Shinkalion Change the World Ep 9 & 10 Review: A Shoujo’s Heart

In both previous Shinkalion show, we have an almost identical unit with the main Shinkalion – the E5 Hayabusa – which is the H5 Hayabusa. And they were all piloted by crossover characters – namely Hatsune Miku and Maetel from Vocaloid and Ginga Tetsudou 999 respectively. But in Change The World, we’re getting an original character to drive it. But the H5 Drivers all share one thing in common: they are all young bishoujos with some serious skills.

The series started off with a twist! They introduced us to Shi – a handsome ikemen that is much older than our main trio. He looks to be at least college level while maintaining a very polite and mature atmosphere. However, from promo material, we already know the driver of the H5 will be a young girl. I think they wanted the audience to think this is her brother and he was somehow the initial driver then passing it on to his sister. Not gonna lie, that would be cool as hell. However, they went another route by having Shi being a male avatar to a girl in real life. Conversely, they might want to raise awareness that people online might not be who they seems to be. In Shinkalion’s Metaverse, everyone can look like anyone and it’s just a plot convenience that our cast’s avatar looks exactly like they do irl.

However, the hints start popping up with how Shi bringing up a lot of girl talk topic, and directing it towards Mai in the first place. Halfway through the episode, we can already deduce that Shi is actually Shion. And she’s running into a love trouble (of course). Well, Mai and Ryota being the busy-body that they are, give

Things quickly came to light after an encounter with Ten’s friend and Akane noticed the awkwardness in Ten’s behavior and words. One of the things I like about Akane is he’s quite honest and straightforward, and also very observant – which suits his position as the sharpshooter. This is also quite similar to the previous E6 pilots. And it seems we’re following a “pattern” for some of the pilots here. And Ten is just like the pilots of previous N700s, in that he has amazing fighting instinct. I reckon he could even take all three of the main trio by himself. But that also marks his “suffering from success” issue. Due to being too good, he can lose touch with his surrounding people and will cause others to alienate him. To avoid that, he restraints himself on purpose but with Akane’s keen eyes, he spotted that almost straight away, and that opened another can of worms.

If others knew Ten was holding back for their sake, they’ll feel a bit…insulted maybe? or maybe even inadequate. At least that’s how Ten’s friends were feeling, but not Taisei. Ryota also quickly came on board since he’s a dunce and didn’t really get it, but they showed that they didn’t care about Ten’s superior or inferior complex, they just want to be friends and fight side-by-side. This also remind me a lot about other geniuses that separate themselves from others like Kira Yamato from Gundam Seed or Sui Kaburagi from Fafner. Prodigies are often socially awkward, and Ten is not to the point of Sheldon Cooper, but he’s just a bit too naive.
Thankfully, Ten has realized what he needs to do, as well as everyone’s feelings for him. He rallied and joined his comrades in the fight. Although the N700S is known for using fists in melee-combat, Ten opted for equipment like Taisei – the sword and shield. To be honest, the action in CTW still isn’t as good as the original series. The battle choreograph before the finishing move is still a bit sluggish and naive. I guess it’s still the beginning and I hope we get more exciting combat later on. Furthermore, I love the finishing moves as well as the brief Dynamic kill animation, but it’s still not the same as the original series. Why is it so hard to make it like the og? It was so much better than. I missed it in Z, and I still miss it very much in CTW. But still, the combo in ep 8 battle is very cool!

Overall, Ten is a great addition to the cast. He’s not overpowered, he’s good but he’s got some awkward moments. And he’s not a 100% goody-two-shoes like he initially seemed. It’s great that he has grown as a person and started reaching out to build meaningful relationships on his own without worrying about his “complex”.

The next pilot is the girl that pilot the “fisticuff” E5 Dozer Form. And she’s as young as Ten so that’s going to be a very interesting arc. A young, ferocious girl that really lay the beatdown on kaijus would be great to see!

Aaron
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