Mahou Meido Meganekko

Because I can’t call it liveblogging; it’s on DVD!

So, I’ve finally found a drool-worthy female pilot in this show.

Captain Fae Xin Lu; salute!

And I also see that Lt. Alex Smith survived his plane being shot down in the final episode of Gravion. I expected as much; he’s doomed to meet Eiji in drag again, I know it.

JUST a cotton-picking minute here. Eiji was playing strip mah jong… with the 12-year olds? Dude! Of course, this is the same gang of girls that forcibly stripped him for his physical. Twice. And look where every eye leads. Well, he may be robbing the cradle, but at least he didn’t raid Kodomo no Jikan for his harem . Um, or given the eyes, maybe he did. Eiji is so going to end up in prison at the end of the series.

Update: So Eiji lost the next hand and took the Gran Knights down with him too; they’ve got to be maids for a day. But….why are he and Toga in drag? More disturbingly, why do they look good in it? I’ve got to stop hanging out at Derailed by Darry….

Update: Ok, this picture JUST blew my theory out of the water, unless it’s faked.

Update: too many stills and pans. They better be saving the budget for something good.

Update: And now we see what. Spiffy new launch sequence. Looks good… as long as I don’t have to watch it. EVERY. FREAKING. EPISODE. Y’know, I finally figured out what that is…. It isn’t mecha fanservice. It’s mecha pr0n.

And the good Captain knows Toga. Hmmmm.

Wait, if he could whistle up the Gran Fortress, why was Sandman flying commercial?

Oh, good Lord. The standing on the outside of the bridge and stripping instantly into combat uniform. Godannar pulled that one too. And I just realized something; it’s probably a cultural meme based on the actions of an admiral (no time to look up references) who, while fighting the Russians, stood on top of the bridge outside the armor, to direct the battle. But seriously, going Hollywood with it is just too over the top. I see why Steven says it’s parody. I mean, is it possible to believe they were doing this straight?

ARRRRRGH. More mecha pr0n. Almost the full combine sequence from season one, save they combined four shots into one and shaved maybe eight seconds off of it.

Update: Wait, wait… Have they got to summon the sword from the moon every time they use it?? OMG. I really do see Steven’s point now. It’s so stupid it has to be brilliant. But I really don’t believe it, yet.

Update: And just who the hell are they? I knew something weird was up when we heard the orders given by the Zeravaire command in the final arc of the first series. Now we see who’s given the orders, and they’re (psuedo-) human?

And, well, the closing credits aren’t exactly Vandred-worthy, but not too shabby.

Ok, that’s going to have to be it for tonight. Twitter-blogging is kinda fun, but it’s a time consuming way to watch anime. And I need two monitors. Final thoughts before packing it in…. If it gets crazier than this, I can see why some might think it’s a parody. Simple self=defense by the ego… It’s got to a parody, or otherwise you have to admit to yourself that you’ve spent 12 hours watching the most inane dreck ever to be broadcast in the history of mankind.

Well, until the next episode of Divorce Court, anyway.

I can see why Steven couldn’t figure out if this show was serious, or badly done parody. There were a couple of good multi-episode arcs here, but I thought the next to the last battle of the first series was actually better than the last one. Through the first three episodes of the series, they set the pattern a new challenger each episode, and having to defeat it with a new attack form, since the last one was ineffective. They broke out of that, but it was still “monster of the week” until this disc.

We finally see some multi-episode arcs, and the battle against the dual Zevaire was pretty good, because they couldn’t just come up with a new attack and smash their way to victory, nor did they take the corny route I expected. They had to try several different things, and though I have a quibble about how it got resolved, it was the best battle yet.

Bearing in mind of course, that we’re talking about battles involving giant mecha as the personification of samurai warriors. I’m still trying to figure out why I liked Godannar. Must have been the crazy redhead. Or the naked dark blue-haired one.

Overall though, I’m really finding it hard to slog through, and the art went to hell around episode 11. The most annoying thing to me is the mysteries. No, make that the “Mysteries” with a capital M. The show loves to throw random unexplained stuff in. More secret weapons and hidden power-ups than a session of Ultima IV.

Thou hast lost an eighth!

It may be a while before I continue.

Update: In the comments, Steven notes that the series gets better after it stops trying to be serious. All I have to say is “about damned time.” Telling this story straight is a mistake, a flaw in the series. It’s a variant on the complaint we both have against The Third: The writers are trying to do something, and they’re not succeeding. If they’re going to make a parody, make a parody. If they’re going to tell the story straight, tell it straight. The problem is, so far, they’ve been telling it straight when the material screams “parody!!!” All that accomplishes is to make it a less-angsty Godannar, without the epic babes.

As Steven said with Strike Witches, “Embrace the stupid.” Gravion’s writers didn’t for the first series, so it doesn’t work.

And on that note, I’m sad to say that Jason doesn’t embrace the stupid. Then again, 40% of his readers (as of this writing) think Louise is superior DFC to Lina, so all I can say is he has a large following of people with equally bad judgement. :p

Update: Ok, after all the talk in the comments, I decided to re-run the first couple of episodes. There was something I had a faint memory of, and I wanted to check it. Didn’t make it 5 minutes into the show before cinching it. Warning, may be a spoiler! Raven is Ayaka. Don’t ask me what she did with the “huge rack,” this is animé. The eyes are the giveaway, although I’d thought the way Raven was watching Eiji at the beginning was suspicious. Obviously, they decided Ayaka was too weak to be Knight of the Grand Diva, but her stubborn & rambunctious younger brother wouldn’t be. The problem was, they had to get him to come, and stay. So Ayaka had to disappear, to lure Eiji to the castle; and stay disappeared, so he will remain. The “evidence” surrounding her disappearance was faked. Now what the other big secret is, I have no idea, except it involves Sandman and explains his knowledge of the Zeravaire. WAG: Maybe he is one? Or maybe it’s about Leena’s father. Or maybe Darth Vader is going to show up and say, “Eiji, I am your father!”

Edit: Oh, and unless they come up with something even more insane, I think they’re playing it straight; this is not parody. Evidence: the “big reveal” towards the end of Godannar.