On Holiday: Labor Day Anime Special pt2 (Majestic Prince ep22 & C3-bu ep10)

Majestic Prince ep22

I’d say it’s rudimentary to declare that things aren’t going as planned as we start this episode. Think of it as a matter of just plain bad timing. As the operation commences, Team Rabbits bumps right into the Wulgaru mega force just as they leave the gate. It’s a bit close for comfort, but the Wulgaru are incidentally right in the way of the operation. On the positive side for Earth though, they’re hardly expecting a fight, and this is looking possibly like a game of rugby, with the roughest and toughest attempting to push their way to the goal.

What ends up happening is a pitched battle where the GDF and to a lesser extent, the world’s forces, muster their strength to push Team Rabbits to the finish line. Things get hairy when one of the generals, Lutiel (or something) takes an interest in Toshikazu. This in turn gets Tamaki’s attention, as she recognizes her unit as the one that slaughtered Team Doberman, Patrick in particular. Tamaki is no match for her, but their battle is close enough that it draws her attention away, and disruption the rest of her fleet. Allowing Toshikazu full access to the next line of defense. In the end, Lutiel gets close to stopping Toshikazu, but ends up getting slaughtered by the combined forces of Team Rabbits in one hell of a scene! I was actually quite curious to see how the problem of each general was to be solved, as it nearly took the hand of God to kill the first one. This time seemed a little easier, but still required an amazing effort by every single available member of the team, and a huge boost in firepower once again. Still, I’m pretty damned impressed.

The push continues, as we see that the Wulgaru are launching a second wave of defenders. Though it appears that Prince Jiart is going to sit out the battle until Izuru shows up. And he will show up. We all know this. The GDF has no intension of waiting for reinforcements though. Toshikazu is able to push past the last waves of defense and plant his marker. Unlike many other shows (I’m looking at you Gundam), the GDF doesn’t wait for an elongated countdown. They’re prepped and ready the moment Toshikazu hits his mark. The blast flies straight and true!

And does nothing!

Surprise, surprise! There’s a high energy barrier over the gate. I should’ve known it wouldn’t be that easy. What would all the other episode be for then? No one needs an epilogue that long.

Good action packed episode. Thisinstallment wasted no time in getting us into the battle and making the good guys look good. And I mean seriously good. In every other battle in this series, the GDF has had its ass absolutely handed to them. Only Team Rabbits and Doberman were able to yield any results at all. That’s not to say that once again Team Rabbits didn’t do a majority of the work, they absolutely did. But at least up until this point, it looks like the humans are on equal footing. Things are sure to change with the introduction of more forces, Jiart and possibly the king himself.

At this point, there’s nothing left to do but hope. We can only be sure that Izuru will drop his ridiculous tea serving duties to come save everyone, and that that is a sure sign that things are going to go to absolute sh*t. Because Izuru won’t be deployed for anything less.

C3-bu ep10

I’d call this episode joyless.  And it’s not for the reason you’d initially think before watching the episode.  Looking at the Meisei club, you’d suspect that their dark colors, and super disciplined style would yield sad, robotic teammates.  But they don’t really seem dissatisfied or lifeless in this episode.  They do as they’re told, know their roles and watch out for each other.  It’s the exact opposite of what Yura seems to bring to the table.

It was quite a shock seeing Yura show up to their club in their colors.  I knew it was gonna happen, but it just doesn’t look right.  As the episode progresses, we see Yura perform with the team through a series of different matches against a guy’s team.  At first, she seems to fit right in as they go head to head with  their opponents.  She’s incredibly accurate, mobile and proficient in any task she’s put up to.  But Rin notices something in their first match, as she sees Yura sacrifice herself in that match.  It probably appears to us to be a selfless competitive act, but Rin sees more.

The next match is a game of “medic”, where the teams each have one teammate play a medic who “heals” teammates who’ve gone down to let them back into battle.  The team with the least bandages wins.  Rin puts Yura in the game as a medic, stating that the decision was based on what she did in the previous match.  Through these games we see that Yura is fighting extremely aggressively and selfishly, as she obsesses not only over winning, but why she’s place in the medic spot.  Meanwhile, the C3 clug has learned of her departure (it seems that Sonora is being the ever active “leader” again, and has neglected to tell them of her defection).  Some of upset, some are angry, and Rento seems even hurt by the action, and actually goes to visit Yura.  There she sees her obsessive little friend participating in target practice with a bloody hand, scuffs all over her body, and a noticeable dip in weight.  The sight of blindfolded Yura is a strong one.  And it’s pretty sad to see Rento as gently and politely try to talk to her friend, only to be brushed aside.

Yura is on the edge, and it shows.  Despite stellar numbers and stats, Rin doesn’t seem impressed or convinced with Yura.  He attitude only grows worse, and more insubordinate.  At times, she even purposefully neglects her medic duties to score more hits.  Worst of all, when a teammate goes down, she doesn’t even think to check on her, instead opting to sneak in another hit.  That’s the last straw for Rin.  She starts off by booting Yura from play for the day, but after a heated argument, she boots Yura right off the team!  The reasons are plain and clear.  Yura’s turned into a bully who forces her ideals and ideas on others.  Anything having to do with airsoft becomes an obsessive problem for her, and it makes her a terrible teammate and person.

Having burned her old team and now the team she’s just joined, Yura is at a crossroads.  Switching scenes back to Stella, we also see that Sonoara may not be around a lot either, as a call from her mother reveals that she may be summoned over seas.  There’s not a lot of time for these two to right things between themselves.

End of episode.

At this point in the show, I’m left feeling extreme disappointment in two people, Yura and Sonora.  It’s easy to point fingers at Yura.  She a classic example of the phrase, “the road to hell is paved with good intentions”.  She’s become a monster, but this all started with her failure at the big tournament near the beginning of the show.  The moment quit on her team and got scolded by Sonora and Rin, her potential was unlocked, but so was that competitive monster inside.  Sure, before her change Yura was as useless as Yui from K-ON! on the battlefield, but she was still herself, and a good person.  In the process of trying to change, she’s just become focused on results and herself and not people.

Now the reason I blame Sonora is because she was Yura’s mentor and guide through this whole process.  I don’t believe for a moment that she didn’t see the signs that Rin did.  So I find her lack of action or talk on the subject troubling.  She’s more than happy to shove some techniques and stories onto her protege, but she won’t address a character problem at all.  So for as hard as Yura has gone off the rails, I blame her just as much.  In a way, it reflects on just how disappointed I am in both promising characters.

On a positive note, this conflict is still better than having the show purely focused on the results of a tournament, or on the girls fulfilling some silly school requirements that require them to do wacky things to stay a club.  This show is a show heavily focused on character, ideals and what makes a good person.  So for all my complaints, I see something unique and good in here.

Further Reading: 

• MJPR ep21 & C3-bu ep9