Hitsugi no Chaika – 10
What is this, Galaga?
Welcome to Iveco, Wiemac Kingdom. Population: Mostly just dudes. Major industries: Magic fuel mining and refining, lady abduction, and insurrection.
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Ze Infiltrators!
This could be a sports anime
In the last epsiode Team Chaika was very much in need of magic/fossil fuel to power their vehicle. Since most of the area’s reserves got used for for pyrospheres, they had to search in much richer climes. Now this kingdom is supposedly well known for very high mining yields for this fuel, but it is almost bone dry. The populations is also packed with dudes. Hardly any females stick around, and those that do are abducted. That Duke Garvani is one greedy noble, as it looks like he’s using the high fuel yields to power his floating fortress, Soara. What he needs the ladies for is unknown at this point. Hardly matters, since kidnapping women and children is hardly the pursuit of a good guy. I guess they just wanted to paint him in villain colors as early as possible. But I will talk about him later, as Ricard0 Gavarni is a piece of work.
I still have a tough time telling who is cuter
On the public policy front, it looks like that kinda useless king has made a decision. No one likes a rogue agent out there, and even though the advisors could wait for Gillette’s infiltration team of Vivi and Zita to collect intel, they all have itchy trigger fingers. So the alliance raises it’s own floating fortress, the Strata, and mobilizes a sizable ground force to put the Duke in his place. Actually that loud mouth guy does have a point, they should really have acted when the Duke sent the emissary back in pieces. But that’s what you get when you drag your feet on two fronts.
Now once most of the cast is all aboard the fortress, things get very tense and interesting. For one, Fredrica was dealt the harshest of surprise blows and taken out of action quite early. But then, we know that just sets the stage for an awesome return. Also, elevators. Don’t take them. Seriously, nothing good happened at either of those two locations. Akari was separated and ultimately, Chaika was as well. Good thing Vivi and Zita kept to the stairs. This isn’t saying much for them as they are in for a serious firefight later on.
Ze Villainator!
I was sorta glad this wasn’t Ze Cooker!
So, get seperated, get captured. That was a trope well done, right? But without that, we wouldn’t get to know as much about the Duke. Well, about his son. I said he was a piece of work. He loves taking things apart and seeing what makes them tick. And by that I mean, flaying and screaming. That emissary, his family, and one could assume the females he press gangs, anyone around him when he gets bored….This is just the type of guy you want leading an insurrection. And how far could he get without his advisor and wizard, Gard Lancia. And he’s pretty cool, as he guides the fortress, and has developed a spell technique that brainwashes his soldiers making them both subservient, and highly effective as it rids them of those pesky survival instincts.
Geez Akari don’t get so close, you got pink eye!
Then, trust the stranger, lose the LOLi. I was kinda screaming at Toru by this point, he was questioning this mysterious girl, who doesn’t look a bit like Chaika at all, nope, nope, nope. But he just didn’t press hard or far enough. It’s like that old TRPG trope, “You look trustworthy, stranger. Lead on we will follow you blindly”. If that wasn’t bad enough, you know that mind control spell. Yeah, Akari is not quite herself anymore. As she turns on Toru I do wonder one thing. No, not if she gets back in control, but if she does manage to wound him, will she still be able to stuff him to her satisfaction after? No, I hope she regains control. Cause Mind Controlled Badass+ Breaking Mind Control= Big Damn Hero moment. Go for Gard, Akari. Do eeeet!
But she speaks clearly…nope, not Chaika. But she could get you on your knees.
Ze Spoilers!
Things are hotting up for major conflict, and with two episodes left in the first cour, we have a neat little stage set for action, adventure, Relics, and cliffhangers. Something tells me this insurrection is just the first step to a much much larger plan. Now one of Gaz’s Remains are supposed to be in Gavani’s possession, but they didn’t play that card this episode. Which to me indicates that it was deliberate false information just to get Chaika placed on the right square of the game board. So what did you think of the whole of Team White being separated? And just what is the big shared dream that Ricardo, Gard, and the mysterious girl in blue and purple, Layla have in common enough to mount up for combat? And just to keep the thoughts going, who thinks they should kill Gard first? That is one load bearing character right there.
About skylion
All around nerd that enjoys just about any anime genre. I love history, politics, public policy, the sciences, literature, arts...pretty much anything can make me geeky...except sports. Follow me @theskylion
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Ah… my role model. Taking things apart to see what makes them tick. *I’m so curious~~!*
So another Chaika Ranger appears next week! (Hopefully) I still think that this whole getup has been masterminded by Papa Gaz, just like how Lulu’s Papa and Mama orchestrated the whole thing.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Yeah, the 500 year old mage doesn’t have a cheat death back up plan? It’s all to Based Vecna.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
doo d-doo d-doo d-doo d-doo d-doo d-doo d-doo d-doo d-doo d-doo d-doo, do d-doo d-doo-d-doodoo-d-do
I kinda thought this was a bit lame. Everyone just blundering into the bad guy lair, and he’s super mind-controlling everyone. Just didn’t do it for me, nor did mini-freak show.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Well, I did to. Not the best, not the worst.
…and man, did we do much of anything else besides arcade games back in the day…
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 386 comments
Nope, clearly we need more games
POWUH: Beginner (20-35) with 29 comments
After watching this ep. I have a couple of theories. The fortress’s armored masked soldiers are the brainwashed captured females (possibly the magic only works or works better on females)and Layla is obviously another Chaika, except without a speech issue (perhaps from a different batch or one of the original clones).
It’s hard to tell if Team White’s separation was preplanned or random – Layla seemed surprised at Chaika’s entrance initially and Ricardo and Gard’s reactions didn’t indicate anything premeditated (though all is possible in anime land). My guess is another plot device to get us biting our nails a bit before the finale of the first cour).
What else could the villainous trio’s shared dream be other than world domination? Or at least part of it – and possibly using Layla as a figurehead for re-taking Gaz’s throne? I’d say that’s what Ricardo and Layla want, the wild card is Gard though, my guess is he has a few schemes cooking. Therefore taking out Gard first would tactically be the best move but unlikely to happen as he’s holding the (rather large) Gundo! It’d be too easy to take him out first, his magic is what’s keeping the party going!
I’m anticipating some aerial battles on a large scale with the Soara and Strata flying fortresses locking heads, and heads should be rolling all over in fact next episode – looking forward to it! By the way, what are the chances of Toru making a decent stuffed mannequin after a battle with a dragoon! This is something really worth pondering on! Thanks for another brilliant review!
POWUH: Beginner (20-35) with 29 comments
Yeah,the females probably are the soldiers just brainwashed. Either that or they are actually being used for magic fuel which would be terrible.
POWUH: Beginner (20-35) with 29 comments
I never thought of the magic fuel option, if it’s true that fortress is a real slaughterhouse! Could even be both options considering the amount of females that were taken away =O
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Wow, I think that takes the cake? Well, if they start sacking towns, lot’s of folks die. Take the females as a pre-emptive…for reasons.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Uh, weren’t the soldiers rather large to be female. Not all of them can be Briene of Tarth…
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Magic… With magic you can do anything. Including beefing them up.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
No…because no.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
NO!! That’s wrong on so many levels!!
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
0:(
*walks away with plans to beef up their moe with kemonomimi and kemonoshippou*
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
You see! This is totally acceptable. Even in this show.
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 386 comments
or could we use magic to make them loli’s hiding inside the suits?! though i think thats what we mean by
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
Maybe the armor is like power suits and the pilots are much smaller. In that case the pilots could easily be female.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
…keep going…we could have the next episode finished by day after tomorrow.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Borg-style armour.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I was thinking more of the animated armors from Devil May Cry 4. That’s what they look like to me.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
The only Chaika that’s had a speech issue so far is Coffin Princess Chaika (we’ve only seen the red and fake green ones, tho). Red just didn’t talk much.
POWUH: 400-499 with 462 comments
Theory: Layla is the real Chaika Gaz. The girls are being taken and either murdered or mutilated. One way or another, they are being turned into copies of her, and being sent out to retrieve remains and bring them back here. Most likely the girls get “taken apart” by the child psychopath and reassembled as Chaikas. Chaika seemed… suspiciously enthusiastic about them needing to get inside that fortress, despite not having cast any detection magic to find the remains or anything else. I think there are subconscious commands in her mind telling her to go to the fortress.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I love how these comments are stretching the plot. You guys are just awesome weird…
POWUH: 400-499 with 462 comments
I was already theorizing several episodes ago that the Chaikas were regular girls who were decapitated and had a cloned Chaika-head put in place on their body, based on the ubiquitous scarring. This just seems like the first place that might fit for a production facility: mass kidnapping of young girls, and a lunatic who likes to “take people apart.”
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
The decapitate things is plausible, but I think the ring around the neck has moe to do with that magic sigil on the back.
POWUH: 400-499 with 462 comments
The thing is all wizards apparently have that. We’ve seen many of them hook up to things to use their magic, but only on Chaika has a scar been seen, and more importantly has it been pointed out twice.
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 386 comments
that just sounds very weird, though very interesting idea too, my question is.. why clone heads? wouldn’t it be easier to clone full bodies? or maybe they only have tech to clone body parts, if so.. why not clone Daz’s body parts?
POWUH: Beginner (20-35) with 29 comments
The loud mouth guy who makes up the king’s advisors though had a point while his character just ticks me off he has a point there is not other choice but to stop the flying fortress under Gavarni.
I can’t say things are looking particularly good for our heroes especially Toru but we’ll see what happens next week.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Yeah, a person could tell someone where to go and what to do with themselves and neither the direction nor the action is very nice…but do it sweetly!
Not pointed at you btw 🙂
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
So would you say they’re driving the fortress around Iveco like a big truck? 😀
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
…or a test drive?
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
An Iveco is a van-size Ferrari.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
You blaspheme the name of Ferrari comparing it to a truck.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Seriously: Fiat owns Ferrari and Iveco. Perhaps that is why people here try to race the Ivecos.
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
Wonder when we will see Earl Lamborghini, the seductive Countess Ferrari and the ninja Toyota from the Far East.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Well, we did have the Koeniggsegg Empire with Lord Scania.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Myself, I’m waiting for the Renault twins, Peugeot and Citroen, along with Countess Dacia and Viscount Seat.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Countess Dacia Sandero.
Sir Royce and Bentley.
Lord Maserati
Baron de Volkswagen.
and…
E. Honda.
BTW, the ninja Kawasaki sounds better.
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 386 comments
Is it bad that I dunno what is going on here? mixing car brands with countries and people, This could be an anime idea.. or transformers mixed with iconic hero’s? idk.. but this is a fun read..
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Actually this has been around since the days of Magic Knights Rayearth.
We’re just postulating future characters.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
We need the electormad scientist Tesla…
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
I’m personally enjoying the growing mystery of Chaika and the Gaz Empire’s true nature myself.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Problem is there are only two remaining episodes leaving us to wait until Fall to see the rest.
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 386 comments
So we get to have more speech issue moe chaika to look forward to in the fall.. neat!
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
In the meantime, we’ll have Summer shows to keep us occupied.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
About time these talked about floating fortresses made an appearance and they did not disappoint. They’re absolutely massive. An easy bet would be the emperor’s remains are its main power source apart from the fossil fuel.
Ricardo is a very sick and depraved kid if he can take such pride and joy in bragging about dissecting his own family members. Not surprising if some of the captured girls have already died by his hand. After that performance to Akari, I can say with reassurance that no tears will be shed on his account should a gruesome and agonizing end befall him. Odds will be on just that.
Pfft, nothing’s more infuriating than acknowledging a loud mouth jackass like that pompous advisor making a good point. It’s not conducive to the people’s good health leaving dangerous things roam free. But I have a feeling when dawn breaks, he’ll unleash all military power regardless of potential casualties. He just strikes me as that sort of individual.
All serious stuff aside. Why is Akari so intent on having Toru stuffed?
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
…so she can have a body pillow?
I’m willing for even money that Soara is fueld by Gaz parts, but that it still needs magic/fossil fuel as it is massive, and a Remain can only power so much.
POWUH: and Yaoi Fangirl~ with 2320 comments
Flying fortress named soAra. The author sure is creative
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
…and we also have the Stata, which should mean like geography but could be like Stratosphere…
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Hmm, I thought it WAS the Strata.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
…was?
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Your reference makes me think of one of Miyazaki’s movies. Castle in the Sky.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Ba**su!~