Knights of Sidonia

[Kraco]

Episode 5 - Underwater



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Even without a battle, this was quite an interesting episode. Tanikaze really cares for Tsumugi, but I guess he cares for all of his friends. His personality is otherwise pretty thin, but that makes sense considering he grew up alone doing nothing but scavenged food and sitting in a simulator fighting gauna. Gotta say Izana suddenly got a real boon out of the blue. A bit strange Yuhata didn't try to exploit the situation, but perhaps she's right now far too busy to notice Tanikaze was getting kicked out of the dorm. They didn't show much in the bath scene, but it would be hard to think Izana wasn't behaving like a girl there. She's definitely going down that path. Other than spending lots of time with Tanikaze she hasn't been too proactive. I hope the artificial arm and leg won't make her feel unsure of herself and withdraw.

The preview looked a bit ominous, but truth to be told, any scene with Ochiai-Kunato is ominious. You never know what a mad scientist could be planning.

[shinta|hikari]

Didn't you see those multi-fingers? Unsure of herself? You've gotta be kidding me.

[MFauli]

That made noooooooooooo sense at all. I mean, sure, it´s nice to push yourself to readyness for duty, but given the choice between some mechanical prothesis or regrowing a fully natural body, who would choose the former?! Granted, their technology seemed to be extremely futuristic and responsive, but still ...
My guess is that it is a way to power up Izana. Wouldn´t surprise me if these protheses enable super human strength and, of course, immunity to heat, cold and maybe acids - all of which could become relevant in some sort of emergency situation.

Otherwise boring episode. And for some reasons, I find this "cute" substitute of Tsumugi way grosser than her real pseudo-Gardes body.

[kmkze04]

I'm enjoying that this season is putting some effort into more comedic relief, though my favorite relief scene was definitely the Izana/Lala scene where she ends up dangling out a window in S1.
I'm still thinking Nagate doesn't see anything in Izana, to him she's more a he. His relationship with Tsumugi was hinted at but finally more or less voiced in this episode... Tsumugi is essentially Hoshijiro to his mind whether or not he consciously sees it. Which correct me if I'm wrong Kunato (or Ochiai, not sure whose actual DNA got input) injected basically his cells into Gauna Hoshijiro and out popped Tsumugi or G-Hoshijiro was morphed into Tsumugi with the addition of new DNA, beats me how Gauna childbearing works... either way, some portion of Hoshijiro is present in Tsumugi, which is also evident in her attraction to Nagate. I wouldn't be surprised if the creepy placenta tentacle reaching scenes from S1 with G-Hoshijiro repeat themselves at some point with Tsumugi. Actually wouldn't surprise me if Hoshijiro somehow comes to the surface of Tsumugi at some point in a reaction to Nagate's presence.

[David75]

Prothesis seemed to be over the top. I'm surprised we did not get to see more of those.They already are highly DNA modified human beings. Gardes being so hard to pilot, it's a little strange they did not program hands instead of feet. Those are as efficient as feet for walking and allow for more actions, even more in an environnement subject to zero gravity.
And then, having 4 hand for piloting would create quite a difference.

[shinta|hikari]

You guys are dumb. The extra fingers are obviously for under the sheets stuff with Nagate. Wait for next episode.

[Kraco]

You guys are dumb. The extra fingers are obviously for under the sheets stuff with Nagate. Wait for next episode.

Cold, hard metal (or composite) fingers? I wouldn't be as excited about the idea as you are.

[kmkze04]

Maybe they have a heater function...

[MFauli]

Man, you all need to get laid!


Me, too :/

[Buffalobiian]

Double the fingers doesn't seem like a terrific benefit for that kind of stuff. Deidara-hands is the way to go.

As for Chibi-Tsumugi, the rubber sound effects whenever she's around is quite amusing. I can understand prostesis if they're really high tech. I'd expect arms to take months to grow, and it could possibly require Izana to stay hospitalized during that time.

Tanikaze sees Izana as a girl, or at least he knows she's a potential girl and acts girly. That doesn't mean he sees her as a potential partner though. Not all girls are potential partners.

[shinta|hikari]

Squeeze toy SFX = moe.

The director really knows his shit.

I feel like I'm saying that a lot this season.

[Kraco]

Episode 6 - Underwater



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This show presents quite an interesting setting in the sense that the main character is somewhat out of everything big going on, apart from saving the day during the occasional battles. He's just living his own life like anybody would. When he's piloting, he's still no different than any other pilot, apart from kicking ass twice or thrice as much as the others. Based on the paper, they haven't even given him any special military rank, just a senior pilot. Giving him the permission to live anywhere was quite smart as it assures he won't be regularly sneaking without a permission to any place strange. Instead he will stick to his house in a strange place, which is much more predictable. He has a tendency to do things his own way, without consulting others, probably due to his lonely childhood.

Izana was drawn with boobs in this episode, so that seems to be settled for good, if there ever was any ambiguity in the first place. You'd think Tanikaze would treat her like a girl after having a firsthand feel of the assets, but who knows. It seems more like he treats her as a colleague pilot and that's it. It shouldn't have been that easy to ask a girl to move in with you to a new apartment.

Based on the preview a lot will happen in the next episode. The graviton cannon going berserk is a likely candidate, seeing how it was already growing tentacles in this episode, possibly to integrate itself with the ship's power grid.

[MFauli]

I realize we so figurines before, but ... a whole shop for plastic models? You´d think ressources are rare and ought to be treated with care. Okay.

It shouldn't have been that easy to ask a girl to move in with you to a new apartment.

Lol, yeah. That scene basically simply neglected both their reactions as they should have followed. Like, Tanikaze being nervous about asking a girl to live with him, and Izana questioning his motives. Weird. It sucks that our hero is trapped in his guilt-love with Hoshijiro, trying to make best with that gross tentacle variant of her. Seriously, do we know how that placenta stuff smells? It looks so gross and I always imagine its smell to be akin of rotten flesh. Eww, sleeping with that.

I still hate that both Kunatos were randomly killed by some miniature Ochiai-cell clumps. At least somebody should unmask their real identity sooner rather than later.

[Kraco]

Like, Tanikaze being nervous about asking a girl to live with him,

If Tanikaze hardly even recognizes Izana as a girl, then it's more plausible, especially with his lacking social grace. However, I'd hate that option as it would mean nothing could ever happen between those two. What comes to Izana... Well, yeah. I'm sure she doesn't actually question his motives as she must be aware he's dense and absolutely harmless (I'd rather expect Izana to sneak into Tanikaze's bed than the other way around), but it was still too sudden.

[Buffalobiian]

Izana has been friendzoned since forever, so Tanikaze acts mostly pretty freely around her.

I imagine Tsugumi to smell like ammonia.

[Kraco]

Episode 7 - Underwater




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Damn, this turned out to be one of the most amusing eps after the morbid beginning with the mega cannon going berserk and then self-destructing. At first I thought we were getting just a tasteful eyeful from the fanservice sisters En & Ren, but then we suddengly got the hilarious "I want to photosynthesize" scene with Samari (she must have taken lessons from Saber. Somehow I feel like she won't approach Tanikaze with intimate intentions for a second time, though). As if that wasn't enough, the next turn was reserved for Izana with her exploding space suit. More seriously, if you can call it that, it's at this point useless to claim Tanikaze wouldn't be viewing Izana as a girl. The atmosphere was so super awkward afterwards, made no less so by Tsumugi's oblivious comments. Lots of this stuff is naturally such tropes they have been seen a thousand times before, but they worked exeptionally well here with Tanikaze's exceptionally foolish personality.

The captain is going really gung-ho with weapons and offensive. I hope it won't majorly backfire when she's relying on prototypes so heavily, especially with some of them so unstable.

[David75]

I had some troubles adjusting to the new season's rythm, but I have to admit it allowed for a very well balanced ep, with very bad things brewing at the start and end, and a rather pleasing fanservice theme in between with some humor.It also seems the director is more careful with scenes when people movement and faces felt fishy, like overall they master that new tool and get more awesomness out of it. I mean on the art side of it and and we the audience feel about it. Or maybe I just don't mind about those and only get the good parts.

[MFauli]

Tbh I didnt quite get the situation with the Gauna-infested super weapon. Apparently it really did self-destruct, but I had thought at first that it entered Sidonia, digging a hole into the ship´s walls. Guess everybody´s lucky for that not being the case.

As for the whole romancing part of this episode ...
Samari came out of nowhere. Not only do I feel sad for the other pilot that made it clear many episodes ago that he loves Samari. It´s also a bit too bold ... first meeting, then already photosynthesize ... which, as we know, is almost on par with having sex here. Duh.
My biggest hope is that Tanikaze stops being such a super fool, and ideally chooses Izana. She´s loyal, nice, caring and now also truly hot. Tanikaze, please stop living in the past and forget about Hoshijiro. :>

Btw. do we know what the "end game" for Sidonia is? From what I gather, the captain is heading to an area with even more, denser Gauna activity. Are we to assume that there is a known Gauna origin and Sidonia attempts to eradicate the Gauna at their core (fufu).?

[David75]

Regarding the gauna blackhole explosion, I feel like it was Kunato's doing, or at least the simbiots in the infested sidonians...Because honestly, that kind of explosion is useless in defeating the enemy: sidonia. A full scale explosion, giving a high amount of thrust in one part of the ship with a massive distorsion shockwave would be near fatal to the ship.
But that explosion serves other purposes: hidding proof. And it's also useful on a political and masses manipulation...

[Kraco]

Regarding the gauna blackhole explosion, I feel like it was Kunato's doing, or at least the simbiots in the infested sidonians...Because honestly, that kind of explosion is useless in defeating the enemy: sidonia. A full scale explosion, giving a high amount of thrust in one part of the ship with a massive distorsion shockwave would be near fatal to the ship.
But that explosion serves other purposes: hidding proof. And it's also useful on a political and masses manipulation...

Hmm... I feel like you are giving Kunato too much credit. If he had such control, things shouldn't have gone that far in the first place. After all, they lost lots of resources in this incident, and if the captain wasn't so militaristic, the project might have been cancelled. I'd bet he just got incredibly lucky. The thing was still a cannon and the annihilating explosion was basically what it was intended to do, like it did to the planetoid. Only it wasn't under any control now, so perhaps it merely couldn't control the power and instead of a proper emission beam, it just emitted the force omnidirectionally right where it was sitting, destroying everything nearby in the process, itself included. After all, I doubt the thing had any brains to speak of. It was like giving a monkey a hand grenade.