Operation Stone Forest: Start

What They Say:
“Operation Stone Forest, Part 1”

Will Nobunagun’s plan to capture the Evolutionary Invasion Object tunnel and destroy the original cells work? Nine E-gene holders begin Dogoo’s most important operation yet.

The Review: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Phase one: Newton and Capa push on the Earth at an exact pressure point to lure the Evolutionary Invasion Object toward a certain area.

Phase two: Jack, Hunter, Geronimo, and Gaudi make sure that no EIO gets out of there.

Phase three: Gandhi and Sukhe push the rest of the EIO’s out of the tunnel and to the enclosed location in phase two.

Nobunagun, with just nine E-Gene Holders, has come up with a brilliant plan employing guerrilla warfare in the most exciting way possible. What I’ve always loved about Nobunagun is these fighting sequences, especially where Nobunagun gets to shine.

What this episode made me realize is that we really don’t know much about anybody else, save for Gandhi and Newton, and even those two are woefully little. Jack is arguably the second best characterized because his Jack the Ripper persona and his real persona are so similar (saying that Jack the Ripper the killer was Jack the person, but I don’t buy that). What we’re left with is really exciting action sequences that have little substance and a good portion of style. What’s frustrating is that it could be a lot cooler, given the room to operate. I feel like the show is talking down to me as a viewer by being so direct with its action while leaving subtle characterization to the battlefield and nowhere else.

Some of the best characterization has been on the battlefield, yes, but that’s only for lack of trying, it seems. Outside the battlefield, the show seemingly turns into something completely different that’s only goals are get back to fighting and fanservice (the last 17 seconds proved that). I’m excited to see the end of the show, but not for the reasons I should be.

In Summary:
I continue to have this stringent love/hate relationship with Nobunagun, but it’s not for lack of trying. I want to find all the cool stuff about this show, because I really and truly do love the really cool stuff. But there’s so much other stuff to wade through that it almost doesn’t seem worth it. ANN and MAL are saying there are 13 episodes, and I know what’s happening next, but I don’t know what they’re going to do with an entire episode of what will be essentially filler. Oh well, here’s to hoping.

Grade: B-, F for the last 17 seconds

Streamed By: Crunchyroll

Equipment: Radeon 7850, 24 in. Vizio 1080p HDTV, Creative GigaWorks T20 Series II