Recap: Argos Test Flight heads out on their first combat mission and, of course, things do not go according to plan. Can Yuuya earn Fikatsia’s trust in time to save everyone?

Jel’s Thoughts: It seems Total Eclipse is much better at telling war stories than all the messy emotional stuff in between. Much like the first two episodes, they do a pretty good job of building tension for the actual battle. Nothing more intense than a real time countdown, right? I also found it interesting that Yuuya was showing some anxiety and fear like a normal human being. I’ve yet to find him (or any character in this series) very likable, so any bit of humanizing helps.

Last week I made a bunch of predictions and I’m kind of happy most of them did not come true. Let’s see how we did:

3:4 Something goes wrong with the experimental test weapon – FAIL
It worked just fine, although the battle itself did not go according to plan.

1:2 …putting Yuuya in a circumstance where it looks like he’s dead, but he’s not – FAIL
Not a scratch on the armor. Maybe they’re saving that one for later.

1:4 …as a result of him trying to rescue Cryska who’s brain starts shutting down again – FAIL
Cryska and Inia were not only holding their own, they looked absolutely terrifying. It would seem likely Cryska’s breakdowns are some kind of side effect of whatever makes her super strong. Just what kind of weird, unethical Soviet techno-magic is at work with those two?

1:6 …as a result of her “comrades” not coming to her aid and saying horrible things to her – FAIL
If anything it was the other way around.

1:10 …and with Yuuya presumed dead Yui breaks her vow to never cry again – DRAW
Alright I’m going to give myself a little credit here as Yui does shed a tear, just not quite for the reason I mentioned

1:25 …prior to which one expendable team member dies – FAIL
1:50 …prior to which more than one team member dies – FAIL
NOPE! Again, probably too early to start losing team members. We did lose one of the obnoxious Soviet rapist kids, but come on, no one is going to miss him.

1:100 …but then they are all rescued by new model TSFs that the uncooperative U.S.S.R. was hiding – Draw?
Did not happen, but it sounded like that option may have been on the table. I would also hardly call the Soviets “cooperative” in this situation.

1:10,000 …the new TSFs look like Unicorns with rainbow striped horns – PASS!
MAKE SURE YOU WATCH AFTER THE CREDITS, THIS TOTALLY HAPPENS.

1:1 …which I would find highly entertaining – PASS
I did find this episode entertaining. I would like to see a higher ratio of fighting mechs to downtime on the base as the series progresses, because clearly that is what Total Eclipse is best at.