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R2 DVD Reviews
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Written by maehara
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Friday, 12 October 2007 17:00 |
 Jinki:Extend's timeline-hopping gets ever more confusing, as the Bad Guys™ make their move on Akao, and Aoba discovers the depth of her mother's betrayal. Although not necessarily in that order. I think. One thing you can't complain about with this volume is the amount of mecha action, but would making the story flow in a sensible fashion be such a hard thing to do..?
6 - The Pilot in Black
Kouse's no ordinary Jinki operator - locked in a room as a child and given the task of learning the theory of becoming a Jinki operator, for nothing more than the promise of a biiiig hug. He wasn't even aware that the world he lived in is false - all very Truman Show in a lot of ways. Now, Aoba watches battle raging outside the base as Rui and Ryouhei take on Kouse's attack. Rui's full of scorn at Aoba's reluctance to fight against anything with a human controller, but she at least understands the thinking and offers to let her take back her seat in Moribito's cockpit, where her desire to see Kouse as a friend leads to her taking her own approach to fighting with him - but Kouse's not about to go easy on her, eventually forcing Aoba to fight properly. Later, it becomes clear the Aoba's mother has been working towards her own goals, and they don't seem to coincide with Angel's. The revelation is enough to drive Aoba to anger - which is just what her mother wants...
7 - The Ends of Ambition
Akao's been having strange dreams - about Satsuki operating Moribito, and being stuck in a place she can't leave. Minami's been pestering her as well, about piloting a Jinki herself - she has some sort of protective power that would be extremely useful to a pilot - but Akao suffers from the the same reluctance as Aoba when it comes to fighting against other people. Meanwhile, Satsuki - a pilot candidate herself - has become the target of Angel's enemies, who use a mimic of her brother to get close to her and draw the other operators out in her defence. Back in the Venezuela timeline, Shizuka and her Black Operator, Kokushou, continue to goad Aoba into fighting, trying to push her to the point of hate in the hope of drawing her best fighting skills out of her...
8 - Silvery-Winged Visitor
After her first stint in control of a Jinki while rescuing Satsuki, Akao's begun proper training - Ryouhei even thinks she's got the potential to pass Aoba's skill level, given the chance. All very different from the girl who just a short while ago refused point-blank to have anything to do with a machine that could kill other people, as Satsuki points out to her. There's still a voice inside her, though, that's telling her not to fight - and usually just at the times when the distraction from piloting isn't what she needs. It's not her conscience that's speaking, either - just who or what is inside her mind? Her first real battle should be the test that proves if she's really ready to fight, but a side-battle between two 'enemy' Jinki kind of steals her thunder...
9 - Winner of the Game
J Hearn, one of the Hachi Shojin, has come to the shrine to take on Michelle - no simple battle for him, though, but rather a game. Winner lives, loser dies, and the incentive for Michelle to play rather than walk away is Akao's life - and the knowledge that J Haan was the one who killed her brother. Round one goes to Michelle and allows Akao to go free, but the game isn't over until there's a winner - and Akao's not about to let Michelle take J Hearn on by herself. Definitely a new-found eagerness to jump into Moribito's cockpit, there, but also a good way of evening the odds in Michelle's favour - if the voice inside her will let Akao fight, and if Shiva doesn't get her way...
Up to episode 6, the main focus is on Aoba and Venezeula, with Akao and Tokyo being the sidestory. From episode 7 onwards, that flips around, as Akao becomes the focus - and the 'core' cast changes from the boys at Angel to the girls at the shrine. It's a little disconcerting going from all that testosterone to a bishoujo setting, but that's probably the least of the problems associated with the switch. It's not made clear that there's a multi-year gap between the timelines, making it doubly confusing when Rui and Minami appear in both; Akao's appearance in Venezuela at the end of episode 5 isn't explained in any way; and a few other characters (most notably Shiba) appear without any introduction.
You're really left with two options - to either be horribly confused as you try to parse it all and figure out what's going on, or to just switch off, go with the flow, and simply enjoy what's happening without understanding the "why" of it all. If you don't have the time to watch the series twice (the best way of making sense of it all), then just switching off is the easiest option - between the girls and the battles, there's plenty of eye-candy on view that will make the experience pass painlessly enough. Given a little time and thought it is possible to make sense of the way the two timelines weave & switch - but it's a real shame that it wasn't done in a way that didn't leave the viewer to do all the hard work, and that definitely counts against the series.
Having had the benefit of a previous viewing, though, I quite enjoyed these episodes the second time around. Shiba, for all her lack of introduction, is a great little character - completely unhinged and having great fun being the villain, she definitely brightens things up. The girls at the shrine are a less successful introduction - Satsuki's the best of the bunch, but they conform to the usual set of stereotypes that you get whenever groups of girls appear in a series, and won't really set the world on fire.
The best change to the setup, though, is in having the real villains of the piece turn out to be humans, and not the robot-like Ancient Jinki that were first set up as Angel's enemies. Kokushou and the Hachi Shojin bring a little more of a challenge to the series, and identifiable evil for the girls to fight against, and that's definitely a welcome change. With Akao's capture and potential switch to the Hachi Shojin's side, and Aoba's impending arrival from Venezuela, there's the potential now for the series to end on a high - if the temptation to confuse us all horribly with some other timeline switch can be avoided. Looking forward to the final volume.
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