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Now in Japan
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Written by maehara
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Friday, 25 May 2007 17:00 |
 GunParade Orchestra serves up two more episodes of Sara & co before switching to a completely new setting and cast of characters, and all without warning. Confused? You will be. It's certainly an unusual little twist, but I can't say I'm overly impressed...
8 - The Incomplete Battle Squad
Sara's squad is actually starting to work like a team for once, and it training at least their skills seem to be improving - although Sara still doesn't think they're ready for a real battle yet, and so decides that she needs to step up their physical training again. Just what's needed to get Arisu and Noelle complaining again, but then that never really takes much. That said, all Sara's efforts seem to be doing is exhausting her squad, and surely that's not how she'd want them to be if they were called into action? Saika eventually has a word with Sara, and gives her a simple piece of advice: strength alone doesn't win battles. When the Aomori twin bridge comes under another heavy genjyu attack, Sara & the 4th are called on to provide cover for the civilian evacuation, and Sara gets first-hand experience of how true Saika's advice was...
9 - The Flame of Battle Burns Within
When a gaki is spotted amongst the genjyu headed for the bridge, it brings back to the 4th the humiliation of their last mission at the bridge - it was a gaki that broke past them that time and destroyed one of the spans. This time, Sara's determined not to let history repeat itself, but to stand any chance of success she'll have to take a chance with the lives of some of her unit. Perhaps it's karma at work when Noelle and Arisu get the call for that part of the mission. But while the gaki is eventually dealt with, the 4th's greatest challenge yet is about to appear...
10 - Dogs of War
The 105th Shibamura division do things a little differently from the 4th - no mecha here, instead the division use Raiden "weapons" - animal mutations powerful enough to take on the genjyu themselves, and each bonded with a member of the squad. Despite that, they haven't been doing well in battle - initially ordered to prevent the genjyu spreading south through Japan, their lack of success in doing that has led to them being called away from active duty. During their retreat, one of the squad members is separated from the rest and severaly injured in a genjyu attack...
First, the final two episodes (for now, at least) of the 4th's exploits. The squad's kinda pissed when they don't get to join the bridge assault - military command clearly still doesn't trust them after they screwed up last time, and puts another unit on the sharp end of the operation. True to form, Arisu and Noelle are both ready to ignore orders and head to the bridge - but just for once, Sara exercises some command authority and pulls them up for their attitude. About bloody time, but also possibly a case of too little too late. I had also hoped that the Terrible Twosome™ had given up their antics, but apparently not, and for me that's one nail in GPO's coffin. When the bridge assault goes badly, the 4th finally gets the callup to provide support, so they finally get their chance to prove themselves and everyone's happy, but there are just too many issues with the way the kids behave themselves for me to really enjoy what's going on here.
Episode 10 shifts to the other end of Japan and introduces a new cast of characters: Commander Shibamura, a very overweight and rather evil-looking kid who seems to care more about his own reputation than the welfare of the people under his command; Kaen, a red-haired girl who seems to be chanelling some of Noelle's attitude; Gen, whose burning passion would maybe be more suited to an old-school giant robot show; Michiru, a reporter who's been embedded with the unit; and a few more besides. In contrast to the 4th and their mecha, the 105th's "Raiden" animals provide a slightly different twist on fighting the genjyu, but I can't say I really see the point. There's no warning given of the shift in focus (although it's possible that will be clarified in a later episode), so we're just dumped into this new setting and left to figure it out. It's almost like watching a new series.
I've been sitting on the fence about GunParade Orchestra pretty much since it started - its predecessor, GunParade March, had a set of appealing, strong characters and more of a focus on the effects of the war, and that made it very easy to watch. This series doesn't have the strong characters - they're far more obnoxious or inassertive - and the focus has shifted more towards their relationships. That would have worked fine if they were a likeable bunch, but they're not, sadly. Completely shifting the setting to a new location and set of characters half-way through doesn't help, either, whatever the reason for that was, and so my patience with the series has finally run out. GPM showed the potential this setting has - but GPO has completely failed to capitalise on it. Pass. |
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