I know full well I’m mostly talking to myself with these posts (though I certainly appreciate those few of you who are reading them). But that’s what it is. It’s a slow season and I’m enjoying Aquarion MOE as much as ever. In some ways it reminds me of a low-rent Concrete Revolutio. Not so much thematically (though both are keenly indebted to their historical antecedents in anime). But both series are unapologetically weird and iconoclastic and funny-looking. And fearless. And both pay a price in terms of popularity for that.
MOE does a good job of making sure every major character gets plot service. At the moment a lot of what’s happening is impelled by Sun, who’s certainly managed to get into Sakko’s head both literally and figuratively. Sakko is way off his game and Sun is responsible. But is he more unsettled by Sun’s closeness to Momohime or that hug? Hana is having a lot of conversations with Kamisama (which is the doomsday guy’s name, apparently). He’s quite coherent in his quiet moments, and Hana is asking a lot of telling questions about what she and the other kids are being “asked” to do. Kamisama tells her to follow her beliefs, whatever consequences might result.
Sun has also given Momohime a glimpse of her past life. That may or may not be why her mana numbers are down and don’t seem to be recovering. Of course, that could also be because she seems to be falling for Sun even as she tells herself that’s impossible. Love is very much on her mind – she (quite unironically) asks Sakko if he’s ever had a crush on anyone. It may be purely coincidental that Sun seems to be tanking both Sakko and Momohime’s mana output, but in practical terms it doesn’t much matter at the moment.
Sun is generally a busy boy. He’s also luring the muggle students to the greenhouse (doesn’t every school have one?) and “tuning” their mana. And when Sakko follows some of them he gets a taste of the Sun treatment himself. His own past life seems to find him as someone named Nanook – “Nanook the Coward” (not “of the North”) to be precise. I’m going to assume the female figure he interacts with in the distant past is Sun – Rimiya has already established that past lives aren’t governed by gender.
When another mythical beast shows up and Sakko gets the call, he emerges into a strange, red world. The others are forced to go in without him, and it’s the mana-poor Momohime who’s ordered to ride the pine by DEAVA. Hana is the head this time, and things seem to be going swimmingly for a while. The beast plants a stake but the trio manage to best it and it implores them to kill it. But Hana has realized with some certainty – these are people. They think, talk, and feel. And despite her murderous quirk, Hana is not comfortable with the idea of killing people she doesn’t even love. She thinks back on Kamisama’s words, bails, and the beast escapes having completed their mission.
The end here is really gilding the lily. Sakko’s “Yabe – I think I might like him” is such a perfect moment. It certainly explains all that blushing he’s been doing. Rimiya being Momohime’s “sister” is one thing, but this development adds another layer to the whole past lives conundrum. From my perspective as a long-time mecha anime viewer (if not a hardcore fan) this series really nails the details. All this angst is spot-on, timeless in the context in which it’s presented. If MOE is totally mismatched to the modern anime environment that’s a shame, but doesn’t take away from its accomplishment in any way.
The post Sousei no Aquarion: Myth of Emotions – 07 appeared first on Lost in Anime.
