Jul14

Sidonia no Kishi: Daikyuu Wakusei Seneki 11-12 [END]

By , posted under ANIME, Knights of Sidonia

Farewell Sidonia, at least until they decide to give you another season.

spring15-irenesIn the end, this last final battle was different from the ending of the first season. While not as epic, and a little anticlimactic, it had some great moments to it. Nagate shone more brightly here than he did in any of the battles previous, taking on mountains of Gauna single-handed, all the while trying to protect both Tsumugi and Izana, as well as one of the leftover recon team redshirts. The battle on Planet Nine, isn’t exactly what I thought it would be, since for most of it, there is only a few individuals engaged in a skirmish, and it is only at the end when all the Gauna and the rest of the Garde pilots show up.

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However, what a skirmish it was! We have Izana and her commander on the run from a Gauna that could fuel quite a bit of nightmares. We have Tsumugi engaged in her largest battle of the series as she must face down, who is for all intents and purposes, is her aunt. And of course he have Nagate, who becomes the series’ Rambo or John Wayne, as he must face hundreds of Gauna coming at him from all sides, alone with only a gun and a knife as protection. Yet, he doesn’t hesitate or back down. All that awkwardness that we see during those slice of life moments is gone, as our ace pilot becomes quite another beast entirely when out on the battlefield.

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Which one is the actual chimera again? 

Tsumugi has a lot more problems though than her partner, in facing her opponent. Benisuzume, perhaps the most powerful and coldly beautiful of the Gauna, is even more fierce this time around than she was when we saw her last season. I have to wonder how much of Benisuzume is Gauna though? Is she actually more like Tsumugi, and has more human in her than we think? Was Benisuzume more like a Chimera? When that little human-sized Hoshijiro appeared out of the Gauna flesh, it seemed to have have it’s own awareness and emotions separate from the rest of Benisuzume. She tries to crawl away in fear, while Benisuzume is sitting in wait in order to strike.

And strike she does! She learns and adapt extremely fast, and knows how to take advantage of another’s weaknesses. The fact that she took the chance to use Tsumugi being distracted by the human-looking Hoshijiro to strike her own death blow that changed the tide in her own favor was really fascinating. Tsumugi finds herself in mortal danger as Benisuzume turns into an energy vampire, using the Chimera’s Higgs particles to rebuild herself, and is about to perform the coup de grâce, when Nagate in that moment steps in to save his teammate.

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And thus we come to the most talked about point of the series finale, Benisuzume/Hoshijiro’s reunion with Nagate. When Benisuzume enters that cockpit, it’s feels like a scene from out of a horror movie, where Nagate is trapped and can do nothing as this Gauna fills the chamber with its crimson blood-like essence. The imagery and the clashing hot and cool colors or hot red and electric blue create a fantastic atmosphere. And then the humanoid Hoshijiro appears, slowly filling Nagete’s field of vision, looking at him, human eyes and all.

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Darling, did you miss me? 

At that moment, you can suddenly feel the chemistry that was between Nagate and Hoshijiro return like a flood and you are reminded of why these two were the closest there has been to an official couple in the series and why this woman continues to haunt Nagate to this day. You can see the fact that he’s frozen as he watches her movements, and even when he tries to disassociate the woman he loved with the Gauna creature before him, he can’t quite shake her thrall.

The kiss scene was both horrifying and sizzling all at one time. If I’m not mistaken, this was Nagate’s first kiss, and it was one that I can bet he’ll never forget. As for Beni/Hoshijiro, I’m not quite sure what’s going on with her. As a Gauna, she could have killed Nagate 27 different ways while holding him captive in that cockpit, yet she doesn’t. She feels an obvious attraction to him, and yet has never met him in the flesh before now. I go back to my theory that perhaps Hoshijiro isn’t as gone as they think, and that somehow, some part of her has mixed with the Gauna to create this chimera of a creature that is Benisuzume and all of her other duplicates. Yet, if that is true, I have to wonder how much did Hoshijiro really love Nagate if he was in her consciousness to that degree, that even when mixing with a Gauna, she still loves him? That was some serious feelings going on there.

Sorry Izana, first girl gets dibs on first kiss. And she called “no take backs”. 

Anyway, Izana is able to help Nagate to snap out of it and destroy Benisuzume for good, though interestingly, the Hoshijiro in his arm survives but falls unconscious. Gauna surround them all and Nagate is out of weapons, but still defiantly faces the huge swarm with his kabi katana. But they are saved by the rest of the Gauna pilots who use the opportunity to destroy the rest of the Gauna on the planet. And thus the battle of Planet Nine is over. Yeah….it was a little blah, after so much build up over the season. And yet, despite that, the scenes we did get, were some of the best animated and choreographed fights in the entire show.

Yes, I think you guys have earned this.

And so, rather than try to make a patched together conclusion to everything, they really just end everything Star Wars IV style, with an award ceremony as Nagate becomes the first decorated officer on Sidonia in centuries. Planet Nine will be Sidonia’s main base for some time to come, and they will be able to use it in their upcoming war. Yes, Kobayashi is still a piece of work, and now plans to use Nagate as her poster child and motivator for the rest of the pilots to do her bidding. Ochiai is still evil and still making plans using Tsumugi’s unknown sibling, and he’s taken control of the new Hoshijiro Gauna clone that Nagate brought back, stating that it’s always good to have “spares”. Nagate goes back to his old home that we haven’t seen since the beginning of the series, where he reminisces about his “grandfather” and how far he’s actually come since the beginning of the series, before being called back out to service again.

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Yeah, we’re not evil. Really!

Series Review

It’s not a true ending really, and yet it is still a satisfying conclusion to the series. Nothing was really resolved, and yet it still feels like a good place to end–at least for right now. I do think that this series deserves another season as there was so many plot points that have been introduced that we should see some pay off for. It felt as if they were following the manga verbatim, so they left in all the plot points that the manga was building for the long haul, but ended before we got to see what it was eventually going to build too. I would be a little disappointed if we don’t get more to continue the story, but we’ll just have to see what we have in store. As for this season as a whole, honestly, despite all the plot threads that were brought up and not resolved, I still felt that this season was a proper successor to the first, and it not only continued to build this fascinating and intricate sci-fi world, but also was able to do well by the characters and allow us to see them change and grow as the series continued. It allowed us to have some subtle villains, whose undiscovered presence alone makes them a threat. Nagate and especially Izana grow as characters this season, and Tsumugi’s addition was a great one.

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Ya did good, kid.

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There are still so many questions that we all still have, but I don’t feel as if I was cheated out of having answers to them. I just feel that if I’m patient enough, I will get the answers I seek. even if this series doesn’t do a third season, there is the still ongoing manga to check out. It did a great job with what it did do, and I’m infinitely grateful to it for introducing me to the world of Sidonia.

 

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About

A Chicagoan biochemist, teacher, and an aspiring virologist, with a love for science only rivaled by my love for movies, animation, and anime. Both a lover of action/adventure and romance, I'm a girl who walks the entire spectrum. Mecha, Sci-Fi, Psychological Thriller, Romantic Period Piece, if it's has a good story, I'm there.
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5 Responses to “Sidonia no Kishi: Daikyuu Wakusei Seneki 11-12 [END]”

  1. skylion says:
    July 14, 2015 at 5:28 pm
    POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments

    I went from being rather blase about the franchise from the first series, to becoming a fan by the time the second got into full swing. I thought they did a great job balancing science-fiction, combat, human (in whatever form they appear) relations, and high ideas. I wish we got a bit more into the science part of it (the photosynthesis seems like a complete hand-wave…it can’t be the same as plants), but that’s my thing.

    Thanks for covering the show, you’ve given a great deal to think about the past three months!

    Reply
    • IreneSharda says:
      July 14, 2015 at 6:34 pm
      POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments

      Thanks, my first fully covered series! Yay! I hope we get another season, I’m going to miss Sidonia. It’s a good think summer has so much to offer to fill the void. 😀

      Reply
      • BlackBriar says:
        July 15, 2015 at 1:48 am
        POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments

        With an open-ended finale like this, it’s got to have another season. What’s needed to be asked is how will it take to get it.

        Reply
        • IreneSharda says:
          July 15, 2015 at 1:54 am
          POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments

          I think they may be waiting for more material to be written. Listening to some manga fans, they weren’t quite sure if there was enough for a third yet. They said probably, but it would basically just make it. So, maybe in a year or so?

          I’m really hopeful.

          Reply
  2. BlackBriar says:
    July 14, 2015 at 10:58 pm
    POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments

    As expected, an open-ended finale. It’ll be depressing if there isn’t a third season but if there is one, it might take another year to arrive.

    These last two episodes were great and packed with action. They left some big inquires as to what are Kobayashi and Ochiai’s next move. It’s possible the latter’s plan is to turn himself into a Gauna hybrid. Plus, there’s wondering what Nagate would think if he ever found out he’s just his “grandfather”‘s clone.

    When Benisuzume enters that cockpit, it’s feels like a scene from out of a horror movie, where Nagate is trapped and can do nothing as this Gauna fills the chamber with its crimson blood-like essence.

    Horror movie is right. Nagate was completely at her mercy and she with free reign to do with him whatever she pleases. That’s like a predator cornering her prey and taking her time by enjoying having the upper hand. It adds to the sense of despair. I quite enjoyed it, to be honest. If it’s a vampire series, I love having that kind of scenario.

    Overall, a nicely done sequel to the first season. It was good to see the characters again and I quickly took a liking to Tsumugi who is undeniably adorable.

    Reply

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