 It's the end of the series, but then it's not - while this is the final volume of Gravion, sequel series Gravion Zwei
is waiting in the wings (whenever ADV finally take a notion to release
it). That goes a long way to explaining why this disc doesn't really
resolve anything, instead leaving a lot left open for the next series to explain...
10 - Crack
Sandman seems to have something up his sleeve - he's tasked Gravion's
maintenance team with soming up with a pilotless control module, the
Phantom System. Just what is he planning? Meanwhile, there's a Zeravire
attack while the Gran Knights are out shopping with the maids. This
attacker has immense destructive potential - if not destroyed, every
living thing within 100 kilometers will be killed - but when it takes
Cecile as a hostage, Eiji goes after her & Toga's left with a
command dilemma: can he risk killing Cecile & Eiji in order to
destroy the Zeravire?
11 - The Thing That Was Lost
Eiji's quit the Gran Knights after his 'disagreement' with Toga over
tactics in the previous battle (he was almost killed, after all). He's
returned to his normal life, while those left at the castle try to make
do without him - but while Eiji's outside learning the value of what
he's been doing with Gravion (and what life's like for his friends
during an attack), the rest of the team are realising it's not the same
without him. Not to mention that the Phantom System just doesn't work
as well as a real person in the cockpit, which is thoroughly proven
when Gravion is unable to defeat the latest Zeravire attacker...
 
12 - Because You're With Me
While Gravion continues to fight what seems to be a losing battle, Eiji
& Leele are stuck underground in an attack shelter. With his friend
Yumi having been injured during the attack, Eiji's got a whole new
appreciation of the value of what he's been doing, and it's enough to
persuade him to put his issues with Toga to one side and rejoin the
team. With the full crew back on board Gravion, they finally have a
chance of repelling the latest attack - but with three Zeravire now
involved, it's not going to be easy...
 
13 - White Steel Fang
"Eliminate. All humans. Their existence." The message from what appears
to be the Zeravire 'mothership' as it approaches Earth. It's learning
from the defeats of the previous Zeravire war machines that have been
sent, and it's beginning to overtake Gravion's abilities. The
maintenance crew are doing their best, but when a Zeravire attacks EFA
headquarters, it seems it's time for Sandman to play his 'ace card' -
the White Steel Fang...
 
I remember the howls of protest at the very incomplete story here when the show first aired in Japan - at that stage Gravion Zwei
hadn't been confirmed, and we were all left thinking the whole thing
was going to be left hanging. Fortunately, that wasn't the case - but
these 'final' episodes do have an 'end-of-series climax' feel about
them that's a bit off-putting when you know there's more to come.
While there's the odd fanservice-y camera angle around, these
episodes concentrate almost exclusively on story - the characters are
learning about themselves, their limitations, and the task they've been
landed with, while also having to deal with the increasing difficulty
of dealing with the Zeravire. While it's still done in a fairly
light-hearted way, it's not as blatantly comedic as it was before.
Being Gravion, the story plays to the giant robo powerup /
victory from the jaws of defeat stereotypes & tries to make them
its own. From one point of view, that's a disappointing lack of
originality - but it's also what most people would expect from
a giant robo show, and it works well here. There's no real tension to
what's going on - you know from experience what's going to happen - but
it plays out well & I did find myself giving a mental 'ganbarre!' or
two during the final battle.
Overall, Gravion has been a fun little series, and I'm glad
there's a second season on the way. It plays up to the stereotypes the
genre, and does it well - making the series great fun. It even has
re-watch value. Well worth checking out. |
