ZEGAPAIN – 07

Summary:
In the Zegapain world, Kyo confirms for himself that what Shizuno told him is true by trying to make everything disappear like last time. However, the ruins of the city in front of him remain. Aboard the Oceanus, Shima, Minato, Chris, and Arque are having a conference with Commander Isola of the Dovarlka. She’s not too happy that Chris and Arque have joined the Oceanus, but she accepts it since the two have made up their mind. In the hanger, Fosetta notices that Kyo is looking down, so she changes into her doctor’s uniform for him. Kyo remembers back when he was aboard the Altair with Shizuno, when he realized that he was really dead and that all that’s left of him now is data. He thanks Fosetta for worrying about him, but he’s resigned to not having a real body.
Back in the server world, Ryoko catches Kyo about to leave for school. She sees how unenergetic he is and wonders if something happened with Shizuno. In class, Kyo questions why he’s studying if he’s not real. When he isn’t at the pool after school, Kawaguchi, Ushio, and Hayase assume that he’s given up on the swim club. In front of Ryoko, they wonder if it’s because of a girl – Shizuno. On the way home, Ryoko runs into Shizuno feeding a cat. She confides that Kyo has been acting weird and asks if Kyo perhaps confessed to Shizuno. Shizuno confirms it, but says that it wasn’t Kyo who confessed – instead it was her by saying that she loved him. Actually, Shizuno passes what she just said off as a joke. When she asks Ryoko how she feels about Kyo, Ryoko replies that they’re only childhood friends. Shizuno admits that there really are things troubling Kyo, but that she can’t do anything about them. Before she leaves, she suggests that maybe Ryoko can help Kyo.
To raise Kyo’s spirits, Ryoko decides to invite him to the aquarium on a date. Meanwhile, in the Zegapain world, Chris and Arque have scouted out a large enemy transport ship. Shima decides to send out the Zegatank as support, but not the Altair. Chris and Arque power up the Zegapain Hraesvelg and commence their attack. Back in the server world, Kyo acts really excited to be at the aquarium. But when he’s alone, he stares silently at the fish tank, thinking about how everything is fake, yet no one knows anything. He wonders if he’s really Sogoru Kyo and if he’s really here. Ryoko rejoins him, but she notices something in his expression through her camera after she hits him for teasing her. The battle in the Zegapain world continues on, with the transport putting out a fleet of small ships to combat the Hraesvelg. Chris and Arque have little trouble handling the enemies, but they do happen to get hit. Arque’s right eye starts reacting – or rather, the hole that’s where her eye should be starts emitting green sparkles, causing her pain. Onboard the Zegatank, Lu Sheng and May-Yu decide to join in the fight. Arque’s suffering intensifies, but she urges Chris to continue fighting. The enemy transport ends up getting away and Arque’s condition becomes so bad that Chris requests that the Oceanus give them an emergency transport out.
After leaving the aquarium, Kyo thanks Ryoko for bringing him and getting him into a better mood. However, Ryoko calls him a liar because she knows that he was only pretending to have fun. When he tries to protest, she says that although her eyes can be deceived, her camera cannot. She wants him to tell her what’s bothering him because it’s painful to watch him be so troubled. Touched by her feelings, Kyo hugs Ryoko. He asks her if she’s really alive, if he’s really alive here in front of her. Ryoko pushes him away, and aims her camera at his face again. Kyo says that he’s not lying, that he really… Before he can finish his sentence (which would have completed a love confession), she once again says that he’s lying, since she can tell with her camera. Ryoko asks Kyo to go home first because she forgot something. Struggling to hold in her tears, she runs back into the aquarium. Kyo thinks to himself that what he did was unbelievable.

No big revelations this week, but we can’t get those every episode I suppose. This was more of a showcase of Kyo’s own struggles, along with some quality Ryoko screen time. But like Kyo, I’m having a hard time placing her role in this, since she’s not real and not even able to go to the Zegapain world (as far as we’ve seen anyway).
The most interesting part of the episode was probably Arque’s right eye, which appears to be not there. Perhaps she’s incomplete data of the person she used to be?
Next week, Kyo and May-Yu get paired together to pilot a Zegapain.