#kamanosuke

I love Yamato's mascot costume so much.

I love that he's still in the orange armor, with a vague wilderness-y vibe to it with the leaves. The panda maybe being a reference to Shu (he loved eating and cooking!) somehow would be funny lol (At a stretch, he had Chinese ancestry and pandas are often associated with China, but... mm...) Also, Shogun (from Mr. Villain's Day Off) would be all over this costume cause panda aldkjalj

I love that Yamato's plan was to nearly get squished by a train. He's brilliant. Let's keep him.

-sees him sexually harass Mirei-

Actually I think he should die for the greater good and Mirei should get to kill him.

The initial sequence on the train was fascinating in the sense that this series has a decent budget and so many of the characters were off model. Ryusei: Become Spaghetti v Kaito become hamburger:

Outside that, did Nasti use the Jewel on Yamato off-screen? Why did they let him on the train if he's not allowed there? Why not just kick him aside? Are they afraid of him hunting down the train again or grabbing on and not letting go? They were seemingly fine with Gai murdering four of their child soldiers, why do they care about one they don't like?

So Ryusei failed Kaito in the end, which makes it seem like Yoshie talked to him or had someone else talk to him, which is likely the, "Look, it was complicated" explanation.

The softness in Nasti's eyes as she listens to Ryusei and Kaito bicker is curious.

I wonder if she's remembering how her old team used to interact and is waxing nostalgic about it. Memories :3

This sequence is mostly hilarious in that Ryusei is looking down at Yamato having a crisis on the floor alkjdlaj I don't know, I found it funny (ignore the very bad off model shot):

Things we learn from the Braves:

Nezzie was a nickname for Nezu? Cute!

Anayama was close with Nezu! Also cute and interesting, like learning about their dynamics and friendships! Given Anayama's design is sort of shounen-generic creepy, I like learning more about him as a character.

Also the memorial holograph having Nezu's eyes closed alkdjalj He really did struggle with his magic, huh.

I think if the one message taken away from this series is that yakisoba is delicious, this series will have accomplished an important thing. Because yakisoba is delicious and ach I want some.

There's a lot of things in this sequence and looking back as a whole on the episode:

Kaito is very good at noticing things, like Ryusei's illness, and that Gai is good at manipulation, especially in regard to getting the other Troopers to do what he wants. Kaito can also view this not solely through like, a "Gai is manipulative and therefore evil" lens, but also through a, "Gai is doing this to help us be stronger as fighters/as a team" lens. Sometimes training is about tricking your brain into doing things, especially when fear and survival is involved.

Kaito also does not feel kindly towards Gai (or his feelings are complex), despite what they went through together: it didn't solve everything, which I imagined would happen, regardless of how closely they end up working together. What Gai did was still fucked up in a number of ways, and as Kaito points out later in the episode, Gai still killed a lot of people. Regardless of his age and upbringing, there has to be accountability for that. His age and upbringing will factor into it (hopefully, as we don't always send underage kids to prison for life), but many people are dead because of him, personally, killing them, voluntarily. Child soldiers are a messy business at the best of times. That the show is choosing to sort of deal with this topic is fascinating, especially given it's a hot one in shounen and shoujo circles and has been for decades (e.g., Puella Magi Madoka Magica also dealt with it a bit).

And Gai still views himself as separate from the others. They view him as a suspicious former demon, and he views them as humans, and himself not as a human. It'll be interesting presumably when he starts getting to a point where he identifies as a human. What will his regrets be, if he has them? What will his hopes be, especially since he clearly likes human culture so much?

The "you'll train in VR to save time" thing is decently common old hat in shounen (e.g., Märchen Awakens Romance also did it, and Yu Yu Hakusho did it). But it's still giving me The World After the Fall vibes (even though that's not shounen and also Korean) lol Jaehwan getting locked into voids for eternity to train, and a bit happy about it.

The school arc from the ED is canon, I can't even T-T I love this so much!! We even get Ryusei in the glasses, ah!!! And Musashi in his cute pink sweater :3 (I wonder who picks the clothes alkdjlaj did they have options??)

The show does an odd thing with how the other boys deal with the murderer among them, and Ryusei kind of... hand-waving the, "There will be accountability for Gai later, and it's different because of how he was raised." Again, child soldiers are a messy real world topic at the best of times. And also, Yamato, Kaito, and Musashi (and Gai) are all kids too. And Ryusei, last I checked, is also just a teenager (an older one, but a teenager as well). (But also, I was a kid when I learned about child soldiers so it's not like it's impossible). And also, Ryusei is trying to convince them Gai is different while also getting all these child soldiers to go back to the meat grinder, soooo... complicated ("child soldier bad but you need to keep fighting and maybe die for us and we're the good guys!"). The DST is such a mess and I'm really fascinated to see this show explore it if it does. It did not put nationalists as the main backers for this organization for nothing.

I have a really low tolerance for "character explains something complex but not complicated or overly scientific and difficult to parse, but it's designed to sound difficult to parse, cue characters falling asleep/asking for an even more simplified version of the explanation", even when, in this situation, Ryusei is teaching you know, young teenagers. I get it, attention spans and Gai and Yamato's personalities, but guys, he really did not explain all that much, come on. This is not physics. It's "you have a bracelet that can activate three things." A phone is more complex than this, and Gai doesn't have an excuse because he presumably knows what a cassette player is, and that's a lot more complicated that Weapon-Gear. I used to carry a Walkman around, Gai, you do not have an excuse.

We're also still jumping around how the weapon-gear was created, though we have an acknowledgement it was designed for DST. By who? Shion?

Ryusei being the reason Gai has to get naked in front of the others is just alkdjlaj Why do they have to watch him, Ryusei? To bully them into getting through this faster so they don't have to watch Gai be nude alkdjlaj "LEARN THIS OR WATCH GAI BE NAKED MORE!"

The sleeping sequence was adorable aldkjalj

They fight right before falling asleep and/or Gai strangles Yamato in his sleep alkdjalj Yamato is a bit older so the continued brotherly vibes is really cute.

Kaito being a secret otaku is still cute XD Wonder if we'll learn more about the group he's into. I'm also curious how his fake/imaginary phone works in VR alkdjalj There's so many steps here that don't make sense.

After a while, I was like, "Okay, Gai, you're just making shit up here" aldkjalj I hope we get to learn what all these things are. Let the new boys have a trauma trip through the Youjakai! That was one of the funnest arcs in Yoroiden Samurai Troopers! But also, guys, literally he seems to have spent his formative years in another place, stop being pseudo racist lakjdlaj The guy literally has never been in a human school before this.

Yamato being such a good big brother. His relationship with Musashi is so sweet. I do also love that the show is carrying over from Shuu and Shin's relationship, a bit. It's sweet to see. Not the same, but still. There's something there.

I'm curious why Shion is the only person who could have made this. Did he really design the Armor-Gear or some part of it? Is he YSST Iron Man but with Green Arrow's tactics alkdjalj

I'm really curious what Ryusei's illness is.

Is it something caused by the armor or something he had beforehand and seems to be exacerbated by the armor, like a heart or lung condition? He has so many death flags in the ED and that one in the OP, I don't know... Especially now that Shion is on the scene and ready to take over. I really hope Shion doesn't kill him T-T

The humorous classical door closing transformation sequence for the big monster is so adorable. Really reminds me of shows like Tenchi Muyo that used to do that stuff a lot for transition sequences. I can't say I care much for the 3D monsters, but that animation was cute. If you're going to be cheap, at least have fun with it, I guess.

And now Kaito and Musashi have transformed into their yoroi :D

I love Ryusei's exasperated, "Of course, [the training counted for something]" aldkjlaj Kaito, you're so mean aldkjalj

It was pretty obvious from the get-go what Gai was doing with Musashi and Yamato, but I imagine someone (maybe Shion down the line?) is going to dress him down for being so cruel about it. Beating up your teammates to get them to act is really not the answer, Gai, especially if it only works in the moment (as Ryusei explained during the training). A moment at least shows there's potential, but it's not a permanent thing, hence the requirement for training. [We'll ignore that apparently a lot of Ryusei's training was beating up his teammates alkdjlaj]

According to the Japanese twitter fandom, the guy who voices Musashi and Yamato's mysterious, red sweater savior, is Kusao Takeshi, who voiced Ryo in the original Japanese dub, so it may really be Ryo! I hope he doesn't die T-T Please just inspire them and keep living and don't die T-T Also, where is Byakuen???

His speech with little Yamato and Musashi is really cute. I am however worried about him talking about supporting each other while also being alone. I know he liked being out and about on his own, but where are his friends T-T Please tell me he went to visit them after this. I don't want him to be alone.

Also please protect the little brothers from the abusive orphanage, maybe-Ryo T-T

I really liked Yamato's transformation. The rock animation was cool.

Smirks all around.

Though, while Kaito clearly caught on early to what Ryo was doing with Musashi and Yamato, it's unclear if Yamato's smile is from seeing how Gai didn't turn on them and/or is a semi-decent leader and can see where issues in their team are and how to fix them, or just because he's happy Yamato finally came around and/or brotherly bonding between Musashi and Yamato. Kaito is clearly softening towards Gai, but there's still tension there.

I find the show's continued focus on music as connection to be very intriguing, and I'm wondering what they're trying to communicate with it. That music can connect because it's inter-generational and international? That even people from different worlds can bond over it? It wasn't as big a focus in the first series, but between the release of the original series and the sequel's release, there were a lot of covers that came out, and the fandom does get excited over that kind of thing (in part because we had little else, other than the 2021 Langrisser Mobile collaboration, some physical disc re-releases, and some action figures T-T), so it's an interesting turn to take. Not a bad one, just interesting.

Anyway, Gai and Yamato bonding over music was cute (and funny) lol I imagine Gai will do the same with Kaito at some point as well. Maybe we'll get the alleged Samurai Heart group song at some point lol

I do like seeing them all standing together in their armors, though I'm less of a fan of it being the 3D stuff. Ryusei after that first transformation last episode and in parts of his fight with Anayama in his armor was less... this.

It's fine and I'll adjust to it (even with Gai's weird upside-down sword), I imagine. I'm just really not a fan. This was not fun when Sailor Moon: Crystal did it and there was understandable fandom backlash to it until they got rid of it entirely. Even if it's not the silly Betty Spaghetti stuff (ignoring the 3D villains, which are... fine, I guess...)

And Shion arrives, looking like an extra in an 80s/90s shounen lol Or the galaxy police from Tenchi Muyo lol

Oh no... he's not that... He's Saotome Alto from Macross Frontier (in his flight suit he wears before he gets his mecha):

I knew he reminded me of someone besides most any other long-haired ikemen or bishounen. Dangit. I am doomed. Don't you dare death flag him, Sunrise!!!

That Shion seems to be targeting everyone is interesting. And that he's an ex-Trooper is fascinating. Is he why DST was stuck with Musashi's old team? Is he why Ryusei is ill? There were theories I think that Shion might do something to Ryusei, but we'll have to see...

Overall, it's a great episode XD Looking forward to more Shion at last! And everyone. And I guess we'll see if Gai absorbs Kamanosuke, too...

Other thoughts:

Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3 (you are here), Episode 4, Episode 5, Episode 6, Episode 7, Episode 8, Episode 9, Episode 10, Episode 11, Episode 12

Fanfics if you'd like them: Turnabout (set after Episode 1), One Little Did (set after Episode 2), Came this far (set after Episode 3), a Ryusei/Shion Valentine's Day fluff fic, and another Ryusei/Shion university AU inspired by Macross Frontier.