| Godannar #5: International Affairs |
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| Thursday, 26 June 2008 | |
 Another week, another volume of Godannar, and a little diversion into matters of love and loss, as the series finally finds something that really grabs my interest. It's probably not a good thing that it's mostly not about Anna & Goh. Let's get down to business...18 - Ice-Cold Smile Over at Vega Base, Ekaterina is undoubtedly the star of the show - beautiful, elegant, and an ace pilot to boot, she's the centre of attention wherever she goes and maintains quite a social life. That social life's about to be interrupted by the mimetic beasts - and for that, she's going to make them pay. Or at least, she'd like to - but her working relationship with her partner isn't quite what it could be. Back at Dannar Base, meanwhile, Anna's working with Shizuru on learning to properly control Go-Okusaer's plasma drive - despite having successfully piloted the mech in battle twice now, she can't seem to do anything right with it in training simulations, and it's beginning to get her down. With her goal being to surpass both Shizuru and Mira in ability, she needs to do better - but it's not that easy.   19 - Genesister, Out of Control Anna's difficulties in controlling Go-Okusaer see her passed over in favour of Mira during the latest memesis attack - something that Anna finds difficult to deal with, but it's an incentive to continue her training, if nothing else. Once again, she's not the only pilot with problems, either - Luna's partner, Shadow, has been battling with strange feelings over Luna of late - feelings that are becoming ever more unhealthy as time passes and Luna fails to respond to her in the way she wants her to. Shadow's aware that what's going through her head is wrong, but what can she do about it? Back at Dannar Base, meanwhile, some data retrieved from the battle against Max reveals what the mimetic beasts are doing to their victims...     20 - The Sorrowful Song of the Peach Blossoms Rabid Syndrome: the name given to the effect that contact with the mimetic beasts had on both Max and Shadow - and after examining Shadow, the authorities now believe they've traced the cause. The good news is, that it seems to affect only those who have particular masculine traits - the bad news is when, over at Diner base, Moukaku (co-pilot of Goddiner) begins acting strangely. Is he to be the Syndrome's latest victim? Back at Dannar Base, the news is broken to Goh that he, too, may be at risk of ending up like Max...     Three episodes, three takes on the same basic story, and three attempts to bludgeon you over the head with the "real" story that's underpinning Godannar at the moment. I'd make complaints about it being an unnecessarily repetitive way of getting the point across, but if truth be told, I enjoyed this volume of the series more than any other so far, for the simple reason that we finally get to have a decent look at some of the other characters that were introduced way back and then forgotten about. Ekaterina's episode I wasn't so fussed on, as her overbearing, "I'm better than you" nature and the way she treats her partner didn't really endear her to me, but the other two were far more enjoyable and well worth watching. There's not a huge amount of fighting in any of the episodes, as the focus is on setting up the relationships of the featured teams, but again that's no bad thing - one of Godannar's big flaws is how little development most of the main characters have had, and while you still don't really get to see what makes Anna or Goh tick, you do get some good looks inside the heads of Shadow, Luna, Moukaku and Shukuyu, and for me that's what made these stories so appealing. Of course, there's a purpose behind all this mush, and it's to point out how much danger the male pilots are in, if they continue to take the controls of their mechs - a point that's reinforced by Moukaku's fate. It's all a bit over-dramatic, maybe, but then that's something this series has never shied away from, and it does make for good viewing. The problem is that it's all being done to fringe characters who, aside from the development they get for just this purpose, aren't really important enough for you to care about. If (when?) the Rabid Syndrome strikes Goh, then we'll have an issue - but for now, this is just a three-episode diversion from the main event. At least it's an enjoyable diversion. It's not good when the most enjoyable disc of a series is also probably the least relevant to the story. Godannar's main story - the fight against the mimetic beasts - is in danger of becoming a real damp squib, and for all that this volume is hugely enjoyable, I still have real doubts about whether the series as a whole will be worthwhile. The remaining two volumes will answer that...  |
