Ange, Tusk, and Dragon Vivian wake up to find themselves in a strange new world… or, y’know, Japan. Oops. I’m getting ahead of myself. We’re not supposed to know that yet.
— I thought we’d get a new OP, but this is the only thing in this week’s OP that is new (I think).
— After the OP, which I hastily skipped, we find that Tusk has set himself to fixing up their mechas. Ange, on the other hand, hops onto Vivian’s back in order to scout out their surroundings. She eventually runs into Mount Fuji, but naturally, she doesn’t recognize the iconic mountain for what it is. She then spots a broken down Dawn Pillar and is convinced that they are currently in some version of the Misurugi Empire. Well, given what she knows, I guess that’s a pretty reasonable hypothesis.
— When she returns to Tusk, the latter tries to dispel the tension in the air, but Ange gets pretty goddamn worked up about the whole thing. The former princess is just so unlikeable. She seems to flip out at the drop of the hat.
— That’s when some robot suddenly rolls by with a message for survivors. They should make their way to the nearest shelter, ’cause we are obviously in some post-apocalyptic version of Tokyo.
— I’ve long accepted the fact that Cross Ange‘s animation is pretty subpar, but I still laughed out loud when I watched this moment in action.
— When they get inside the shelter, however, they find that all of the survivors have long died. This time around, I don’t mind the fact that the bodies are just grey husks. After all, they’ve been decomposing for quite some time.
— Eventually, our couple demands some answers from the shelter’s computer, which is somehow still operational. As a result, Ange and Tusk get a brief history lesson. Apparently, the world fell victim to a catastrophic World War Seven. In an attempt to end the conflict, a bunch of Villkiss-lookalikes tried to take matters into their own hands. The result of their actions are, however, predictable enough:
This is a Japanese story, after all.
— Our heroes then ask the computer how long ago this war supposedly occurred. The computer claims that 538 years have passed since humanity nearly wiped itself out. Welp.
— Then Ange and Tusk leave. What? That’s it? You have an advanced computer in front of you, and it seems to know a thing or two about the strange world around you guys. But despite this, you don’t try to ask it any more questions? Uhhhhhh…
— Because WW7 supposedly occurred 538 years ago, our couple suggests that perhaps the Villkiss had taken them 538 years into the future. Naturally, if any of us were in their shoes, we’d entertain all sorts of possibilities. Like, y’know, the idea that we’ve been sent to the past or perhaps even another dimension. But both Ange and Tusk aren’t exactly the sharpest knives in the drawer. Not only that, it’s like a poorly executed plot twist. If the characters keep thinking that they’ve gone 538 years into the future, then perhaps the audience will believe it too. Then we’ll reveal the truth, which will blow their freaking minds!
— Anyway, Ange continues to be her unlikeable self. She’s now in full denial mode, and she’s convinced that what the computer had shown her is nothing more than complete and utter bullshit. She overworks both Vivian and herself in an attempt to find anything that might help her case. Deep down, I suspect she knows that it’s the truth, but our former princess is still spoiled, so she’s basically throwing a tantrum.
— Eventually, the topic somehow turns back to Libertus, and Ange refers to Tusk as nothing more than Jill’s dog. I honestly don’t know why she’s so goddamn bitter about Libertus. Yes, to a certain extent, Jill is only using Ange because our heroine can pilot the Villkiss. But is that really so bad? Libertus, if it succeeds, will allow everyone to live in peace. How can anyone oppose that?
— Everyone has their limit, and Ange finally manages to draw an angry reaction out of Tusk. She says he’s garbage, and likewise, everything that he believes in his garbage. So the guy goes full-angst mode on us, because Ange essentially called his dead parents garbage for dying for a cause. Whoops. Riveting character development. One bratty princess and a personality-less hero who somehow managed to wander from of his own generic show and into this mess of a series.
— The next day, Ange sulks for a bit… until she spots some cheap, tacky shit in a rundown mall, and this encourages her to kiss and make up with her friends? But what can I say? It works on Tusk. Man, earthly possessions are the key to happiness!
— Later, they manage to find a hotel, but somehow, they don’t recognize the place for what it is. Ange thinks that the place was perhaps a castle for some aristocrat. C’mon, are you trying to tell me that her world doesn’t have anything remotely similar to a hotel?
— The hotel has clean, running water. How convenient for our heroes.
— Uguu, you don’t have to sleep in the hallway. You can sleep in this big, comfy bed with me! Or, y’know, the myriad of other rooms because this place is a goddamn hotel. Hell, even Vivian has a bed to herself, so I don’t even know why Tusk was initially going to sleep in the hallway. Maybe he was trying to guilt trip Ange into letting him share a bed with her.
— Dude has seen her naked, but he still acts like sleeping next to her in bed is a big deal. Welp.
— When he thought Ange had fallen asleep, Tusk tries to sneak out of the bed that they were sharing. Ange then asks if perhaps he doesn’t actually like her, but considering how much he’s molested the girl in the past, I very much doubt that this is the case.
— Tusk then tells us his life story, but I don’t care. I don’t care one bit about any of it. It’s just so generic. He basically claims that when he first met Ange, she managed to give his life meaning. It’s pretty corny nonsense. Nevertheless, his story seems to impress Ange.
— Uh, is that so? ‘Cause I mean, this doesn’t look the actions of a pure boy to me.
— Whoa, what’s going on, you guys?!
My word!
Even Vivian is freaking out. But alas, our couple didn’t get very far. They share a kiss and nothing more, because this asshole just has to show up out of nowhere and ruin the fun. Tusk got cockblocked by a dragon. Don’t worry about him, though. A creep always finds a way.
— These girls also come with the dragon, and they refer to our heroes as “false citizens.” More importantly, they welcome Ange and Tusk… to True Earth! Let’s not sit here and come up with any boring theories, though. We already know that Embryo is some sort of creator. We already know that he can wipe the slate clean if he’s dissatisfied with how the world is turning out. We already know that he can revive dead people as if he’s God. The story is unfolding in a pretty bog standard fashion. We don’t even need to sit here and think about what it all means. It’s pretty much spelled out to you.
— Anyway, Ange’s lesbian lover is not pleased whatsoever that our heroine nearly gave herself up to the generic shounen. So prepare yourself for some drama in next week’s episode.
— All in all, I still feel as though Cross Ange’s revelations are not that shocking and actually kind of boring.
Moe Sucks 
Villkiss will have a hidden fourth form, figues.
So Embryo destroyed the world, figures
Go fuck yourself, Ange, for trying to shit on Tusk’s comrades and family’s sacrifice. Our protagonist, ladies and gentlemen
Ange saw what Embryo’s machine can do, saw the footage, and the boddies, AND SHE STILL DOUBTS? Fucking dumb.
WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO BE DECENT, TUSK?
Hotel Mulafaga = Mu La Flaga
~vomits~
Stop it, show. Stop shitting on him again. He was the only decent character in Gundam seed before they fucked him up in Destiny
So the world Ange was living in before is some kind of dimensional bubble
I am betting that Ange’s world is what Mars was in Negima. A “magically” grafted world using the planet itself as its base, which would explain why so many features seem similar. Judging by how small Ange’s world seem to be and all the shit load of islands, maybe Embryo just used Japan.
Following that train of though, maybe most of the residents of Ange’s world is as fake as most of the residents in Negima’s Mars, meaning their entire body is a magically illusion or something. It would explain the “false citizen” thing.
They also changed the background for Embryo and Tusk’s fencing duel in the OP, for some reason (I’d be okay with that being a running gag).
What the hell is that lesbian dragon holding in her right hand in your last linked screenshot? It… it looks like she’s putting it in…
I think Sala just pulled a judo move on her with her superhuman dragon strenght and what you see in her right hand is just Ange’s leg twisted in a very painful position.
I can’t understand why Tusk didn’t already know this story. He is one of the Ancient Humans. He came from this destroyed world. I bet their submarines came from the same place. Depending of what time travel distortion thingy Cross Ange is gonna pull, he either remembers these events or his parents would had told him.
I think you got it wrong. From what I get, the term Ancients (which Jill seemed to have coined) refer to the mana-less people displaced by the mana society and which rebelled against them in Tustk and Ange’s own world. This seems to be an entirely different world, and there is no indication anywhere that Tusk came from this one, so naturally he would not know about it and its backstory.
No, I think Ancient Humans really came from old Earth. Otherwise, it wouldn’t fit with Jill’s story of Creation. Mr. Singing God gave up on humanity. Therefore, he designed mana humans and connected them with his magical mana technology. Then came his mistake, the mutant Normas, he couldn’t fix. We also know that their world is probably artificially created. If that is the case, why would Embryo have created old humans in his world? Hell, they could be the descendents of the people we saw helping him in episode twelve and Embryo abandoned them when they were no longer needed.
That’s one piece of the puzzle still missing. We don’t know yet if Embryo actually did come from the world Ange and Tusk fell into (all we know is that Riza knows the guy).
Besides, nowhere in Jill’s story did she say that the Ancients (which, like I said, she seems to have been the one to coin the term) actually came from another world. All she said was that they were the people who couldn’t use mana and which were displaced by the then newly created mana society in their world.
For some reason, rape is OK in this anime and consensual sex is a big deal.
http://www.norma-online.de
Did you know? They had their own business….
It was ze germans all along!
DA DA DAAAAAANNN!!!!
I was waiting for that crotch gag all episode, and Cross Ange never failed me, tee-hee-hee!!
And there you go, the obligatory Sunrise Earth Feddies vs. Space Nazis fare. But hey, at least it is in the back story and not in the main one.
But, honestly, of the three mecha shows I am currently watching (four actually, but Fafner Exodus is still in its first episode, so it is too early to call. You plan on checking that E?), Cross Ange actually seems to fare the best. Aldnoah Zero just nosedived with that asspull-tastic episode and the return of cyborg Stu (don’t get me wrong, this one has asspulls, lots of it. But they aren’t as downright insulting as that mess A/Z just pulled out).
I’ll watch it, but I don’t think it’ll get its own post mostly because I don’t know when to post about it. I think putting up four posts in a single day is pushing it, and I just feel like writing about other shows instead. It’s not a slight against the show. I actually intended to write about The Rolling Girls at first. After watching it, it’s got a lot of energy and it even looks nice… but I just can’t do four posts in one day, especially when one of them is about a slice of life show. Fafner isn’t slice of life, but it is a sequel.
“Even Vivian is freaking out. But alas, our couple didn’t get very far. They share a kiss and nothing more, because this asshole just has to show up out of nowhere and ruin the fun. Tusk got cockblocked by a dragon. Don’t worry about him, though. A creep always finds a way.”
LOL, thanks sir, that paragraph really made my day.
I like Vivian better in her dragon form, she’s less annoying, helpful and funnier.
I don’t know why Tusk and Ange believes that Embryo is done or something, guy is literally God in this universe, he must be around somewhere.
I don’t know, I dislike how they feel the need to make her talk in both forms. I think they should just stick to her dragon crooning noises.
I think Vivian talking in a human voice alongside her dragon voice is supposed to be a sort of “auditory subtitle” for the audience. But yeah, I would agree that it would have been better if they just stuck with the dragon growls, would have reinforced the fact that Ange seems to strangely understand Vivian despite the latter being in dragon form.
I know it’s to let us know what she thinks. She doesn’t say anything interesting, however, so why not just leave it up to the imagination?
>C’mon, are you trying to tell me that her world doesn’t have anything remotely similar to a hotel?
They show one hotel in episode one.
Ange really is just that ignorant.