First Impressions / Super Robot Wars OG

「誘う鬼火」 (Izanau Onibi)
“Luring Will-O’-The-Wisp”

Even with the foreshadowing on Daitetsu’s inevitable fate and the fact that I knew it was coming, it had a lot more impact than I imagined. I got a little choked up during the final send-off, especially when Kyousuke showed up in his bruised and battered state to pay his respects. It was more than enough to overshadow Excellen’s fate with the Einst anyway. After all, seeing Alfimi brainwash her with a kiss was more fan-service than anything else, even though it did set things up nicely for the latter half when Kyousuke was frantic about saving her. It doesn’t look like he’ll be able to do so anytime soon, so in that sense, the extra build-up towards that moment was appreciated.

After a bit more backstory on Sophia Nate (Doi Mika), I like the direction the story’s taking with our heroes finally taking the initiative by investigating the Earth Cradle, where Archibald, Feff, and Setme have been manipulating lives and pulling the strings from the background. It feels like they’ve been strung along all this time after Grusman seized power of the Earth Federation, so it’s refreshing to see all of them, as well as Yuuki and Carla, decide for themselves on what to do next. However, I was surprised to see Shuu Shirakawa (Koyasu Takehito) show up, and be in the same room as Masaki no less. If there’s any reason to believe that the Hagane, Kurogane, and Hiryuu Custom crews won’t proceed sabotage-free from now on, he would be it. There was no sight of his Granzon, but Axel of all people comes back in style with his repaired Soulgain, complete with his “Dark Knight” theme. That had to be for fans of the game though, since it’s clearly losing sight of who the good guys are in the story.

There wasn’t too much else to take away from the rest of this intermission-type episode, where everyone on the Earth Federation and Inspector/Shadow Mirror sides recomposed themselves and decided on where to go from here. The next episode is a different story though, as it’s finally addressing the Choukijin we saw all the way back in episode two. In hindsight, it sort of makes sense to have them show up again now, after the Einst have established their presence with dominating numbers. In any case, Bullet and Kusuha are due for a Grungust upgrade, namely RyuKoOh seen in the opening sequence and its alternate form, KoRyuOh. Robot upgrades are always the highlight stages in the games, much like they’ve been in this adaptation, so it should be fun to watch.

 

Preview

37 Comments

  1. Yay for Alfimi’s lesbian kiss! Considering who she is based on, it shouldn’t be a surprise.

    Also, who’s bright idea was it to send Masaki on patrol? He was lucky to have come across Shu, otherwise he would end up on another continent.

    fragb85
    Reply

  2. For a series that focuses more on the action vs the story/characters, the Daitetsu funeral was nicely done.

    I also liked that little “interaction” between Kyosuke and Beowulf (though I would have preferred it to be a bit longer). He went a little bit out-of-character in his “where’s excellen” moment though; IIRC he was a bit more calm / composed in the game.

    Finally, Soulgain in all it’s awesome glory. Too bad it was a tad too short.

    paulrenzo
    Reply

    1. I’m sorry, Kyosuke and Beowulf? I’m not sure what you mean, ‘cuz Beowulf IS Kyosuke – albeit an Einst-infected evil psychopath version – in Axel’s home dimension (See the Ep1 prologue)

      lemonfanboy
      Reply

  3. I got a little choked at the salute scene. Well done. Also it reallly makes me tingle when I see the tiger growling. Ahhh memories of Voltron. Here him roar and you’re all gonna burn! Awesomeness.

    Breedo
    Reply

  7. Looks like I can miss Star Driver this week – in thirty seconds, Shu’s brought my weekly dose of FABULOUS!

    Not long to go after this before things really kick off (as if they haven’t already), but IIRC the major factions are all in place now. I think there will be one more episode focused on The School/Machinery Children [and hopefully I don’t have to say why], but after that we can look forward to the Earth Fed suits pounding all manner of human aliens back into their own galaxy/time/dimension.

    I’m also a little surprised that nobody has mentioned the Rein Weiss you must have spotted in the preview …

    J Jay
    Reply

      4. I said strongest IN STORY. Gameplay mechanics don’t count, since we could argue forever as to how Gundams could pierce the AT fields of an Angel or some other crap. I don’t even like the Granzon, still the canon text explicitly shows what it can do.

        And there are still several Banpresto Originals that can surpass the Granzon. They just haven’t appeared in OG yet.

        fragb85
        Reply

  9. I feel that writing out Lee’s involvement in Langley ruins a minor-but-well-handled subplot in OG2, that being Tetsuya’s character development. Now…it’ll just feel…weird and forced. Plus that means that Lee is still alive and I vehemently DESPISE any universe where that jerk is alive.

    Thrudgelmir
    Reply

    1. Granted they turned his general jackassery waaaaay down here, but unlike Axel, I think there’s just too much bad blood around Lee for people to not want to see him get a Bad End.

      Shiden
      Reply

  10. When watching this episode, tears isn’t the only liquid that got out of my body if you know what I mean, maaaaan that kiss… , and Shu, and then Soulgain with dark knight playing, holy crap. They sure know how to please fans, that can’t be said enough.
    And yeah the Rein is in the preview, and chokijin too. We were all impatient for them.
    The most shocking things for me there was the kiss, and that person talking to Kyosuke in his sleep that seems to be Beowulf. They may have changed some things, but only chronologically and all, it’s the first time they do something completely new.I hope they know what they’re doing.

    Rockmanshii
    Reply

    2. Well Akira Ishida, who voices Mekibos, also voices all three of Arado’s psycho-evil-clones.
      But to answer your question, no, I doubt it.
      And Shu is just badass. Just him BEING THERE gives the episode an instant +20 Badass

      lemonfanboy
      Reply

  12. I agree that writing out the Lee Linjun subplot after more than a bit of hinting at Lee’s dissatisfaction is disappointing. We even had some hinting at the relationship between Tetsuya and Lee when the Hagane first rescued the Shirogane, but evidently that was all homage and no action.

    the_one092001
    Reply

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