| After their eventful mission, the pilots have a lot of questions about the strange capsule they saw inside Dancouga's chest--but now the hole they saw it through has vanished and they cannot convince Seimii it really exists. The four go to see Commander Tanaka, who says that although Dancouga was built at the Dragon's Hive, the mysterious capsule was delivered intact by FS and nobody knows what it contains. Ruuriruri notices "strength to rebel" among them, which Tanaka muses might be why they were selected as Team D. "Vladimir", Ardaigun's female manager, forbids boasting about the limited victory it scored, since Dancouga isn't down for the count. Ardaigun's pilot is authorized to use all available weapons against Dancouga next time around. Kurara contacts a former comrade at the Police Department and asks for some research on FS and his backers. Hidaka goes to see Reimii late at night to ask about Dancouga and it's crews before she arrived. Their conversation is interrupted--probably for the best--by the scramble alarm. On the way to the Antarctic, the team is briefed on their mission. It soon becomes clear that Ardaigun has beaten them there... |
A new mysterious element (the "capsule" in Dancouga's chest) is introduced as another (the identity of Ardaigun's pilot) is revealed. I'm dying for an explanation of why it turned out to be her! One of the things that is so much fun about Dancouga Nova is the way it's crawling with mysteries, which for the most part are skillfully handled, and the way answers are delivered in a well thought-out manner which maintains a sense of intrigue and fascination. Who is FS? Where did Dancouga come from, and what is it's purpose? A line spoken by the pilot of Ardaigun makes for a tantalizing hint--"Do you think you can protect the earth from them with that?", implying that some sort of extraterrestrial threat is involved, just like in the 1985 TV series. With only three episodes to go, can a complete explanation be delivered in time? Dancouga's transformation sequence has been reused numerous times, but it is pretty cool. On the other hand, Dancouga's new mode seemed kind of ridiculous to me, and undermined the excitement of the crucial fight scene. In some ways this might have been a better show had it been completely original rather than being saddled with the premise of a twenty-odd year old children's mecha series. The comedy remains good--the idea Ardaigun's financial coordinator had as to what should be done with Dancouga's wreckage was amusing, as was the use of an SD character design for one of the team members. Oh yeah, the "Amerians" are back, too, namely their bombastic captain--if you want to enjoy the humor of anime, sometimes you gotta take it on the chin!
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