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「いつだって流星のように」 (Itsudatte Nagareboshi no yō ni)
“Always Like a Shooting Star”
I certainly didn’t expect Takuto and Sugata’s confrontation to turn out like this, and truthfully, I have mixed feelings about it. As I mentioned last week, I thought that the plot was setting itself up to be a Naruto-clone, and expressed my worries about how the series would turn out if it took such a route. As such, I was relieved by this week’s developments in the sense that the story avoided an over-used plot device and kept itself open for further revelations in the future. However, I have my reservations about things turning out so rosy between Takuto and Sugata, which came off as feeling like the writers were too timid to take that step and make the plot and established character dynamics do a complete 180. I was looking forward to seeing how the writers would handle the story after Sugata abonded Takuto and Wako, and i it could make the so far formulaic plot structure more interesting. Still, this story’s tendancy to do the complete opposite of what I’m expecting is its charm in a way, even if it is the series’ double-edged sword as well.
With Sugata staying on Takuto’s side for now, this leaves some unanswered questions that I don’t want glazed over. First of all, how did Sugata awaken last episode? It would have been simple enough to just pass it off as something Kiraboshi related, but with Sugata’s willingness to stay with Takuto and Wako, that seems less likely. It was stated that, without exception, anyone who used the King’s Pillar would fall into a deep sleep. I can’t imagine it was because of willpower alone, as I don’t see why any of the other Shindou family heirs wouldn’t be able to muster up enough to awaken themselves from their sleep either, especially since it seems like Sugata’s will in particular is not that strong due to his conflicting feelings of being confined to live on the island his entire life. Of course, that brings me to my next question concerning Sugata, how did he break free of Scarlet Kiss’ First Phase ability? It appears that, yet again, it was his willpower that allowed him to break free, but that’s just too cheap of a way to pass off overcoming something that, again, was supposed to be impossible to overcome. We could just ignore these details and label them as plot armor, but I’d rather have an actual concrete reason as to why Sugata was able to accomplish what generations before him were not and why he was able to break free of mind control when several others before him weren’t. Willpower just doesn’t cut it for me, and even though Star Driver is very Shounen-esque, last I checked, it wasn’t actually a Shounen.
Putting the plot holes aside for now, I must say that this week’s fight was probably the best thus far. As always, the animation and art were on point, but the movements of the robots this episode are what impressed me the most; I’ve never seen giant robots move so fluidly before. I felt like I was watching a fight from Naruto or One Piece rather than a giant robot fight. That said, the emotional value of the fight still didn’t reach me, for the same reasons I mentioned last week. Put simply, the series has not focused on Takuto and Sugata’s relationship enough to actually care what happens between them, and even though having a brofight was nice, it didn’t offer much in the way of actually feeling like they were bros. Still, I found it honorable that Sugata was testing Takuto rather than betraying him, seeing if he really had the strength to protect Wako. Of course, this brings up the question of why was Sugata testing Takuto in the first place? It could be that Sugata simply wanted reassurance in the idea that Takuto would be able to protect Wako in case he’s ever unable to be by her side. However, from my perspective, it was for “when” he leaves her side, rather than “in case” he does, otherwise I don’t see why he would be so serious while fighting against Takuto. This would suggest that there will be another plot twist and Sugata’s return to Takuto’s side will be brief, and this entire episode was a red-herring for when it happens. Should that occur, it would definitely be a better way of having Sugata leave Takuto and Wako than what was set-up last episode, as the emotional value would be quite high from riding off of the uplifting turn of events this episode.
Of course, this week wasn’t entirely about Sugata, as we got a quick glimpse of a new character, who gives off the vibes of being important to the plot, and there was some tangible development for fish girl. Even though I found it silly that Head kicked fish girl out simply because of the supposed ending to her story, it gives us even more to ponder over as a result. Number one is, of course, when will fish girl appear again and what’s the true ending to her story, as she says the “Adventure of Life Continues” at the end of this episode. I also found it interesting that Keito, Wako, fish girl, and the new girl were all put into the same bus, at the same time, with no other people around. It didn’t feel like a mere coincidence to me, especially considering that Wako and fish girl are maidens and it’s been stated that there are four maidens on the island. Considering this, I’m pressed to believe that Keito and the new girl are the other two maidens, which makes perfect sense in hindsight, as Keito has always had a particular amount of screentime out of all the other Kiraboshi heads, while having nothing actually revealed about her personal life like Watanabe. Wako, Keito, and the new girl’s collective good wishes to fish girl also seemed like a symbolic way of the other shrine maidens wishing their fellow maiden, who has escaped the confines of the island, good fortune on her journey. Putting all that plot crap aside though, the most important question is, of course, what will we do without our weekly fish song and bed time story!?
Preview
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BECAUSE I AM THE MIZ AND I’M AWESOME!
The cybody that sugata took over looks like the one in gaterkeepers. the one that kageyama was using.
I was thinking about the same thing when I saw Sugata’s Cybody.
lol my bad. gatekeepers
I really glad that the blue cybody wasn’t sugata cybody which i previously thought was based on the preview. I mean it kinda ugly/uncool for it to be the king of cybody.
So that’s why she was so happy in the cage, she loved the guy. And I really hope too she continue singing every week. Her song is just like the transformation scene in Stocking and Panty, it makes the show 100 times better.
I would had liked to see the fight between Sugata and Takuto out of zero time
just for the way how Takuto throw a punch
Would have been pretty cool to have the fight flicker in and out of zero time; Sugata throws a punch as a human and Takuto dodging it in Tauburn.
Holy shit, you’re right! Star driver fight scenes would be crap without fish girl’s battle song!
🙁
Actually, it’s a relief. It was annoying to hear her annoying song EVERY SINGLE TIME a battle starts.
I forget where I read this, but…
https://randomc.net/image/STAR%20DRIVER/STAR%20DRIVER%20Kagayaki%20no%20Takuto%20-%2008%20-%2034.jpg
EPIC BRO-FIST.
Also, I’m surprised no one said anything about the 40 second breathing scene at the end. It was pretty ridiculous but kinda realistic about the time it takes to catch your breath? haha
I said it in the shoutbox! XD
This week’s fight scene was epiccccc…. but, like Suzuku, I really really really wish they’d done a Sugata and Takuto centric episode before these last two eps. All in all though, still looking forwards to this every week.
roflol
BRO-FIST.. I gotta use that.. C:
Manliest moment in Star Driver yet. I have already lost count of how many times I watched the fight scene. I especially like part before the fight where Takuto just screams out for a challenge and Sugata just responds with a “BRING IT ON TAKUTOOOOO!” *epic battle music cues in*. Also, seeing Scarlet Kiss looking all hopeless on what to do with her precious mecha and Sugata-kun out of her control was quite a pleasure to watch ;D(What was that bitch thinking? Trying to tame the King? Yea, that’s right no one can tame the King >:D).
“Put simply, the series has not focused on Takuto and Sugata’s relationship enough to actually care what happens between them, and even though having a brofight was nice, it didn’t offer much in the way of actually feeling like they were bros.”
They definitely weren’t close buddies and won’t be soon yet. But, I guess this fight simpy marks the beginning of their friendship. It’s one of those shounen moments where two dudes duke it out and become friends afterwards(which I have also witnessed in real life lol).
I wonder if Fish Girl going to continue to sing her song back in the mainland. People would find her weird if she just started to sing randomly at a checkout stand at some grocery store.
Even though she gave Head some moral of the story it doesn’t mean life for Sam ends right there so the adventures moving through life will always continue.So Adventure of Life Continues…
A whole two minutes of panting. DOHOHO
I LOL’d at that scene! I’m also going to use it as my new dreamscene wallpaper.
Epicness…….
Hope they top this ep…
I’ve seen SeaSlugs sub faster. /troll
The subs for this ep have been out for days now…
I thought Wako was last remaining maiden to be captured… I’m probably wrong.
No, there are 3 more. Wako prevents them from leaving Zero Time, so she’s the biggest priority at the moment.
The reason that Sugata wasn’t affected by pink hair’s first phase is due to him not being able to love anyone, except Wako.
ok that really a weird reason, at least for me.
I’m tempted to think that the maiden “seals” are their virginity. That would make sense as to why Keito wanted to pair up Takuto and Wako. Also, how the fish girl seems to love the Head may have led to the “unsealing” of the first seal.
I want MOAR FISH GIRL ):
/wrist
/wrist
lol at 40 sec breath catching…
and bro-fist tells you, please use genuine materials… counter-fake will perish before the awesomeness of bro-fist… 😀
Fish girl… you will be remembered… and we need more fish girl BGM…
we will miss fish girl, her story and her song, I think/hope that she will still play an important point…
I really like keito, she actually seems to care about the other characters and doesnt really seem interested in being the leader or fighting takuto
*heavy breathing* Haah..haah hah …Haah Haah Hah… Haah Haah Hah…. Haah haah Hah X20!!!!!
HAHAHAHAHA!! i seriously thought those dudes were gonna kiss at the end of that!
i agree with yall, this episode bumped it up a notch..IN THAT BUS SCENE i got excited cuz i thought that other goddesses were converging or something..but in the end after the dust settled WE’RE all still STUCK with BORING ASS WAKO……..DIE!
The motions of the Cybodies were impressive but I really expected something flashy from this fight. I also really found it hard to care simply because the villains are much more interesting than Sugata. Obviously the past two or three episodes tried to fix this and he did get some development (such as the maids being ordered to kill him if he leaves) but at the end this is all stuff that could have been introduced earlier. The same problems as Occult Academy I suppose. Definitely sad to see the maiden, her song and her story leave so abruptly.
I liked what you said:Keito, Wako, fish girl, and the new girl were all put into the same bus, at the same time, with no other people around
“but I’d rather have an actual concrete reason as to why Sugata was able to accomplish what generations before him were not and why he was able to break free of mind control when several others before him weren’t.”
It could be Sugata’s own First Phase. Although I’m not sure whether a First Phase is related to the Cybody you’re linked to, or if it’s unique to yourself. If it’s the former, then yeah, it wouldn’t make sense how the previous generations weren’t able to break free.
My hunch about if you have to ignore willpower to break everything perhaps it could have something to do with breaking the fish girl’s seal, or something that the cybody world feels endangered. But on a shounen topic maybe it has something to do with Takuto, I am very curious of how coincidental that Takuto and Sugata have the same birth date.
I’ll just let the series play out being predictable sometimes ruins the fun =(
Show Spoiler ▼
suzuku you ask to many questions, you dont even know if these will be answered later and your already calling them plot holes, just enjoy the show man, anyways I kinda saw Sugata breaking out of the kisses power to be not just sugatas will power but him wanting badly to fight/test Takuto
It was said in one episode that the scarlet kiss only works in people that haven’t found true love yet, so obviously he loves Wako so it really didn’t work.
You whine and bitch when you think the story is going one way and don’t like it, then you whine and bitch when it does something different from what you thought. Why are you even watching this show? You clearly don’t like it and aren’t paying any attention to it.
And then it causes people like Blah to whine and bitch about the whining and bitching of a BLOG.
OH THE INJUSTICE OF THE WORLD
/sarcasm
I liked the episode, it wasn’t like Naruto or it’s repetitive and hopeless story. So why is everyone so let down by this episode?
Hi, Suzuku, I’m a long time reader, but first time post.
I simply want to mention two things.
1. Sugata needs this mood change. He has not used the power of the King before two episodes ago, or his while life of 17 or 18 years until now. Now that he does, he needs to act like the King. The power grows on him.
2. The fish girl story is symbolic, but not foreshadowing. Salmon is Takuto, the King is Sugata, the blood of the octopus (or squid?) is the power from the Phases, the fish girl is the maiden (miko), and so on. The mystery maiden with sky-blue hair is simply handing her job to the other maidens (Wako can sing, by the way, one episode featured her song, before the gigantic-bot appears in Zero Time, so here you go). She has been telling the story as it is.
I hope both mentalities make sense (the change of Sugata’s, and the fish girl), and fit the plot. I don’t find it necessary to over-analyze both.
By the way, the screenwright for this anime, Yōji Enokido, had written “Shojo Revolation Utena” as well, so I guess if we go back to that anime, then these all make sense… Hope this helps the younger generation who didn’t enjoy those great works of the last century.
😉