Kiddy Grade: March 2010 Archives

It is now Stars Century 0380 (Trixie and Troisienne died in December of 0379). The galactic explosion that was Azlantia warps out over Aineias (one would expect some nasty tidal effects at GTO headquarters, positioned on a shore as it is). The Mistral charges right through the hull of Erde Meteor and Ascoeur leaps out - and falls flat on her face.

Good Smile Company has sponsored this episode also.

Actually, all the GTO is suffering is a bit of rain and the sudden appearance of a third sun. Mi nourose seems to know more than she's been letting on.. and has vanished, leaving her wig behind (now who could he/she be really? There's not that many solo ES-members to think of). Mistral falls away from Erde Meteor leaving a big hole. Ascoeur takes in the rest of the scene - the frozen Rubis, Tama and Di-air. Saphir is holding Q-feuille at icicle point and Torch and Shade appear - but Torch stops Shade using his power.

There's a evacuation warning in a cute voice and the Bomb starts turning red again - this time not even the Erde Meteor will be spared. Torch finally speaks out against Geacht'er. Who orders Shade to kill him - who refuses. So Geacht'er takes him out instead, and he falls, dying, out into space followed by Shade who leaps after him, but gives Ascoeur an opening as he does so by blinding Geacht'er. Q-feuille nearly falls out after them during a quake but is saved by Rubis who is freed when Saphir turns her attention to Geaecht'er, as are Di-air and Tama.

Tweedledee comes on the monitor to warn them that the place is about to fall apart.. the Centurion and the Fenice come through one of the warp gates! Tweedledum uses his powers to temporarily stabilise Erde Meteor and Tweedledee sends Letuchaia and Pauk to effect an evacuation. They start evacuating them but the launch fails as the anchor cable is still attached. Saphir and Rubis get into another fight, until Q-feuille freezes Saphir. The Bomb is heading towards Aineias, with Éclair and Lumière sill in tow.

And - yay Viola! Yay Cesario! Yay Sinistra! Yay Dextera! (now how are they going to explain him having the same seiyuu as Shade?) Also, A-ou, Un-ou with the Salyut and the C-Square - which he has borrowed without permission. Ascoeur opts to stay and deal with her brother while the others leave to free the civilians.

Eyecatch: Entire cast done Moro-style, including chibi Tweedledee.

Ascoeur tries to reason with the madman. Erde Meteor starts falling apart big time. The helpless frozen Saphir falls out, followed by Ascoeur who is caught by Mistral but is knocked away again by debris. She sees her brother also falling and, since she still can't teleport.. swims to him instead. A flare from the planet nearly hits them but they are shielded by Typhon, who falls away in a different direction (seriously, physics where are you?).

Q-feuille and Di-air are holding holds to slow the collapse while Rubis is slashing the anchor cables. And for her trouble is seemingly engulfed in the engine fire as the ship breaks free. Ascoeur and Geacht'er are suddenly no longer as close to the exploding planet as they were, and are in a strong wind - in space. Actually, it looks like they are now falling towards Aineias. Her clothes start burning away - didn't they do this one in My-Otome? They're going for the cheesy bad guy apologises at the end thing by the looks of it. Oh, and then dissolves. Ascoeur can't resist one more incestuous kiss before he goes. Just as well as she has now inherited his powers also (along with his birthmark), which she uses to singlehandedly refreeze the planet. Éclair: "Pokkyun?" Somewhere along the line Donnerschlag-re has turned up. I suspect Calliope is buried under the GTO gardens since they are laid out in an odd shape.

Ascoeur is reaching her limit, but Di-air teleports Q-feuille out to her, so they kiss, join hands and envelop the planet in their golden light. And also sent it away from Aineias, where it turns back into a normal planet again. Convenient for mining but bad for Aineias' orbit and a space traffic control nightmare. Mi-nourose turns up with Mistral and Di-air on a rather dirty and battered-looking Calliope, missing both flex feathers and a side engine block. He's really a rugged bloke with short blonde hair.

During the credits (accompanied by Taiyou to Tsuki):
News announcement about G-society's plot and control returning to the GTO.
Letuchaia and Pauk outside a large house with their Grandmother, Core and the doctor and nurse team.
Rubis laid up in bed with a broken ankle.
Torch and Shade looking all bishie in civvies.
Lumière and Éclair are rewarded for the efforts in saving the universe and spending 25 flipping years in amber by being sent back to the information desk - and get lectured by "pro" Alisa. They looked better in the old receptionist uniforms. Now they're back in their Epilogue uniforms (which they'd been wearing for 25 years even before being frozen.. they've probably gone in an out of style 10 times) reporting to their old friend/new boss Mer.
Viola, Cesario, Sinistra and Dextera also clearly had no chance to change clothes wherever they have been for the last 50 years.
Un-ou get's a lecture from Tweedledee for "borrowing" the C-square.
Eclair meets her old friend's legacy, Di-air. She also seems to know Mi nourose (Dyne maybe?). And is reunited with her son.
Flowers on the graves of the third gens, and also on one for Geacht'er:

The boy just loved his sister
Alfred von Rosenblum
to heaven / jan.SC0380

Post-credits:
Ascoeur, Q-feuille and Di-air are also rewarded for saving the world by being sent back to the kitchen. Ascoeur drops her pudding - but Éclair saves it! She won't give it back so Acsoeur teleports it - and Éclair teleports it back again (...*mumble mumble* retcon *mumble*).

Fin.

Links:

KIDDY GiRL-AND #24 -- The Power of Contrivance (Tenka Seiha)
KIDDY GiRL-AND - 22, 23 (Random Curiosity)
KIDDY GiRL-AND - 24 (END) (Random Curiosity)

This is the first episode Gotoh's done key animation for since episode 1, and the first he's been personally involved in since episode 9.

The burning planet is casting a red glow on everything around. Our trio teleport on board the Mistral which has just warped in (quite how Ascoeur calculated the relative positions and velocities in order to not only get them on board the ship but in their seats I.. will just ignore). G-society's fleet gives them a good pummelling, which Di-air and TAMA are typically enjoying. Suddenly the blue beam spam is interrupted by yellow beam spam from another direction; the cavalry has arrived - there was a GTO fleet locked up in the chronowatsit all these years also.

Having passed the blockage, ahead of them at the pole are three ships - Saphir's recognisable red one, a grey one for Torch/Shade and a gold one for Geacht'er. The more I listen to the timpanis in the accompaniment, the more I think of Evangelion NS.. Thunderbirds? Something Gerry Anderson I'm sure. Saphir is looking more than a little psychotic right now. Not quite "Uso da!" level, but getting there. Her ship packs a mean punch and carries MIRVs. Once the passengers disembark the Mistral reconfigures and now has a mean punch of its own and a turbo boost. Oh, and more MIRVs. It is also very manoeuvrable and can fire perpendicularly.

They teleport onto Geacht'er's ship where he is there to greet them. Basil calls to complain about the whole end of the world thing. Geacht'er ended up in the research facility ahead of Ascoeur because he was rejected by his own family as a child for being born intersexed, which is why she didn't recognise him. The researchers realised he was an excellent subject for ability development but needed a partner to unlock his powers. Ascoeur's apparent death was just the last straw.

Geacht'er is about to give Q-feuille the flower when the Sigerum interrupts. Hiver and Sommer gate in. It would look cool were it not for Hiver's awful outfit. Sommer strikes a cool pose and chucks his little Black Box case. Geacht'er stops time - but Q-feuille is still moving (albeit slowly) towards Ascoeur. Geacht'er chucks his flower but just before it hits her finger touches Ascoeur's.. cancelling out his power and with all three holding hands, turns it back on him. Sommer's case flips open producing a shield which encases him.

Hiver tells Ascoeur to teleport Q-feuille back to Erde Meteor - in order to reverse what Geacht'er has done they need to reverse the positions of the time and space controllers so Ascoeur remains at the North pole, now atop Mistral. They suddenly find themselves together in a pink mist - with Éclair and Lumière. The conversation starts something like:
"Pokkyun!"
"Pokkyun?"
"Don't worry, she's always like that".
They are now spread out at the four corners of the earth, all producing black/white balls. This time the monochrome melange evaporates leaving the planet wrapped in a blue glow. All four participants are now pooped. There's something wrong with the image of people panting in open space. Geacht'er is suddenly no longer confined - his ship is no longer there either, having been an illusion. Erde Meteror's warp gates all activate. The computer will only respond to Ascoeur or Geacht'er but she's to tired to teleport back. Letuchaia and Pauk lead Tweedledee and Tweedledum to the main computer while Rubis and Di-air remain looking after Q-feuille.

Erde Meteor warps out, taking the whole flipping planet with it, along with Mistral and Ascoeur can only watch over the comm as Q-feuille is menaced by Geacht'er. Di-air tries to shield her with her body but it is Rubis who saves them from Saphir's attack - taking an icicle to the stomach for her efforts. Saphir drives it even deeper into her partner before freezing her. Torch is dismayed to see partners fighting each other. TAMA powers up and wraps himself around Di-air just before he too is frozen. They all arrive at Aineias. Mistral bursts through the hull into the room and Ascoeur leaps out..
.
Next episode: Together Forever (いつまでも一緒 Itsumademo Issho)
- storyboarded and directed by Keiji Gotoh.

Links:
KIDDY GiRL-AND #23 -- "Fanservice Should Be Elegant" (Tenka Seiha)
KIDDY GiRL-AND - 20, 21 (Random Curiosity)

Massive fleet of ships warps out at Azulantia. The Siegerum is there also. A battle breaks out between G-society and whoever's army Hiver and Sommer have brought with them.

Back on Erde Meteor, Q-feuille is now back to normal but Ascoeur has worn herself out. Geacht'er gives her a glowy grope. Q-feuille tries to freeze him unsuccessful (after almost calling him her brother automatically). He, however, has no problem freezing her. Saphir is going to dispose of Di-air and TAMA, but Rubis offers to do it for her. After everyone else departs, she asks her to save Q-feuille, then takes out the security cameras in the area on her way out. It is a strain to awaken her powers again, but once she gets a good glow going she floats up to Q-feuille's lips and gives her the extra power she needs to break free. Di-air produces a chocolate box from.. somehere... and Q-feuille uses one to produce her nanomist outfit (making a mockery of the changing room scene in episode 4...). Using their resonance as a guide Q-feuille chases after Ascoeur.

Ascoeur feels the resonance also so knows that Q-feuille is all right, and wakes to find herself strapped in a device which is connected to the four warp gates in order to trigger the explosion. It seems Letuchaia has been told that what they are after is a ball of E-IV energy, but not about the whole end of life as we know it thing. If Ascoeur tries to escape Erde Meteor will be destroyed instead, along with the 50,000 inhabitants.

Torch, Shade and Geacht'er leave on a couple of ships, and Rubis arrives, whispering to Ascoeur that Di-air is OK. Everything starts once Geacht'er reaches the opposite pole. The diagram translates Jikan no Kooritsu ita Kuukan as the "Chronofrozen space-time" and Éclair and Lumière are currently situated at opposite points on the equatorial plane.

Q-feuille and Di-air arrive, much to the dismay of Rubis and the anger of Saphir. Letuchaia and Pauk attack first to protect their Grandmother, but Q-feuille freezes herself preventing any damage. Saphir runs her right through with an ice spear - but it is just an afterimage. Tweedledum and Tweedledee arrive through on of Hiver's gates, followed closely by A-ou and Un-ou. Saphir is a little peeved, but Tweedledee is ready for her this time. A-ou manages to redirect one of her stalagmites so it pierces her. When Rubis tried to run to her she calls her a traitor, slices her cheek open and runs away.

Tweedledee tries to shut the system down, but it requires a physical key - the DNA of the Rosenblum family. Unfortunately they are all dead except for Geacht'er... and Ascoeur. The countdown stops at 3 seconds. Except the timer is a fake. The space unlocks itself, revealing the ominous red planet as well as Éclair and Lumière, with a magical glowing maniac looking on.

Next episode: Unending feelings (とまらない想い Tomaranai Omoi)

Links:
KIDDY GiRL-AND #22 -- Loyalty Issues (Tenka Seiha)
KIDDY GiRL-AND - 18, 19 (Random Curiosity)

So, where were we.. oh yes, Ascoer and Di-air have just gone aboard Er de Meteor and been met by Geacht'er and Q-feuille . Suddenly, an earthquake - all four of the warp gates built into the complex activate, and I'm guessing this whole immense structure is just about to go on a little trip. Yup - the whole thing warps out, leaving Mistral behind. We've finally caught back up with the main story - they're heading for the frozen space.

Ascoeur tries to prompt Q-feuille's memories of Trixie and Troisienne but Geacht'er intervenes. Ascoeur teleports them away to evade Q-feuille attack but doesnt get far due to a teleport barrier. Lynx-form TAMA saves them from falling but now all the Shadow Worker teams arrive. Q-feuille freezes Ascoeur with her Perseus Aegis, completely this time. Just as Geacht'er is about to steal a kiss from his immobile sister (which is all kinds of wrong), Di-air goes super saiyan again, releasing her. The Shadow Workers go on the offensive so Ascoeur escapes - taking Q-feuille with her - but she can't have gone far.

Q-feuille tries again to freeze Ascoeur and is again stopped by Di-air, who is starting to look rather tired. Q-fi has realised that it is Ascoeur not her who is really Geacht'er sister, and Ascoeur says she doesn't want to be his sister which earns her a slap. Di-air again intervenes but she's used her power one to many times and falls asleep. Ever protective TAMA steals a kiss and coils himself around her like a snake. Geacht'er turns up, still playing kiss catch. Q-feuille, still playing the dutiful sister, traps Ascoeur again but she somehow manages to break free and teleports away once again (with Di-air and TAMA) - but they are right on her heels and the chibis snare her with their Crazy Crackers. Ascoeur breaks into tears, struggling against her bonds to reach for Q-feuille who finds herself crying also. Even Letuchaia is affected by the scene and both her and Pauk release their hold on her.

I found the eyecatches amusing this week,

Erde Meteor warps in by the ball of timey wimey stuff, destroying the observation platform in the process. Hiver and Zommer are on their way in the Siegerum. Geacht'er finally has his prey in his arms and plants one on her. Her memories start returning - of her parents on Erde Meteor. There is a video announcement going out to members of the Rosenblum family - who all bear a rose-shaped birthmark: it seems that rather than see the commoners take over they're going to commit mass suicide. Little Lieselotte recognises him as her Grandfather. She is sent away on a ship to be a test subject - like her older sibling before her. It seems this is the only way her parents could save her. Now dressed in a utilitarian grey outfit she is locked in a cell. Alfred is already there but she doesn't recognise him until she see's his birthmark. Wherever they are, he is being tortured daily. He's also gone a little loopy as he almost throttles her. Then she kisses him and they react blowing a big hole in the station they are on. Rubble falls on her and while he's trying to dig for her, she's unconsciously teleported herself into an escape capsule. Think she is dead he screams, and time stops around him. Realising his powers he decided to visit vengeance upon the whole world. Ascoeur's capsule lands safely on Nietos.

Back in the present.. Geacht'er is about to kiss her again to amp up her powers when Q-feuille attacks them without thinking about it. However, they no longer have need for their puppet so Saphir and Shade let loose on her. Ascoeur saves her from being impaled on an ice stalagmite and they (finally?) kiss - causing a much warmer-looking reaction than with her brother. He stops time again but their powers override it, throwing Saphir back and breaking Q-feuille's little controller and.. wow the yuri shippers will enjoy this one, having been disappointed by only one bit of mouth-to-mouth action in the original series.

Next episode: Time Begins to Flow (流れ始める時間 Nagare Hajimeru Jikan) - there's an obvious meaning to this, although there's no glimpses of anyone familiar in the preview (other than some legs I assume belong to Hiver stepping through one of her portals).
Storyboards by Isamu Imakake and for the third week in a row, no other staff announced.

In other news:

Art and other details for the fourth DVD is now up on the official site:

http://www.kiddygirl-and.com/dvdgoods/dvd_case04.html

Links:

KIDDY GiRL-AND #21 -- Automoronic Asphyxiation (Tenka Seiha)

Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/shirobane/KiddyGirlAndNovel1

While it is billed as having illustrations by both Hidefumi Kimura and and Megumi Kadonosono, only the cover, mini poster (a reprint from last July's Newtype) and character page are by Megumi; the rest of the B&W illustrations are all clearly by Kimura. It looks to be an amalgam of both the manga and the TV series as it has the men in black from the manga, and scenes that are taken straight from the anime. It looks like the story ends at the episode 16 of the anime, with the capture of Q-feuille.

In an inversion of the usual trope is is Pauk who get's tentacle graped when the Ahoge Beam mecha goes beserk and, since her knight is otherwise occupied, it is Ascoeur who comes to Letuchaia's rescue. They may have cross pollinated most of the characters, but the anime and manga are still running along completely different plotlines.