Recap: The Yamato is attacked by a Gamilan secret weapon; A ship capable of hiding in between dimensional rifts.

Gee’s Thoughts: 

Basically this is the requisite submarine episode that just about any show about a ship goes through. It doesn’t matter if that ship swims, flies, or jumps through portals through sheer manliness, there’s almost always at least one episode in which they are attacked by a stealthy ship they cannot see or detect. And Yamato brings it in top form, as per usual for what is hands down the best anime I’ve seen in a while.

This time, the tension comes from Captain Okita’s sudden collapse, due to the terminal medical issue that has been plaguing him. While he manages to survive the event, is left incapacitated. Thankfully, Sanada steps up to the plate as acting captain and does a pretty decent job of it, despite his lack of beard (or substantial eyebrows).

In the other corner, we have your standard rowdy, boisterous, and bearded Gamilan submarine crew. Commanded by the eccentric yet savvy captain known as The Hound, we have yet another interesting Gamilan villain on our hands. Also, he’s totally rocking that mustache.

Yet, the main conflict in this episodes come not from The Hound, but from the Yamato crew. The enemy ship seemingly disappeared, Niimi and Kodai come to a disagreement on how to ping the ship and discover the enemy’s location. In the end, the crew go with Niimi’s safer, but simultaneously riskier plan. This being a space opera, obviously things go terribly wrong and at least half a dozen lives are lost thanks to her plan. Still, Kodai being the reckless loose cannon he is, goes through with his plan anyway and the Yamato barely survives the encounter.

I especially loved that last part because it did an amazing job of playing back into the themes of the previous episode; that of what makes a good soldier. While a good soldier from a standard perspective would dictate that Kodai acted poorly in the line of duty, his solid belief in his plan and its execution despite the doubts of his peers handily saved the Yamato. While a man like Domel may be a loyal and effective soldier, it’ll be interesting to see how that compares to a man like Kodai, who does what he believes is right.

Once again, Yamato is in top form this week, bringing both the interpersonal and external conflict together. Dealing with just one alone leads to a lot of tension in this show, and the anime does an expert job of weaving the two threats together. In addition, we finally start to see the consequences of the Yamato’s mission and the toll it begins to take on the crew. With brave men and women dying in the line of duty, one wonders how well the Yamato’s morale will hold up.