Sora no woto 1-2

Finally picked up this series, during this relatively quiet winter season, due to the glowing guest review over at Okazu. I had been somewhat put off by how the characters resembled the KON! cast. I enjoyed KON! just fine but the idea of it being transplanted to a military context was very unappealing. Thankfully Sora no Woto is quite a different kettle of fish, especially the way this series reminds me of other anime, a string of family resemblences that sing a siren song of the possibility of drama, something which also hooked Suguru (via Ani-nouto).

Lost Ancient Technology x All Female Unit had a tinge of Simoun where one of the points of tension was how many of the girls had difficulty adjusting to the change from priestess to fighter pilot. Though here, in Sora no Woto, it's the other around with the girls signing up as soldiers but having to re-purpose as priestesses.

Though only Rio has had to do the miko cosplay and then only in the first episode thusfar, the Seize festival story of the maidens and the monster, as well as the priestess-centric OP, raises my expectations that this aspect of the story will not be an insignificant one. The ritual reenactment of their fiery mutually assured destruction makes me worry for the very likeable cast even at this early stage.

The maiden's spider ally being an allusion to the Takemikazuchi tank was another hint that history will repeat itself, possibly as tragedy. And Kanata's underwater sojourn uncovered a headless Loch Ness Monster, suggesting that the festival story has more than a ring of literal truth to it.

The whole Tragic Bad End for Priestesses x Yuri Sprinklings (as well as the name of the tank) also made me think of Kannazuki no Miko which really broke new ground with its fearlessly brainless gattai of mecha, miko and yuri. Kannazuki's ending didn't really make much sense and the plot development had its share of problems but the anime succeeded in sweeping me along with the sheer momentum of Chikane x Himeko doramaz. Which was quite a feat because I actively disliked Himeko. Given that the Sora no Woto girls are being set up for Self Sacrifice Immolation To Save The Local Town, I'm looking forward to some Looming Crisis and Hard Choices as this series develops.

This hint of dramatic irony, where Felicia and Rio's discussion could apply to Kanata as well as to the audience, was a small reminder in an otherwise very funny second episode. It's not quite the Pantsu Thief episode from Mai HiME - which was all the more deadly because it disarmed me, allowing the later shock of the battle royale to be all the more effective. The "Mahoro's system will shut down in XYZ days" message at the end of an episode (especially the funny and/or happy ones) still gets the Hardest Kick To The Nuts award in my book.

(youtube 2:02-34/5:52)
"You are Prime Minister today! The phone might ring now from NATO Headquarters!"
*Ring*
"Hello, yes. NATO Headquarters, Prime Minister."

Kureha's tsundere service still has some way to go before it reaches Senjougahara Level but she does have the requisite archetypal twin tails.

Do not underestimate the power of the Ufufu x Ara Ara. I'm betting that Felicia will be one helluva kickass tank commander.

"Is Rio as scared of ghosts as Kureha?" I thought as the two of them pumped each other up on Denial Juice.

"LOL! Rio's even more scared than Kureha!" The comic timing of the scene transition was simply perfect. And the contrast between Cool Rio at the end of the first episode and Scared Silly Rio here was simply wonderful. Can see why she's the crowd favourite.

♥ Rio confirmed when she yelled "食ぞう！" at Shuko-chan. To me, animals that cannot be eaten are a waste of time and space. Though this owl is one smart cookie because it knows that Felicia is Boss.

Another SRSBZNS moment was how Kanata eventually helped Kureha come to terms with being in a lax, non-job unit. But I suppose when things heat up, one would look back on these lax days with less opprobrium. This mix of Unit Pride x Uselessness evoked my fond memories of 801 TTS Airbats especially with how the initial drama came from the unit members working desperately to prevent the all-female pilot air acrobatics team from being disbanded.

While it is also apparently a band of misfits, 1121 doesn't have an institutional existential crisis but I can't help but wonder why, despite supposedly being useless, does Army High Command directly issuing a posting order for Private Second Class Kanata - don't they have lower formation HQ staffs to do that kind of thing? Though I suppose given that the Army is the only place to learn music in this world, the Helvetica Army could be tiny enough for HQ to do this kind of admin.

Noel's sleepiness reminded me of Sanya from Strike Witches - another series with an all female military unit. The gender imbalance obviously caters to the male viewer demographic. However Strike Witches and the Mai HiME/Otome franchise still bothered to explain that girls were the ones doing the fighting because only girls can have the necessary super/magical powers. There's still no official explanation as to why this unit in Sora no Woto is exclusively female. As Yuuko Ishihara has oft said, there is no such thing as coincidence, only hitsuzen.

Looking forward to see how things develop.

P.S. Gosh that's a nice watch.

P.P.S. Kanata cannot read moon runes but her personal seal has her name in moon runes - she can't read/write her own name in Not French?

Related posts:

1. Sora no woto 4
2. Sora no woto 5
3. Sora no woto 8