Mecha-Ude Ep 3 Review: Together, We Will…
Now that’s what I’m talking about! Episode 3 of Mecha-Ude delivered a full bow of emotion for us. From sympathy to comedy to epic awesomeness! And you know if Sawano is doing the songs for an anime, his protege Kohta Yamamoto is close behind him to deliver more badass OST for the series. And in this ep, Mecha-Ude give us a glimpse of what it has in store for us.
While the series concept and design of the series is quite unique, the plot progression isn’t very different from others. First we started off with the usual shonen trope where all the “old boys” put down the new kid. And this really remind me of Promare or Godannar or even Cross Ange where the protag is just thrown into a different life and doesn’t have anything impressive to show for it. I think the professor guy was playing it up so hard when he put down Hikaru’s ability (maybe it’s intentional), but it’s nice to see Aki stepping in to give him a chance. And in that moment, we felt the same as Hikaru – some form of appreciation that even though Aki was being harsh with her words, she is giving him a chance.
But then it quickly fell apart when they encountered the Kagami thug group. Kinda remind me of that disciplinary guy in Kill la Kill with the whole Gakuran uniform. The head dude got a pretty sick Mecha-Ude but turned out to not even be a mini-boss but just cannon fodder for Aki and a tool for manufactured tension. And that’s where Hikaru and Alma got pushed way out of their mental comfort zone. Hikaru was like “screw that doctor dude, Aki might have something for me” and then Aki dropped the line that really pushed him over the edge. And after the fact that he tried to save a bystander kid who he thought was in danger. His action wasn’t recognized and Aki just denied all of his effort to keep up. While it may just be a spur of the moment thing, it really did hurt Hikaru.
But then it quickly fell apart when they encountered the Kagami thug group. Kinda remind me of that disciplinary guy in Kill la Kill with the whole Gakuran uniform. The head dude got a pretty sick Mecha-Ude but turned out to not even be a mini-boss but just cannon fodder for Aki and a tool for manufactured tension. And that’s where Hikaru and Alma got pushed way out of their mental comfort zone. Hikaru was like “screw that doctor dude, Aki might have something for me” and then Aki dropped the line that really pushed him over the edge. And after the fact that he tried to save a bystander kid who he thought was in danger. His action wasn’t recognized and Aki just denied all of his effort to keep up. While it may just be a spur of the moment thing, it really did hurt Hikaru.
And then we get to the redemption/comeback portion of the episode. The smol kid turned out to be Kagami Jun – a member of the esteemed Kagami Group with insurmountable power. And he’s also after the Trigger Arm – Alma – as well. And this kid is on another level, the first person who was able to dominated Aki in a fight. Basically escalating the strength of the villain group. And he blackmailed Hikaru into handing Alma over if he doesn’t want Aki to die. Of course, even though she was harsh to him, Hikaru is still a nice guy and he won’t let anyone die for him. Furthermore, the commander at ARMS said he will abandon Aki (which I’m sure is just a pretense to spur Hikaru up) and that sealed the determination for Hikaru.
And the fight between Hikaru and Jun was great. Hikaru actually pulled off some great moves with Alma even though he hasn’t shown any it since the start. The rolling double punch was pretty smart. And the aerial roundhouse kick as well, I didn’t expect Hikaru to be able to pull those sorts of moves. But of course Jun isn’t your run of the mill Mecha-Ude user, so he easily slap him away. And again, we got the usual derision and mockery about Hikaru’s inability to fight. I mean, the guy WAS a normal student until 2-3 days ago so expecting him to fight like a trained combatant is ridiculous, which is what they want the viewers to think and sympathize with him for sure. And that makes the payback moment that much better.
And then, the epic OST came up. Jun ripped Alma from Hikaru. Usually, it will completely disable the user but of course, this is the mc and the Trigger Arm we’re talking about. The two rose up together and attain a new form that looks super badass, with major Generator Rex vibes. And we get a bit of a Trigger feeling with how they animat the finishing move. The part where Hikaru and Alma looked eye-to-eye during the punch shows that they are now one-mind-one-body. Hikaru’s eyes also shine with Alma’s pupil, signaling their complete “Isshin Doutai”. They are now one, and their power has awakened. Absolutely insane sequence from start to finish.
And the fight between Hikaru and Jun was great. Hikaru actually pulled off some great moves with Alma even though he hasn’t shown any it since the start. The rolling double punch was pretty smart. And the aerial roundhouse kick as well, I didn’t expect Hikaru to be able to pull those sorts of moves. But of course Jun isn’t your run of the mill Mecha-Ude user, so he easily slap him away. And again, we got the usual derision and mockery about Hikaru’s inability to fight. I mean, the guy WAS a normal student until 2-3 days ago so expecting him to fight like a trained combatant is ridiculous, which is what they want the viewers to think and sympathize with him for sure. And that makes the payback moment that much better.
And then, the epic OST came up. Jun ripped Alma from Hikaru. Usually, it will completely disable the user but of course, this is the mc and the Trigger Arm we’re talking about. The two rose up together and attain a new form that looks super badass, with major Generator Rex vibes. And we get a bit of a Trigger feeling with how they animat the finishing move. The part where Hikaru and Alma looked eye-to-eye during the punch shows that they are now one-mind-one-body. Hikaru’s eyes also shine with Alma’s pupil, signaling their complete “Isshin Doutai”. They are now one, and their power has awakened. Absolutely insane sequence from start to finish.
At the end, we see a bit of levity and comedy as Aki thanked Hikaru and confided in him on what she’s looking for in the Kagami Group. It does show that she trusted him more now and is more comfortable in sharing some more intimate things with him. And of course she’s got a mild case of tsundere lol. And then our clueless school girl came in with another romcom moment, obviously throw in some laughs at the end. Overall, ep 3 is a very standard execution of the usual shounen trope
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