Mecha-Ude Ep 6 Review: You Got A Friend In Me
The heated confrontation between Aki and Hikaru’s group heat up even more in this episode as Aki struggle to find a way to help her sister. The truth of the incident is revealed along with Amaryllis’ true intention to take all of Hikaru’s Arbitrium (wow totally didn’t see that coming *wink *wink). And we get a great action episode with some really amazing 3D camera work.
Well first we continued from where last ep left off. I thought Aki would absolutely yank Hikaru’s collar and drag him with her, but she just asked him in a reluctant way. It shows that she actually think more of him and doesn’t take his power for granted. This is proven more when Aki refused Hikaru’s offer to help because she doesn’t want to involve him in her personal matter that may cost him a significant price. Especially after hearing Jun talking about Amaryllis and what a deceitful Mecha-Ude she was, Aki definitely has some suspicions about this deal. But she couldn’t abandon her sister so what went through her mind was probably “if someone has to sacrifice, let it be me.”
But Hikaru sensed her unease and really pushed to help her. But of course Aki refuse and left. We also got to see a pretty cute side of Jun Kagami – like a kid having his favorite friend move away. He doesn’t want Hikaru going with Aki blindly, but then he’s all about coming and stopping her from doing something drastic. And we have another very shounen reasoning here that “you just want to help others to feel good about yourself”. In my opinion, I feel like it’s a very outdated and overused reasoning. Since one can help others to both resolve their issue as well as feel good about themselves. Feeling good when helping others isn’t a bad thing, it’s only bad when you have other ulterior motives towards the person you help. Even if someone help others *just* to stroke their own ego, at least they are helping people. Granted their priorities aren’t very pure, but more people helped and no people harmed is always a good thing.
But Hikaru sensed her unease and really pushed to help her. But of course Aki refuse and left. We also got to see a pretty cute side of Jun Kagami – like a kid having his favorite friend move away. He doesn’t want Hikaru going with Aki blindly, but then he’s all about coming and stopping her from doing something drastic. And we have another very shounen reasoning here that “you just want to help others to feel good about yourself”. In my opinion, I feel like it’s a very outdated and overused reasoning. Since one can help others to both resolve their issue as well as feel good about themselves. Feeling good when helping others isn’t a bad thing, it’s only bad when you have other ulterior motives towards the person you help. Even if someone help others *just* to stroke their own ego, at least they are helping people. Granted their priorities aren’t very pure, but more people helped and no people harmed is always a good thing.
Next is the confrontation. Aki went back to Fubuki and Amaryllis, ready to sacrifice herself. But of course Amaryllis didn’t agree since the only thing she want is the Trigger Arm – Alma – himself. Amaryllis immediately revealed her evil side and called out her dolls. Her tone switch from a worrying aunt to an evil empress was pretty amazing. Yoko Hikasa displayed her incredible range in this role. I almost couldn’t recognize her hypnotic voice since her other roles are very different.
And then the cavalry arrive, well, kinda. Hikaru and Jun busted in but Jun was easily defeated. Well, this ep also served as the stepping stone for Jun to temporarily “switch side” by tapping into his personal issue. His Mecha-Ude, like him, is viewed as “rip-offs” or “inferiors” to the original. Ouroboros was an imitation of Amaryllis, and Jun was basically living in the shadow of his big brother. So Jun wanted to get his hands on Alma to prove himself and gain acceptance. Still, he was defeated by Amaryllis. And so was Hikaru and Alma in their “standard form”. Of course we gotta have the protag lose the first portion for his power-up sequence later *wink.
I guess Amaryllis’ biggest mistake is when she’s monologuing about how Aki is useless and everyone’s just a doll using her sister’s body and stuff. That really triggered Aki’s pain and that in turn enraged Hikaru and Alma. Despite Amaryllis draining their power, they went for the standard procedure when you’re being drained. If you can’t pull, push. If you can’t stop your powers from being drained, overload your opponent by giving them to much power that they cannot stabilize. And it works wonder in this case since Hikaru and Alma broke free, assumed their badass form and kick Amaryllis’ asses.
And then the cavalry arrive, well, kinda. Hikaru and Jun busted in but Jun was easily defeated. Well, this ep also served as the stepping stone for Jun to temporarily “switch side” by tapping into his personal issue. His Mecha-Ude, like him, is viewed as “rip-offs” or “inferiors” to the original. Ouroboros was an imitation of Amaryllis, and Jun was basically living in the shadow of his big brother. So Jun wanted to get his hands on Alma to prove himself and gain acceptance. Still, he was defeated by Amaryllis. And so was Hikaru and Alma in their “standard form”. Of course we gotta have the protag lose the first portion for his power-up sequence later *wink.
I guess Amaryllis’ biggest mistake is when she’s monologuing about how Aki is useless and everyone’s just a doll using her sister’s body and stuff. That really triggered Aki’s pain and that in turn enraged Hikaru and Alma. Despite Amaryllis draining their power, they went for the standard procedure when you’re being drained. If you can’t pull, push. If you can’t stop your powers from being drained, overload your opponent by giving them to much power that they cannot stabilize. And it works wonder in this case since Hikaru and Alma broke free, assumed their badass form and kick Amaryllis’ asses.
But if it’s just that then Mecha-Ude would be totally standard. Thankfully they didn’t. They gave Jun a moment to shine too after Hikaru saved Aki. Jun stepped up and actually ripped Amaryllis from Fubuki’s body, which was pretty badass with the Ouroboros arm tug-of-war thing. So many badass moments this episode accompanied by Kohta Yamamoto’s soundtrack. Furthermore, they are using 3D this episode to “rotate” the camera during combat scenes. The mix between 2D character model and 3D environment really give another layer to the animation. Before this ep, we only got normal 2D combat whereas this episode we get a super important fight with incredibly high production quality. Definitely the highlight of the season.
Aki and Hikaru’s relationship also develop quite nicely as well. Dude’s a total dork and stutter all the time but his purehearted attitude really touch Aki’s. I’m sure the audience is basically Shirayama right now – observing from afar and gushing about them. The episode also setup so much for the next arc as Amaryllis dropped a hint about Alma’s original master and the “thing” Alma did. We also saw the Kagami Group setting up for their big bad machine. The after credit showing a shadowy figure picking up Amaryllis. I reckon it’s Jun’s big brother unless there’s another character at play. The series’ pacing is very decent right now even though it’s not very fast but each episode advance the plot in a meaningful way, and we can always count on the Sawano x Kohta beatdrop for the action.
=Aaron=
Aki and Hikaru’s relationship also develop quite nicely as well. Dude’s a total dork and stutter all the time but his purehearted attitude really touch Aki’s. I’m sure the audience is basically Shirayama right now – observing from afar and gushing about them. The episode also setup so much for the next arc as Amaryllis dropped a hint about Alma’s original master and the “thing” Alma did. We also saw the Kagami Group setting up for their big bad machine. The after credit showing a shadowy figure picking up Amaryllis. I reckon it’s Jun’s big brother unless there’s another character at play. The series’ pacing is very decent right now even though it’s not very fast but each episode advance the plot in a meaningful way, and we can always count on the Sawano x Kohta beatdrop for the action.
=Aaron=
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