10 Second Anime - Cross Ange - Episode 8

Cross Ange - Episode 8



Ange and Hilda escape Arzenal during the Mermaid Festa. Ange and Momoka head for the former Empire of Misurugi while Hilda rides off to the Enderant Union.

Meh.

It's standard convention in anime with cute girls for them to be surprised about wearing a new outfit as a way for the viewer to appreciate the change in dress, but it really chafes my sensibilities. It lifts me straight out of the viewing experience because of a conflict of verisimilitude.

Why in the hell would she be surprised about the outfit she just put on? Make a reaction against a comment or some other sight gag, but stop this surprise at what she's wearing as if it magically appeared on her. Hey, if it did magically appear, no worries, mission accomplished, but when this girl had to put her legs in little holes and tie thin little strings, there's no way she's surprised at what she's wearing. Give it up already. On a related note, Ange had the cutest swimsuit!

Heh.

Putting aside my meh reaction to Ange asking why she's wearing a swimsuit, (it was almost a feh! but I got better), Thalia, er, Salia had such a straightforward answer, I had to laugh. She called their flight suits and uniforms "stuffy" so, of course, only something skimpier could be more comfortable. Gah!

Arzenal is on a tropical island, so it's not much of stretch for the Norma to call their little festival the Mermaid Festa.

I'm still not sure how all these royal families control the world as nation states, but it was neat to see someone else from the first episode wanting more answers about this princess who was exposed as a Norma.

Combining a high school sports festival with a town summer festival was fine, but I guess that means the fun stuff is over with for the rest of the show.

Ah, Salia. You're such a pure innocent young woman.

Meanwhile, the older Norma have no qualms at making jokes at the magic user's expense.



~kyaaaa... Right. So embarrassed.

Speaking of Emma the mana user, I love how she reacts to the lack of decorum, especially from Vivian. The way she sang her response of "there aren't anyyyyy!" to Salia's query really got under Emma's skin. Funny stuff there.

Come on.  A dog being bribed by a basket full of hamburgers? There's only so much loyalty a friendly guard dog could have in such circumstances.

Hmm.

Hilda's plan for escaping during the Mermaid Festa was good thinking. They leave only one person monitoring the flight deck from the control room, and unless there's a Dragon attack, all the machines are locked down. Incapacitating the lone duty personnel and then picking the lock on the emergency launch panel was all she needed.

Ange really has become a better person. Letting Hilda onto the aircraft because of her own similar goals of reconnecting with a family member, while still a personal matter instead of altruism, is at least showing Ange's development of compassion.

We're finally going to see what is going on outside of the privileged view of royalty we had in the first episode and the very small lens from Arzenal. The crossed out sign pointing to Ange's nation confirms the chaos that happened there. An abandoned petrol station gives us a hint that magic is only a recent power source for civilization.

The apartheid of Norma and Mana users must also be pretty recent, and I hope to see some scenes alluding to that from Hilda's perspective as she tries to find her mother. I am really curious to see what's going on with Ange's family. We were given the reason for the little sister Sylvia's paralysis as a fall from a horse, and probably Ange's lack of magic adds some greater guilt now that she knows she shouldn't have been so careless.

We're off the island and going to see what's really happening in the larger world. Ange brought a whole bunch of guns with her, so you know she's going to shoot them. I expect to see some kind of rescue from execution for Sylvia. That would make a nice reunion scene.