Rolling Review – Planet With (04)

Episode Synopsis:

As the God-Armor squad defeats the latest Nebula… thing… Nezuya, having given in to the illusions shown to him, has fallen into a deep but pleasant slumber.  Haru, victorious, decides it’s time to take revenge for Miu and flies off for a one-on-one with Soya in his Sensei catmech.  Her allies look on, but accede to her demand for a solo fight.  Despite her strength, Soya has the upper hand, but Haru refuses to go down, eventually drawing out so much power that her armor transforms into a dragon.  While she’s still inside, she’s no longer in control. as the dragon’s own will subsumes her own and it goes on the offensive, destroying part of the city and fighting friend and foe alike.  Soya and the other two God-Armor pilots team up to stop the dragon, but it’s only Miu’s heartfelt pleas that ultimately cause the dragon to dissipate.  While the immediate situation is resolved, deep rifts have appeared between the remaining God-Armor team members.

Episode Review:

Episode 4 is a largely combat-focused episode, but we still learn an impressive amount in between the hits.  At last, we see what happens when a pilot fails to break the illusion – they fall asleep for a prolonged while and their armor vanishes.  What’s unclear, and what will make a lot of the difference to me, is whether Nezuya a) is changed somehow by his experience, and b) still retains the ability to create his God-Armor (and the physical vial of dust that makes it possible).  If either (or both) of those things aren’t true (Nezuya is still his same ridiculous self and can still pilot) then I’m seriously going to have to question what the Sealing Faction’s plan here is.

Speaking of that dust vial, it’s apparently infused with, or actually part of, a dragon?

Where did you guys get ahold of this stuff?  Soya’s anger towards the pilots over the last few episodes seems more justified, as they really are tired directly to the type of dragons that apparently destroyed his home planet.  What are you hiding, Director?  He’s definitely not hiding his overall plans, though, as he had a big reveal towards the end of the episode.

He wants to use the power of the God-Armors to conquer the world and bring about “true peace”, with uniform ideals and justice.  Now, I’m a bit disappointed with this twist, honestly.  I liked the setup, where our main character is kind of a villain, taking on the heroes for his own ends.  He’s not evil, but he’s definitely fighting “the good guys”.  Now I feel like we’re going to end up with a situation where everyone teams up to take down the ultra-powerful Director as he tries to conquer the world, which isn’t nearly as interesting.  Here’s hoping I’m wrong.

The real meat of the episode, though, is Haru’s fight and transformation into a dragon.  Turns out those hero-looking armors come with a serious downside.

Immediately, the dragon powers up, fires a shot and:

A significant portion of the city is on fire.  It’s later revealed that the city had been evacuated due to the incoming Nebula critter, but the stakes suddenly got a lot higher for the pilots.  One of their own has dealt the only damage thus far to the city they’re trying to protect, giving strength to the arguments of both factions of Nebula that this new power must be contained or made safe. Though they don’t seem to have any problems with making Soya a lot stronger.

But all that aside, my biggest question is: what’s up with the female backup characters in this show?  Benika leaves her position after the angry exchange with the director, and we get this shot:

Haru turns into a dragon and begins laying waste to the city, and we get this shot:

What’s with those smiles, ladies?  I’m interested to find out, as more than ever with this show, nothing is quite as it seems.

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