Model references for
-Lucia Elowen
-Kamanosuke (Ukinami Yuzuha)
Zenless Zone Zero
*Please note that Lucia's released model uses incorrect textures for her chest
*Tumblr REFUSED to upload Yuzuha/Kamanosuke's references, you can find the full version in the Google Drive
Welcome back, folks! You knew I was gonna be back to cover the second season, right? Last season ended on both a downbeat and a cliffhanger and I, like you, have been waiting for season 2 all spring and into the summer. And even though the new series wasn’t what many people expected or asked for, I’m looking forward to following it with you to the end. Maybe we can generate enough buzz over it to get a season 3!
We start out with a flashback with poor Lil’ Gai and the poor Lil’ Braves (at least five of them) abused and endangered by Ramaga. We always got the impression that the Braves weren’t inherently evil, even if they eagerly followed Ramaga’s orders, and depicting them as scared little kids confirms it. We see Ramaga used to have a human body… what happened to it? Apparently Ramaga’s evil degrades any human vessel it touches so he has to keep body-hopping, which explains why he possessed Ryo and tried to possess Gai.
Also, there only five of these Bravelets that we can see... where'd the other five come from?
The stones that the DST rejected have become the cornerstones of the agency and the ruling party. The guys even have their own set of questionable merch that won’t make any of them one yen personally. At least the full-coverage armor means they can walk around in public without being mobbed by adoring fans… to the likely regret of Yamato, who wishes he could show everyone he’s better looking than the promo art would suggest.
~~~
Animators: “So what imagery were you considering for the new OP? Maybe a boy-band vs. heavy metal contrast? Or do we wanna go the chibi route? Maybe some angsty psychological horror shots? Or some fun cosplay? Then again, maybe we should just stick to some good clean sword-fighting since that’s what the series—”
Production Team: “Yes.”
Animators: “Okay, but which—”
Production Team: “YES.”
Animators: …
“Awright, fuck it. It’s all billable hours anyway.”
~~~
Nasuti would have been fired if she hadn’t quit, and she knows it. Her possession by the Jewel is probably the only thing that saved her from a charge of high treason. Narumi, as she first appears, has an impeccable sense of duty, taking neither shit nor prisoners… even if she does melt like Yotsuba Hokkaido butter the moment Coach Sanada walks in the room. (Don’t we all, honey.)
It’s already been spoiled for us that Ryusei comes back—sorta--so why doesn’t Mirei come back with everyone else? As hypothesized by Hojo (of all people), people turned into Puppets could be revived but not people turned into monsters. Sadly, that means Yoshie Utsugi is also gone for good.
Everyone’s reaction to the weird membrane swirling across the Tokyo skyline…
Too bad about White Blaze being carted off by Animal Control. At least Jun’s getting back to his roots… and even walking off some of the weight, it looks like. He can send them back to the Demon World, but what can they do when they get there? Can they summon the Supreme Emperor, or at least a halfway viable facsimile thereof, with just four fighters?
That deli-mustard-and-salt-flakes sky was omnipresent in any Demon World scene in the OS, suggesting that all those battles we thought were in the heart of the enemy realm were just on the edge of it. It might explain the origins of the other warlords that showed up while Arago was dormant (Saranbo, Lord Saber-Stryke, etc.). There was (and is) an entire realm, worlds within worlds, that the OS Troopers never explored. They never even to visit the farmer’s market.
I’m not still not sure what a Zabiru is, but Musashi, you are it, and he is you.
Naturally, Gai is just as much a stubborn-ass in “death” as he was in life.
The scene in the market further confirms that the two sides in the Human vs. Demon World conflict may be relative… and there may be a day when they aren’t enemies at all. Of course, we have reason to suspect a third party is setting the two up to fight. But apparently both sides have limited familiarity with the Divine World and its starkly black-and-white morality.
Anyway, here’s that cool samurai action we’ve been waiting for. Shion’s upgrades to the armor pay off immediate dividends, and it’s awesome to watch. Too bad the divine energy Inmei imbues the tin cans with immediately cancels out all Shion’s hard work!
Can it be? Yes! He’s back! With his pecs out and cool tats and a bitchin’ hairdo and… shit. Shit. That’s Ramaga in there. Bastard got what he wanted after all.
Oh, and just to rub salt in the wound, here’s Ryusei presumably all Brainwashed and Crazy™ . That’s two of their old buddies they’ve got to smack the evil out of.
Thoughts on 鎧真伝サムライトルーパー | Yoroi Shinden Samurai Troopers, Episode 3: Link (it was AMAZING):
I love Yamato's mascot costume so much.
I love that he's still in the orange armor, with a vague wilderness-y vibe to it with the leaves. The panda maybe being a reference to Shu (he loved eating and cooking!) somehow would be funny lol (At a stretch, he had Chinese ancestry and pandas are often associated with China, but... mm...) Also, Shogun (from Mr. Villain's Day Off) would be all over this costume cause panda aldkjalj
I love that Yamato's plan was to nearly get squished by a train. He's brilliant. Let's keep him.
-sees him sexually harass Mirei-
Actually I think he should die for the greater good and Mirei should get to kill him.
The initial sequence on the train was fascinating in the sense that this series has a decent budget and so many of the characters were off model. Ryusei: Become Spaghetti v Kaito become hamburger:
Outside that, did Nasti use the Jewel on Yamato off-screen? Why did they let him on the train if he's not allowed there? Why not just kick him aside? Are they afraid of him hunting down the train again or grabbing on and not letting go? They were seemingly fine with Gai murdering four of their child soldiers, why do they care about one they don't like?
So Ryusei failed Kaito in the end, which makes it seem like Yoshie talked to him or had someone else talk to him, which is likely the, "Look, it was complicated" explanation.
The softness in Nasti's eyes as she listens to Ryusei and Kaito bicker is curious.
I wonder if she's remembering how her old team used to interact and is waxing nostalgic about it. Memories :3
This sequence is mostly hilarious in that Ryusei is looking down at Yamato having a crisis on the floor alkjdlaj I don't know, I found it funny (ignore the very bad off model shot):
Things we learn from the Braves:
Nezzie was a nickname for Nezu? Cute!
Anayama was close with Nezu! Also cute and interesting, like learning about their dynamics and friendships! Given Anayama's design is sort of shounen-generic creepy, I like learning more about him as a character.
Also the memorial holograph having Nezu's eyes closed alkdjalj He really did struggle with his magic, huh.
I think if the one message taken away from this series is that yakisoba is delicious, this series will have accomplished an important thing. Because yakisoba is delicious and ach I want some.
There's a lot of things in this sequence and looking back as a whole on the episode:
Kaito is very good at noticing things, like Ryusei's illness, and that Gai is good at manipulation, especially in regard to getting the other Troopers to do what he wants. Kaito can also view this not solely through like, a "Gai is manipulative and therefore evil" lens, but also through a, "Gai is doing this to help us be stronger as fighters/as a team" lens. Sometimes training is about tricking your brain into doing things, especially when fear and survival is involved.
Kaito also does not feel kindly towards Gai (or his feelings are complex), despite what they went through together: it didn't solve everything, which I imagined would happen, regardless of how closely they end up working together. What Gai did was still fucked up in a number of ways, and as Kaito points out later in the episode, Gai still killed a lot of people. Regardless of his age and upbringing, there has to be accountability for that. His age and upbringing will factor into it (hopefully, as we don't always send underage kids to prison for life), but many people are dead because of him, personally, killing them, voluntarily. Child soldiers are a messy business at the best of times. That the show is choosing to sort of deal with this topic is fascinating, especially given it's a hot one in shounen and shoujo circles and has been for decades (e.g., Puella Magi Madoka Magica also dealt with it a bit).
And Gai still views himself as separate from the others. They view him as a suspicious former demon, and he views them as humans, and himself not as a human. It'll be interesting presumably when he starts getting to a point where he identifies as a human. What will his regrets be, if he has them? What will his hopes be, especially since he clearly likes human culture so much?
The "you'll train in VR to save time" thing is decently common old hat in shounen (e.g., Märchen Awakens Romance also did it, and Yu Yu Hakusho did it). But it's still giving me The World After the Fall vibes (even though that's not shounen and also Korean) lol Jaehwan getting locked into voids for eternity to train, and a bit happy about it.
The school arc from the ED is canon, I can't even T-T I love this so much!! We even get Ryusei in the glasses, ah!!! And Musashi in his cute pink sweater :3 (I wonder who picks the clothes alkdjlaj did they have options??)
The show does an odd thing with how the other boys deal with the murderer among them, and Ryusei kind of... hand-waving the, "There will be accountability for Gai later, and it's different because of how he was raised." Again, child soldiers are a messy real world topic at the best of times. And also, Yamato, Kaito, and Musashi (and Gai) are all kids too. And Ryusei, last I checked, is also just a teenager (an older one, but a teenager as well). (But also, I was a kid when I learned about child soldiers so it's not like it's impossible). And also, Ryusei is trying to convince them Gai is different while also getting all these child soldiers to go back to the meat grinder, soooo... complicated ("child soldier bad but you need to keep fighting and maybe die for us and we're the good guys!"). The DST is such a mess and I'm really fascinated to see this show explore it if it does. It did not put nationalists as the main backers for this organization for nothing.
I have a really low tolerance for "character explains something complex but not complicated or overly scientific and difficult to parse, but it's designed to sound difficult to parse, cue characters falling asleep/asking for an even more simplified version of the explanation", even when, in this situation, Ryusei is teaching you know, young teenagers. I get it, attention spans and Gai and Yamato's personalities, but guys, he really did not explain all that much, come on. This is not physics. It's "you have a bracelet that can activate three things." A phone is more complex than this, and Gai doesn't have an excuse because he presumably knows what a cassette player is, and that's a lot more complicated that Weapon-Gear. I used to carry a Walkman around, Gai, you do not have an excuse.
We're also still jumping around how the weapon-gear was created, though we have an acknowledgement it was designed for DST. By who? Shion?
Ryusei being the reason Gai has to get naked in front of the others is just alkdjlaj Why do they have to watch him, Ryusei? To bully them into getting through this faster so they don't have to watch Gai be nude alkdjlaj "LEARN THIS OR WATCH GAI BE NAKED MORE!"
The sleeping sequence was adorable aldkjalj
They fight right before falling asleep and/or Gai strangles Yamato in his sleep alkdjalj Yamato is a bit older so the continued brotherly vibes is really cute.
Kaito being a secret otaku is still cute XD Wonder if we'll learn more about the group he's into. I'm also curious how his fake/imaginary phone works in VR alkdjalj There's so many steps here that don't make sense.
After a while, I was like, "Okay, Gai, you're just making shit up here" aldkjalj I hope we get to learn what all these things are. Let the new boys have a trauma trip through the Youjakai! That was one of the funnest arcs in Yoroiden Samurai Troopers! But also, guys, literally he seems to have spent his formative years in another place, stop being pseudo racist lakjdlaj The guy literally has never been in a human school before this.
Yamato being such a good big brother. His relationship with Musashi is so sweet. I do also love that the show is carrying over from Shuu and Shin's relationship, a bit. It's sweet to see. Not the same, but still. There's something there.
I'm curious why Shion is the only person who could have made this. Did he really design the Armor-Gear or some part of it? Is he YSST Iron Man but with Green Arrow's tactics alkdjalj
I'm really curious what Ryusei's illness is.
Is it something caused by the armor or something he had beforehand and seems to be exacerbated by the armor, like a heart or lung condition? He has so many death flags in the ED and that one in the OP, I don't know... Especially now that Shion is on the scene and ready to take over. I really hope Shion doesn't kill him T-T
The humorous classical door closing transformation sequence for the big monster is so adorable. Really reminds me of shows like Tenchi Muyo that used to do that stuff a lot for transition sequences. I can't say I care much for the 3D monsters, but that animation was cute. If you're going to be cheap, at least have fun with it, I guess.
And now Kaito and Musashi have transformed into their yoroi :D
I love Ryusei's exasperated, "Of course, [the training counted for something]" aldkjlaj Kaito, you're so mean aldkjalj
It was pretty obvious from the get-go what Gai was doing with Musashi and Yamato, but I imagine someone (maybe Shion down the line?) is going to dress him down for being so cruel about it. Beating up your teammates to get them to act is really not the answer, Gai, especially if it only works in the moment (as Ryusei explained during the training). A moment at least shows there's potential, but it's not a permanent thing, hence the requirement for training. [We'll ignore that apparently a lot of Ryusei's training was beating up his teammates alkdjlaj]
According to the Japanese twitter fandom, the guy who voices Musashi and Yamato's mysterious, red sweater savior, is Kusao Takeshi, who voiced Ryo in the original Japanese dub, so it may really be Ryo! I hope he doesn't die T-T Please just inspire them and keep living and don't die T-T Also, where is Byakuen???
His speech with little Yamato and Musashi is really cute. I am however worried about him talking about supporting each other while also being alone. I know he liked being out and about on his own, but where are his friends T-T Please tell me he went to visit them after this. I don't want him to be alone.
Also please protect the little brothers from the abusive orphanage, maybe-Ryo T-T
I really liked Yamato's transformation. The rock animation was cool.
Smirks all around.
Though, while Kaito clearly caught on early to what Ryo was doing with Musashi and Yamato, it's unclear if Yamato's smile is from seeing how Gai didn't turn on them and/or is a semi-decent leader and can see where issues in their team are and how to fix them, or just because he's happy Yamato finally came around and/or brotherly bonding between Musashi and Yamato. Kaito is clearly softening towards Gai, but there's still tension there.
I find the show's continued focus on music as connection to be very intriguing, and I'm wondering what they're trying to communicate with it. That music can connect because it's inter-generational and international? That even people from different worlds can bond over it? It wasn't as big a focus in the first series, but between the release of the original series and the sequel's release, there were a lot of covers that came out, and the fandom does get excited over that kind of thing (in part because we had little else, other than the 2021 Langrisser Mobile collaboration, some physical disc re-releases, and some action figures T-T), so it's an interesting turn to take. Not a bad one, just interesting.
Anyway, Gai and Yamato bonding over music was cute (and funny) lol I imagine Gai will do the same with Kaito at some point as well. Maybe we'll get the alleged Samurai Heart group song at some point lol
I do like seeing them all standing together in their armors, though I'm less of a fan of it being the 3D stuff. Ryusei after that first transformation last episode and in parts of his fight with Anayama in his armor was less... this.
It's fine and I'll adjust to it (even with Gai's weird upside-down sword), I imagine. I'm just really not a fan. This was not fun when Sailor Moon: Crystal did it and there was understandable fandom backlash to it until they got rid of it entirely. Even if it's not the silly Betty Spaghetti stuff (ignoring the 3D villains, which are... fine, I guess...)
And Shion arrives, looking like an extra in an 80s/90s shounen lol Or the galaxy police from Tenchi Muyo lol
Oh no... he's not that... He's Saotome Alto from Macross Frontier (in his flight suit he wears before he gets his mecha):
I knew he reminded me of someone besides most any other long-haired ikemen or bishounen. Dangit. I am doomed. Don't you dare death flag him, Sunrise!!!
That Shion seems to be targeting everyone is interesting. And that he's an ex-Trooper is fascinating. Is he why DST was stuck with Musashi's old team? Is he why Ryusei is ill? There were theories I think that Shion might do something to Ryusei, but we'll have to see...
Overall, it's a great episode XD Looking forward to more Shion at last! And everyone. And I guess we'll see if Gai absorbs Kamanosuke, too...
