlight ends up not so much the combat ability of Tsumugi but the fabulous interactions between her, Izana, and Tanikaze. Even the most serious of series need some de-escalation before the next climax, and I certainly had quite a bit of laughs at Izana’s expense this time around. It’s just too bad for her that she’ll likely have to get used to it, because there’s certainly no way Tanikaze’s going to stop visiting anytime soon.

That said, it looks like there is a group of people that won’t need any visits anytime soon though, and it looks like that’ll be the “Immortal” Council. It’s still up for debate whether or not they’re actually dead given their immortal nature, but I certainly wouldn’t put that capability beyond that of the combined might of Kobayashi + Ochiai, especially if it might just be their bodies that are immortal. Either way, a pre-emptive strike tends to be the best course of action more often than not, and it’s clear that the Captain outmaneuvered the Council here—just in time to boot. As a result, there won’t be any change in leadership anytime soon, but one does wonder if there comes a point where Ochiai might end up putting a nematode in her too, though I suspect the obvious effect on the capabilities of the afflicted persons could be the one thing that ensures her survival as an intact individual. It makes you wonder though, does she know that Kunato’s no longer who he claims to be?

Looking forward, it’s questions galore on the part of virtually every party on the Sidonia. Can Tsumugi be trusted in the long term? Alternatively, can the Sidonia not afford to rely on her abilities? Will Kunato/Ochiai use his position to further his gains in the future regardless of any potential harm to the Sidonia itself? Did the Council have any backup plans in case Kobayashi tried to take things into her own hands? What can Kobayashi do with Ochiai’s research? And at what point would you stop given the major risks in dealing with Gauna-related tech?

There are many answers that the Sidonia crew need to find out sooner rather than later, but it’s interesting to note that for now, things are actually looking up in regards to our group’s ability to survive a Gauna attack. The successful retrieval of the entirety of Ochiai’s research only helps in the short term, and it looks like that might just be the catalyst for the series’ namesake: Daikyuu Wakusei Seneki. Loosely translated as the Battle for Planet Nine, I wouldn’t be surprised if this temporary edge held by humanity is to be used as an offensive tool in the near future, and there are no words to express how important a flip this would be considering how humanity’s been essentially losing all along. One just hopes the prejudice, inability to accept/trust Tsumugi on the part of some of the crew, and the internal mechanization and politics don’t unravel things before they truly land a significant victory. That, or one’s aversion to tentacles…

Author’s Note: Please tag any and all spoilers relating to the manga.

 

Preview

33 Comments

  2. If you remember from season1 the good Captain already had plans for the council! Kunato too was curious as to what was going on underground!

    Tsugumi in anime color is truly done nice!

    I also like the backgrounds / visuals / and yes the battles !

    Oh Tsugumi im Berserk mode ripping into the Gauna! Then wanting to be friends !

    I have one small rant ! There is so much to cover from the manga !

    It’s going to a wild trip through space!

    15FAN
    Reply

      1. Well, the immortal council WAS going to ‘get rid of’ our beloved Captain Kobayashi due to her allowing Chimeras being made again (among other questionable decisions ie. our MC…)

        info600
        Reply

    2. How? No matter if she is a Giant Tentacle Alien Hybrid Bioweapon, if She’s cute, then she is.

      Because CUTENESS IS JUSTICE

      After all, look! How many moe traits she got:
      [X] Monster Girl
      [X] Loli
      [X] Tall Girl
      [X] Giant
      [X] Tentacles
      [X] Tail

      Appearance Wise:
      [X] Gothic Lolita
      [X] One Eye Covered
      [X] Glasses
      [X] High Heels
      [X] Mask

      So many on a single character! Even Tsuruuchi approves.

      kittyraider
      Reply

  6. Tsumugi-chan on stage! XD.
    Few words to describe the thrill of seeing this great heroine (and size literally lol XD). Tsumugi is my favorite girl, and as a character is curious and funny. The best action, comedy and romance scenes are to come.

    How I wish that some comedy scenes from the manga that were passed in the first season were done now, it would be great and would fill the space for the season.

    Shadow74
    Reply

  8. The council is probably dead. Once they can’t get Sidonian medical treatment or the immortality drug they are gone. Destroy the brain, stick em into a slug for a heavy mass cannon and lob them into space. No one will even notice them missing, the price for being a secret.

    It always bothered me that Kunato industries never seemed to be into bio-engineering yet the heir to the family who is guarding Ochiai’s auxiliary brain starts acting more dickish than usual and creates a chimera so rapidly. No one is suspicious? Really? No one says, “Hey, didn’t Ochiai do this kind of stuff a while back?”

    https://randomc.net/image/Sidonia%20no%20Kishi/Sidonia%20no%20Kishi%20Daikyuu%20Wakusei%20Seneki%20-%2002%20-%20Large%2031.jpg
    Finally, take a moment to appreciate the best girl. Cute has been the bread and butter for studios like Kyoani for almost a decade now. It’s easy to do cute when the subject naturally possesses a potential for cute eg. schoolgirls. Mugimugi is a tentacled war machine. Yet she is not only superbly moe, she is also quite well written with a decent amount of depth. She is probably the most personable character Nihei has ever created.

    celebrinen
    Reply

    1. I think Kobayashi at least is smart enough to notice that Kunato is acting differently and that Ochiai might be involved somehow, she isn’t that stupid, but i also think she will confront him now and is playing along until she figures out what’s going on .. basically she is playing it safe to get as much benefits out of him before confronting him, it might be a battle of minds (and tiny cyborgs) between the two after the Immortal council is out of the way (damn, that was fast, i expected them to last longer this season .. so much for being the “immortals”, lols XD).

      Hunter-Wolf
      Reply

  9. I don’t know if I should be praising anime’s interpretation of Tsumugi’s intro chapter, or dare to blast the show with the lack of new mechs (from last week).

    But really, her entrance into the story was VERY well done. It should cover Sidonia for the time being…

    info600
    Reply

  11. It is a Pity, that all these Undead Community vote against the Captain. No one was support her. i wished someone would take her side or stay out of this, that would now take some workload of her. Now she is the Highest Command Rank on this entire Colony Ship. You can feel the pressure on her Shoulders for all Lifes now? Not only fill the space of Military section of taken care of Gauna, no now she must shoulder now the daily stuff of Sidonia citizens… Lucky that she found a competent Vice-commander, the fresh one on the Bridge, that will ease her Military Part, and the ex-Vice Commander that can act independent direct on the Frontline. Workload sharing as it best, even if they could life now very Long. They still has 2 Hands and feets
    I love these First Person Cockpits shoots. It gives you a feeling to be inside the Cockpit guiding this Mecha yourself (VR Helm Morpheus/Occulus Rift). I hope they do not forget to add from time to time such Shoots, it let us Grow Stronger with the Anime. A bit inside, instate only Watching

    WorldwideDepp
    Reply

  12. At to the Future of Sidonia:

    As i wrote in the past, the First VIP Member of Sidonia is not the Captain. it is the Doctor. She is the only one, that can give their Bodies eternal Life. Or she did share her Wisdom with Time, in case if she die, that her fellows can create an Clone and transfer her Brain into it. That is Eternal Life in Sidonia. Something like GITS. it is the Brain, just that the body is an Artificial grown Clone, with fast growing Body cell drugs. As long the Brain is intact, and they can grown a Clone in the right time. They can transfer the Brain into the New Clone Body. Thats the Secret behind the Immortal Council, too. But looks like he aimed for the Brain, so no recovery is possible. There is no such think as Brain Copy Database

    WorldwideDepp
    Reply

  13. At the moment I see four philosophies regarding the future of human-gauna relations on sidonia.

    1. The pacifists. They believe it is possible to escape the gauna’s attention if we flee and disarm. They believe it is Sidonia’s combat capability that attracts the Gauna’s hostility.

    2. Tanikaze. We will aggressively defend ourselves against the gauna however we will not needlessly provoke them or engage in an extermination campaign.

    3. Kobayashi. Humans and gauna are completely incompatible. Exterminating the gauna is the only way humanity can continue to exist. Therefore any and all sacrifices or risks to achieve that are acceptable because the alternative is extinction.

    4. Ochiai. A select few can through science be evolved into something that makes the Gauna threat irrelevant. Everyone and everything else is expendable or useful raw materials.

    At the moment 2,3 and 4 are compatible given the current state of sidonia but I expect after a while the incompatibilities in these philosophies are going to generate a lot of conflict in the future.

    lesterf1020
    Reply

  15. Oh damn… I can’t really put a finger on it but… I find Tsumugi… REALLY CUTE!!!

    Especially her tentacles! Her voice is also so sweet. Damn Ochiai outdid himself with his creation.

    It’s good that he allowed Tanikaze to talk to Tsumugi. Tanikaze will surely influence her so much. And Tanikaze is really in love with Hoshijiro. I’m pretty sure he already knew that a part of Hoshijiro is in Tsumugi but just keeps it to himself.

    I hope Ochiai makes a human sized clone/double of Tsumugi so she can go out of his lab and ‘play’ more.

    We need more Tsumugi scenes!

    Reikakou
    Reply

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