Recap: Mecha-Truth goes to town on the Allied Forces as the secrets behind his nature are finally unravelled. To escape, Ao is teleported back to Okinawa, where he has an awkward reunion with Naru. And somewhere far away, a lone figure is searching for something…

Dragonzigg’s Thoughts: As Ao careens unsteadily towards its conclusion, its quality is becoming more and more uneven, though that’s a marked improvement from where it was before, which was universally terrible. This episode contains some things which are interesting, some which are appallingly bad, and a lot of stuff that has potential, but really doesn’t gel together.

Lets get the worst stuff out of the way first. It’s become readily apparent that Truth is poison every time he hits the screen, and his degeneration into raving lunatic has only made him that much more unbearable. For a villain who had almost no motivation in the first place, they’ve somehow managed to give him even less, and any threat he possessed is gone. This isn’t helped by his new mech form, which is one of the ugliest, most bland mecha designs I’ve seen in years, just a formless blob a metal with spikes and cannons attached.

It’s a shame because the ultimate revelation of his origin in this episode is actually sort of cool. The idea of a being who combines the Secrets and the Scub Coral is intriguing, and ties in well with the ‘Coral Carrier’ concept which seems to have been introduced way too late to have any meaningful impact on the plot. The show smothers it in the infuriatingly heavy-handed dialogue it’s become infamous for though, and ultimately I care so little about Truth that it has little impact on me. At this point he’s just a target to be hit.

The good stuff in this episode mostly comes in the form of the reunion between Ao and Naru. Granted, it makes almost no sense, since the show once again pulls magic straight out of its ass, but bringing Ao full circle back to where his story again seems thematically appropriate. There’s a shifty awkwardness to their interaction which seems to at least partially be the result of bad writing, but also works at communicating the adolescent tension between the two. The scene actually comes off with considerable heart, and there are some quirky, charming moments, like Ao’s belief that Naru has actually grown rabbit ears, or his barely concealed childish jealousy over her relationship with Truth. Such gentle character building is something the show could have done with a great deal more of, especially much earlier in the run than this. It’s difficult to shake the impression that the relationship between Ao and Naru was meant to be much more critical to the plot than it actually turned out to be, and based on this that might have been a better look for the show.

Elsewhere we see pointless padding and posturing still crowding out matters of actual import. I wonder if the showmakers are trying to make some sort of actual real world point with the Okinawa/Japan stuff, because it’s utterly pointless otherwise and really rather aggravating. Same goes for the Japanese officer Takamura, who like Gazelle appears to serve very little purpose to the plot, and his continued presence is baffling.

Ao will now take an ‘extended break’ before returning for its final two episodes in November. One of a more cynical persuasion – me for example – would say that this is to give time for a large scale retool from a team running desperately behind and scrabbling for purchase. It’s hard to see it as a positive step to be honest, and Ao certainly does not feel like a show on the brink of a finale. But there’s also hope that this extra time can be used to fine-tune and finesse and produce a finale that, let’s be honest, probably won’t be inspired. But there’s enough meat on the bones of this plot, and Studio Bones have displayed enough skill in the past, to hope that it may at least reach competence. Honestly, for all the anger and bitterness the show has caused me, I do hope it does. For better or worse, we’ll be back here next month to find out.

Random Observations

– For the second week in a row, Naru’s sister gets the episode’s best line.

– The Major orders his men to fire at Truth, but also at the incredibly important control panels he’s ghosting through. This is incredibly dumb, yet apprently I’m the stupid one because the controls appear totally bulletproof!

– Elena wonders if they’re going to put a lion on Kyrie’s chest next. If they did it’d become a much better show.

– Once again we have a remarkably easily forgiven defector. Treason seems to rank slightly below jaywalking in this world.

– You know, I could have sworn something else important happened in this episode. What was it?….

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Oh yeah. That happened. Let’s talk a little about that.

While it’s a genuine thrill to see Renton appear once again, the manner of his introduction is less encouraging. Apparently now even the original Eureka Seven world has been affected by the changes Ao has wrought to the timeline, reducing what was a beautifully bright and vibrant world to a lifeless dustbowl. It’s cool drama, but not exactly a heartening sight for those of us who liked that show. And this grim, shotgun wielding Renton is not necessarily the loveable goofball many of us knew either, though evolution was undoubtedly necessary for the character in this context.

All along Ao has been deliberately murky as to which of the Eureka Seven continuities it has followed – the series, the movie, or an original continuity, none of it helped by the showrunners seemingly lacking knowledge of previous works. Renton’s Nirvash here resembles the organic green and white final form the Nirvash took in the original series, but is much more mechanical and has design elements taken from the movie, most notably the floating ‘turrets’ that surround it, leaving the identity of the ‘true’ timeline just as much a mystery as before. It does however, look frickin’ awesome, no doubt about that.

Really I can’t shake the feeling that this scene is sort of just thrown in as a tease (which makes sense give the delay). Dramatically it would have made much more sense to have Renton arrive without announcement, have a big damn heroes moment, and then show this in a flashback. While it’s a cool little vignette, this scene doesn’t really serve much purpose. But hey, Renton! There’s one thing to look forward to at least

Random Observations Observations

– Why would you park the Nirvash somewhere where it has to blow up a building to get out?

– I can sort of dig Renton’s frock coat, but what the hell is up with those arm socks?

– I do like that they recast Renton’s VA. Too often we have grown up versions of characters still having little boy voices.

– With his crazy white hair patch, Renton now looks suspiciously like Takuto from Star Driver, also by Studio Bones.