Recap: The I-401 goes up against the Heavy Cruiser Takao. As tactics are played out, it starts to become clear that she has a trick up her sleeve.

Wow, showing some solid ship to ship combat really changes this entire show around. While the 3d animation will be a constant weak point when it comes to character motions, this was a much lesser issue this time around. The boat battle was engaging and looked absolutely beautiful. This is what 3d is for, making battles epic and exciting. While the naval aesthetic is somewhat ruined at the end by the sci-fi laser the I-401 has slung under its bow, the initial tactics were still fun for any lover of strategy.

It was obvious from the beginning that Takao was going to survive. Hell, she’s on the cover art in Crunchyroll’s page. The way this episode plays out makes it seem like she will switch sides, yet I don’t quite get what would make her do so. The idea of these ships having personalities still makes no sense to me. If they are supposed to act more human, why does Iona, the most experience with human contact, still act so robotic, whereas Takao already has shown a great range of emotion without even meeting one. Coming into this week I wasn’t expecting to keep with this show, but it has managed to attract my attention. We’ll see if that continues on to the future.

Lifesong’s Thoughts: Arpeggio looked a lot better this week. The 3D animation looked fantastic when applied to the ships. The crew are awkward, but as long as they don’t walk around it’s not that bad. There is something wrong with the fact that these characters look better when they are still than they do animated, but if they are just going to sit in chairs and shout technobable that might actually work. That is essentially what they did in this last episode, the characters more or less sit in their chairs and it plays out like a combat scene from an episode of Star Trek Next Generation.

I’m intrigued by this anime. Gunzuo became an interesting character the moment he didn’t kill the enemy ship and Iona’s “I’m a weapon” routine is something of a tired cliche, but it feels well applied in this case. I’m still not completely won over, I still don’t like the way the characters look, but this show has enough going for it that I am willing to overlook that. I’m not sure what direction this show is headed, but for now pondering Gonzou’s motivations is enough for me.