Majestic Prince ep10: the most amusing of prey

So, I was only kinda right in my guesses from last week.  It seems very likely that this signals the end of stage one of this series.  As all the necessary introductions have now been made, rivalries have been set, and some of the initial ignorance has been swept away.  This series is now firmly hurtling towards stage two, an invigorated attempt at intimacy with various parts of the story and cast.

The meeting from last week’s episode is far from over, as we see even more new information thrust upon everyone. We learn that the alien defector, the princess is named Teoria (though I’m sure that was mentioned before) and her bodyguard is also of the Wulgaru species, his name being the less impressive, Daneel. I’m going to ignore most of Tamaki’s antics at this point, because I think most of the audience is well aware that she has an overabundance of hormones pushing her to want this man’s DNA.

What’s really important is that we learn of the reason for the resemblance between the Wulgaru and humanity. The Wulgaru are a parent species, the gene pool source for humans, and many other species throughout the universe. For some reason, their ancient race’s DNA is failing at deteriorating. I’m pretty sure this goes against my understanding of DNA, but whatever. I’ll just assume they have an incurable genetic disease, and leave it at that. In order to cure this ailment, their scientists tried many different experiments to halt the rapid decline of their species, all of them failed. All but one. They started dispersing their genes throughout the universe – the whores. They hoped that the genes would adapt and thrive and supplement their waning life force. The Wulgaru now go through the universe harvesting that – wait a minute! This is starting to sound a lot like the prologue to the Mass Effect series! Shouldn’t we just call these a-holes Reapers? Well I suppose the fine details are very different, but this sure sounds very familiar.

Regardless, the Wulgaru have made it to Earth to harvest their genes in an act they call “hunting”. Some of the Wulgaru were against this, including Teoria’s mother (most likely the queen – or former queen). Her whereabouts are currently unknown. Commander Metalface then goes on to explain how Teoria and the MJP came together to become what they are now. With Teoria coming here at the request of her mother, she informed the humans of the threat, and the MJP, because of their advanced research and experimentation on humans in space were chosen to put her information to good use. The organization was split in two, to deal with two separate tasks. One half focused on developing pilots like Team Rabbits, while the other half worked on adapting alien technology to make the AHSMBs, which proved to be an extremely difficult task. But everything was completed just in time for the arrival of the Wulgaru hunters.

The team is then informed that because of their performance in the previous battle, they’ve likely been marked as prize targets/prey for the Wulgaru’s elite. They should be prepared for the worst, and to be the spearheads of any further major operations. Though the realization that they may be used as decoys does hurt the morale of the team a bit.

During a post meeting Q & A, Izuru is able to ask Teoria one question, as he wonders why he can member Teoria so well from a past that he should have forgotten. Teoria responds somewhat cryptically, by saying that they used to be something resembling friends. So in a way, Teoria has placed herself as Izuru’s childhood friend. It’s quite visible on Kei’s face that she’s not OK with this. I also thinks this officially starts the love geometry in this show, as we see Kei liking Izuru; and Izuru being infatuated with Teoria. I also wonder if perhaps Toshikazu may start liking Kei…

The fallout from all this information is somewhat predictable, as we see Kei take some offense at the situation, and we see Izuru and Tamaki super charged with excitement over the new possibilities. Some of this is explained as we see Rin talking with the cute scientists/doctors again about the team. To be blunt, it seems that the dumber and more optimistic a person is, the better they can manage the JURIA/JULIA system. While the more intelligent and pessimistic members seem to have more difficulty tapping into its raw power. Though the whole Fail Five is becoming quite adept at the use of their units by any measurement.

Back at the Wulgaru HQ, we see Prince Jiart hunting himself to boredom again before being summoned by his older brother. There we see the Wulgaru general receiving his praise along with the other elite soldiers/officers. While the usual amount of snippy-ness is present, that all starts when Prince Jiart shows up. The topic immediately turns to his battle with Izuru, and him withholding the information on him. Jiart is firmly standing by his position of silence on the subject. Believing that anyone who wants the spoils has to earn them. I believe this is firmly setting the stage for the other elite members to pick a member of the Fail Five to hunt themselves.

The episode ends with Commander Metalface informing Teoria that a Wulgaru spacecraft has been discovered on Mars. Looks like we got an exciting rescue mission on our hands for the next episode!

I have to wonder, with all this incompetence in the GDF, how they were able to keep things like alien defectors, technology and the origin of the human species a wrap. I guess this proves the point other people were making about the GDF not being completely incompetent. I guess I shouldn’t mistake every Earth government for the sh*tty ones in Gundam. Damn Feddies.

I feel like my patience is really paying off with this show.  While I had been grasping onto potential for the early parts of this series, these past several episodes have really satisfied not only my needs for good scifi and mecha, but it’s given me answers to questions I’d been asking since near the beginning.  Often I’ve been force to wait through three quarters of a show before I got any answers.  Though I’m quite sure that we’ve only been shown the tip of the iceberg.  While I had guessed that Teoria may have been the genetic base for Team Rabbits, I was still actually somewhat right.  With her race being the parent race for humans, this actually makes sense.  I feel good when my guesses come together.  I’m also very much looking forward to seeing who Team Rabbits may be paired against among these elite hunters.  It’s an interesting setup, and gives a very forward twist to the concept of rivals.

There are plenty of other things to comment on in this episode, like the relationships between the council and Prince Jiart, and his arrogance towards his older brother.  Hell, I could do a whole blog post on Prince Jiart and his arrogance.  Then there’s the love geometry going on between Kei, Izuru and Teoria, which I’m sure will complicate a show that focuses so much on team work and synergy.  And this is on top of the GDF’s multiple problems and the Wulgaru’s failing ancient DNA.  Majestic Prince is becoming a much more nuances and layered series than I ever hoped for.

Further Reading:

• Episode 9