It's a Trap!

So Fam’s (and the Sky Pirate’s) ambitions end up getting them in trouble, as the Ares Federation knew the transport would be a target too good for them to pass up. It was only by sheer luck that they weren’t all destroyed by the fleet. And now the 1st Fleet has suddenly shown up as well.

Giselle is clearly feeling like she’s the odd one out with Millie i the picture and becoming such good friends with Fam. Fam clearly doesn’t think anything has changed between them, but from Giselle’s point of view, their relationship seems to be approaching a breaking point. If Fam doesn’t return to the pirates once she fulfills her promise, I’m not sure what Giselle will do.

Hecate has an objection

We now see that the unrest with Yuji having Shana is shared by all three members of the Bal Masqué trinity, and even though she was the quietest before, clearly Hecate was the most disturbed by it. Yuji also finally gives an answer to the question as to why he is keeping Shana, though whether that’s truly the whole answer is yet to be seen.

I got all confused by Yoshida’s conversation with Khamsin. Clearly the story he told was his own personal story, but I guess I don’t really get what it had to do with Pheles’ cross. I understand that it furthered this notion of love conquering all (not in those words, but that is effectively the theme here) but..whatever. I guess we’ll find out eventually.

Meanwhile, Yuji and the Trinity are going into the gate, which leaves the Palace of the Stars vulnerable, which is probably right when Wilhelmina and Rebecca will show up.

On the Night of the Festival

This was a good episode, though I was kind of caught off guard by the introduction of new characters who I’m not sure got a proper introduction because they were almost treated as if we had seen them before.

First was Riho Shihomi, the photographer that Fu had sent pictures to in the first episode, and from who she received a train ticket with no destination as a charm from. Fu seemed familiar with her, so apparently she has met her before between the start of the series and this episode, or has otherwise kept in close contact.

Next was Shouko Hirono, one of Kaoru’s old friends, who had apparently moved away before even Fu had. I’m not even really sure what her purpose was, other than to maybe show that Fu has gotten over her father’s death by having Shouko ask about him, not knowing that he’s died. Otherwise, her character seems to be relatively unexplored as well.

Also, we had lots of talk about the festival and how it’s important to Fu, but I’m not sure we got a clear picture of why it’s important to Fu. Maybe I just missed it, and maybe it’s something that one is supposed to just kind of “know,” but I felt it was kind of missing.

Don’t get me wrong, I still thought this was an OK episode, but I think it might be the weakest one so far for the reasons above. It just kinda felt things were happening without giving a proper explanation of why or who these people were.

My Molesters the Yamadas

I guess liking something that isn’t small is so beyond Souta’s ability to comprehend that he thinks what he’s feeling is some kink toward masochism (which his sister Nazuna already thinks he has, which didn’t help his confusion) and not feelings toward Mahiru.

Meanwhile, we meet another character, Kirio, who is obviously Aoi’s brother, but to this point they haven’t run into each other. However, given the fact that Mahiru gave him directions to the restaurant, and Kirio is crazy abut Mahiru, I figure it’s only a matter of time.

Meanwhile, Hiroomi, who could once again easily clear things up due to knowing exactly whats going on due to his intelligence network, happily watches and laughs as things unfold. I hope some day we find out how he finds out so many things about people.

Fam: biting off more than she can chew since 2011

This is essentially the same type episode as the 8-hour race episode from the first series, though in that case, it was a cover for a secret auction while in this case it was for Fam to get the ship.

Some other things established in this episode include the fact that, while we don’t know how long Dio and others have been back, it’s been less than 10 years, since it was after the last Grand Race. We also learn that Anatoray has established an Exile kingdom somewhere. However, their exile doesn’t appear to be one of the six moons, since they appear to have been around longer than that. It also makes the likelihood of seeing other characters from the first series much more likely.

Finally, it seems like more is up with Luscinia assassinating all of the nobles than meets the eye. I think he pretty much knows that the ships were stolen, and trumped up the treason charges as an excuse. The question is why. He references some wish of the previous empress, Farahnāz, but we have no idea what it is, beyond, perhaps world peace (which Luscinia hasn’t really been promoting).