Fuzors, Summaries: Episode 18 - Glory for the Man
Screenshot Gallery - My ThoughtsAs the episode opens, we see a group of strange Blox Zoids (the Chimera Blox, model fans will note) fighting the Black Impact Blade Ligers. Their lot in life, like Empire bodyguards, seems to be to suffer: they're tossed about, slashed, crunched, and generally beaten up as Rastani screams: "No! I can't lose! I'm the champion of Blue City! I'm the only one who can pilot the Blade Liger with the shining saber!"
Something toothy chomps, and his Liger is tossed to the floor in a shower of shredded bits. Rastani jumps out of the cockpit shortly before a Blox consisting mostly of a big dragon head (the appropriately named Demonshead) goes to town on his Liger's face. He screams for the Blox to stop it, PLEASE, and a shadowy figure in a booth orders a flunky to call off the Chimeras. They stop moving as if their strings were cut, the Demonshead with its jaws still wrapped around the Liger's head.
The figure shows up on screen—he looks like a more sinister Rastani with shorter hair, glasses, and a white suit. He goes by Reynard, and he hopes Rastani has learned something today: he might be the champion, but he can't withstand a full-on assault from these AI Zoids. From now on, the Chimera unit alone will make up the Black Impact team. Rastani protests the Zoids are dangerous and is immediately shot down, but he's not quite given up. He's got one more card to play: ego. There is someone who can defeat the Chimera Zoids, he says, and his name is RD of Mach Storm.
Mach Storm has two Fuzors, Reynard observes, no doubt seeing more potential for showing off his computer-controlled doom skills. He smirks, muttering what sounds like "Go on..." as we cut to the title screen: Liger Zero Falcon, braced as if for impact.
Back at base, Hop doesn't like the idea of an exhibition battle. RD does, being RD ("it'll be good for business!"). It seems he's been training, enough that Sigma's on his side, and he and RD start swaying Hop. Helmut, on the other hand, chimes in with cautions that RD should increase his ranking before he goes battling Rastani. Just as RD starts to realize Helmut has a point the battle challenge comes up on TV, News Lady going on about how Black Impact has a score to settle.
Remember what happened the last time Mach Storm got into a battle that was conveniently on the news right away? Yeah, me too.
Matt thinks it'll be "unreal!", and Sigma says they'd better make him part of the team, since the camera loves him and RD might need some solid backup. RD starts to ask if they should accept (like it's a question?), but Matt tells him to be quiet as News Lady has another bulletin already. Rastani and the other pilots on Black Impact have been benched in favor of unmanned Zoids. Weirdly, the graphic shown has three guys with Rastani, not two. Who was this random blond man, and why did he never do anything? More importantly, the Zoids on screen look like our munchy buddies from before, cast in dramatic green and black lighting.
Needless to say, Mach Storm wonders what's up. Unmanned Zoids, that'll be like fighting wild Zoids and not much of a battle, right? And Rastani's not even in the fight, so it's not a revenge issue—why'd they choose to challenge Mach Storm? Helmut looks serious, wondering if it could be that Black Impact has some kind of ulterior motive. "Hmmm...", comment the rest of the team, pausing as the audience headdesks.
The phone rings. Surprise: it's Rastani!
We cut for a brief moment to a SHEPG-style meeting, except it's just Burton and Reynard and thus not much of an evil planning group. Reynard's nervously telling Burton he's spent a lot of time and money insuring they'll win. Burton counters that this is no time to start worrying, and what matters is that the Chimeras conquer Mach Storm's Fuzors, showing "his people" the Chimera unit's superiority. It should be quite a show...
Rastani, meanwhile, is showing RD to a hangar. "I know this must be awkward for you, but just so you know, I've forgotten all about the battle royale," he starts off, actually sounding pretty friendly...if a bit unsettled and a bit dodgy. (At least he keeps his jacket on.) He goes straight to business after that, telling RD about the Chimera Unit he'll be facing. They're war machines, he says, with incredible artificial intelligence and assault capabilities. It makes them very powerful, because in a split second they can record an opponent's movements, analyzing them and launching an appropriate attack. Not only that, once the final blow's dealt, they continue their assault until they completely obliterate their target. Meanwhile, /Zero fans flashback to the BF and battle story nuts just nod along.
To emphasize his point, Rastani switches on the lights, illuminating his munched ex-Blade Liger—"As you can see for yourself, they don't know when to stop". He looks like he's trying not to cry and needs a hug, but RD has a complete lack of hug-needing detection. He gets angry instead. "That's disgusting! A Zoid shouldn't attack an opponent that can't fight back. I don't care if it has artificial intelligence built into it, there's no way it should ever be allowed to go that far in battle!" Rastani agrees, wishing he could have defeated the Chimera unit so RD wouldn't have been dragged into this.
He then explains what's going on with the team: his brother, Reynard, is the one who's running things now. A businessman of the bad sort (Fuzors seems to like those), he only thinks about the bottom line...and winning, no matter what it takes. RD wonders why Reynard's gone through all the trouble of equipping Zoids with a "lousy AI system" if all he wants is wins and moneys, and Rastani says he asked the same thing—and look what he got for it.
I don't know about you, but I just felt an incoming Plot Point there.
Reynard interrupts them, reminding Rastani that he's not supposed to be here. Rastani protests again that Reynard isn't going to be able to control the Chimera unit, but Reynard just brags how Zi Fighters will soon be obsolete: "If there's one thing I can't stand, it's someone who's no use to me. If you have nothing to offer this operation any more then I suggest you leave. Right...now." RD gets cross, being RD, and angry introductions are exchanged before Reynard continues his spiel about his artificial intelligence and its reaction time. As far as he's concerned, the Zi Fighters are just extra baggage. RD gets extra-extra cross, pointing a finger in Reynard's face and shouting lots. He'll put his money where his mouth is, all right—and crush the Chimera unit! Dramatic promises to quit Mach Storm if he loses are exchanged, and they both snarl at each other as the scene ends.
It's battle time, and we're at the ubiquitous arena outside the city. RD and Rastani are talking inside pre-battle, with Rastani still in sulky mode and RD still hyper-slash-angry. "Man, your brother sure is a creep. Oh well, that's okay with me, 'cause I'm gonna enjoy squashing his Zoids!" RD says, smacking a fist into his other hand. Rastani comes to Reynard's defense, in a way, flashing back to when they were kids.
He always looked up to Reynard, he says, and Reynard looked out for him at school. We get a brief shot of kid!Rastani, his brother, and some books (titled "Science", "Arithmetic", "Zoids <An Illustrated Zoids!!!>", and "The World of His-", possibly History, but it's cut off) as Rastani continues. He doesn't think Reynard ever forgave him for deciding to become a Zi Fighter instead of following in his footsteps, and now it's like he doesn't know him any more...
Back to the present, where Rastani is still exposition-ing. Somehow Reynard wrangled the management rights of the Black Impact team from their father and brought in the AI Zoids claiming he was cutting costs. It was really just to stop him from being a Zi Fighter, Rastani thinks, though it's hard not to pick up on the foreshadowing flying around. "You have to win this battle!" Rastani tells RD, grabbing ahold of his hand in a manly sort of way. "Show Reynard his Zoids are nothing without a real Zi Fighter to pilot them!"
"You can count on it!" RD replies, and they both nod to each other, having come to an also-manly understanding.
We finally cut to the arena, the Chimera Blox and Mach Storm staring each other down. The Zoids growl and snarl at each other, the Zero wobbling angrily as the Jet Falcon hovers behind it. The Command Striker is prefused, but the Zero isn't, so we have an abbreviated entry into Fuzorspace as RD calls on his metallic feathered friend. "Zi Fuzor," he yells, oddly channeling the Japanese version, "Liger Zero Falcon!"
Rastani is impressed, but Reynard shushes him, ignoring his younger brother's obvious cheering for the other side. The flunky notes that all safeties have been released—running program...Chimera Dragon! Things go purpleblackred and glowy on the Black Impact side of the arena, individual Blox swirl around and do unholy things to each other, and before long a nasty mishmash of a dragon takes their place. "It's just like the Matrix Dragon!" Matt points out, still failing to care about his dead Leoblaze.
RD rushes the Dragon, the Liger Zero Falcon bounding into the air for a clawfromabove. Unlike a thousand pilots in /Zero, the Chimera Dragon does the obvious: it moves the fuck out of the way. "That was a cheap shot!" RD protests, the Chimera Dragon replying by grabbing the Liger's head and flinging the entire Zero into the air by its face. Helmut tries attacking the side in the meantime, but eats only lance as the Dragon turns, lightning-fast, happily stomping on the Striker bits afterward. Sigma screams.
"Combat is a lot like business, little brother," Reynard remarks from their booth. "When you see your target, you have to go for it, and you don't stop 'til the job is complete."
Helmut rallies the troops (all three of them, one of whom is stuck to his Zoid), calling for a combination assault. They rush the Dragon together, bouncing around as the Striker shoots, confusing it.
"High five!" The Zero swipes for the Dragon, it dodges—
"Electric Fang attack!" The Command Striker bites down on its tail while it's snapping at RD—
"Let's take him down!" The Liger jumps on the Dragon's back, claws aglow—
—and things are looking good until the Dragon starts sparking, its eyes blazing with a bad-things-are-happening kind of glow. It flings the Liger and Striker back with the sheer power output, gaining a decidedly unfriendly black and red aura.
"Perfect...it's PERFECT!" Reynard gloats...until the Dragon whips out the BFG from the Diploguns and starts blasting the arena walls. Thankfully, the booths are shielded, but on a less cheery note, the flunky can't stop the Dragon. It's gone berserk, he squawks, and the overrides and manual control fail (of course). Firing rabidly at everything and nothing, the Dragon tears a hole in the wall and flies up to it, eyeing the its surroundings with instincts stuck on Dragon angry. Dragon SMASH!
Helmut takes the Command Striker up the wall anyway, hoping to stop the Dragon before it decides Blue City looks tasty. The Dragon takes him out in a single bite, grabbing hold of a foreleg and shaking it apart before unceremoniously tossing the tripodWolf to the arena floor. It lies there, sparking and failing to get up: not dead yet, but it ain't going anywhere. Helmut apologizes, telling RD it's up to him before the Dragon buggers off for the city (of course). The Liger Zero Falcon follows, and Sweet tells Hop to warn the PKB.
"Sir, the Chimera Dragon sees everything in its path as a potential target right now!" Flunky-guy says, further panicking. "It'll destroy the entire city if it gets there!"
"If I let that happen," Reynard moans, "I'll be finished!" Rastani snaps this isn't about him and urges RD to stop the Chimera Dragon. As if he weren't already trying!
The camera cuts ahead to the Dragon cruising toward the city, looking decidedly cross. The PKB are waiting for it-though without Gummie and the Giga. Hrm. Rows of Aro Saurers and Gorhecks scream cannonfodder defiance as it closes in, both sides shooting and the Dragon not really taking damage. They're just making it angrier, if anything, and Deed's comment that it's not getting past him earns him point-blank fire to his Gorhecks. Ciao and her Aro Saurer go for a bite to the throat, but the Saurer's teeth aren't up to Blox-crunching, and the Dragon grabs the Aro Saurer in its pincers and starts to squeeze.
RD charges in to the rescue, as heroes do. "You want a fight? You got one!" he says, ramming the Dragon claws-first. Seemingly unfazed, it drops the Aro Saurer, slapping it out of the way and firing back. RD takes to the air, the Zero twisting around mid-bound and flinging laser claw energy toward the Dragon's face. It doesn't care, and as he heads back in, the Dragon splits apart. The individual Blox sideswipe-bash on him much like they did the Blade Ligers, reforming into the Dragon before he can peg any single one.
The watching Mach Storm lot exchange proclamations of doom, noting the Chimera Dragon is crazy strong for an unmanned Zoid. Reynard starts to look more than a little crazy as the doomy music kicks in, announcing "It's no use. He's only a human, he can't beat a machine!"
RD, meanwhile, remembers what was said about the Dragon: it records an opponent's moves and responds appropriately. He seems to have formed a plan as the Dragon splits again, and reassures the Zero that they'll win this for sure if they just work together. The Blox all dogpile the Liger, and it goes down in Chimerabits and smoke. "I don't believe it. He gave up?" Rastani says, incredulous, as the base Zero lies there looking dead. The Dragon roars in victory, as RD grins:
"You lose, pal."
"SKREE," the Jet Falcon agrees, diving down to grab the Dragon's shoulders.
RD's tricked the Dragon, Helmut explains for the audience's benefit: while it was focused on the Zero, the Falcon was unfusing and getting behind it, leaving it confused as to who to attack first.
Zoid battles are all about people and Zoids working together, RD tells the confused Dragon, which doesn't have much more to say than "roar". The Falcon whips out the Buster Claws, stabbing the Dragon's neck as RD charges. The anything-but-helpless Zero lands a laser claw on top of the stabbity wounds, the multiple hits to its neck finally taking the Dragon down. It slumps to the ground as Rastani cheers.
Sandra has been watching, of course, complete with cat. Looks like Reynard brought a little too much baggage of his own to that battle, she says—and now his AI Zoids are in the rubbish. Mysterious Guy is watching too...still over the comm, though less in the shadows now. You can see his hair, his clothes. He's classily dressed, as you'd have suspected, and his hair is a strange wavy-fluffy sort of brown.
He thinks the Dragon was an interesting experiment: he got some valuable data, and he really enjoyed seeing the Liger Zero in action. Sandra also has a good evil word for RD, remarking he's very talented. "Yes," says Mysterious Guy, smirking as the scene fades to black. "I agree."
The day's fight over, RD and Rastani talk on a park bench as the sun sets. Rastani's back to being the rightful manager of the team, and his brother's going to stick to crunching numbers. RD and the Zero seem to have made an impression on Rastani ("I can't stop thinking about the Liger Zero. It's almost as strong as you!"), who says he's learned that guts and determination are what it means to be a great Zi Fighter. He also thinks RD's got what it takes to make it to the top league and wishes him luck. You can tell he means it, and he's perhaps going a wee bit fan boy.
They shake hands, exchanging friendly jabs as to who will win the next time they fight.
My Thoughts
Much like the Tigers in episode 15, it's Rastani's turn to get his ass kicked and turn into a sympathetic character. Jackie and Billie aren't along for the ride, though. They just disappear, never to be heard from again (not even in the giant gathering of secondary characters at the end). Perhaps they were only on the team as hired-for-money pilots. Rastani's transformation is effective enough...it's sudden, but if all he had was his ego and his team, losing both must have messed him up good.
Dammit, RD needs to learn to realize when people want hugs. His tactics-fu is much better here, though, as he once again splits off the Falcon to get the jump on an enemy. I really wish the Phoenix had done this, especially as the model is designed to have a half-fused mode.
Side note: I have trouble watching this episode in Japanese after seeing Gurren Lagann. The Rastani and Kamina voice actor overlap deal makes the whole ANGST ANGST BROTHEEEER deal hilarious, which is not the effect it should have. Of course, my sister cracking jokes about the ending with the suuunset and the fanboying doesn't help...
...blame Tuxpaint.
Previously: Nightmare in the Sky
Next: Showdown at High Noon
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