Space Battleship Yamato 2199: Episode 14 – Dead in Space

I think this week’s episode was the first time I have been disappointed by this show. That’s not because this episode was bad in anyway. It’s mainly because I’ve seen this style of episode done in better and I don’t like the solution of how this one came to an end. You see, this is the kind of episode where a character’s backstory is used to create an alternate reality to see where their wishes are fully realized, but they deny that alternate reality because of their strength of character. The solution in this episode seemed more Deus Ex Machina then I would have liked. Let me see if I can explain why.

Just beware spoiler warnings beyond this point. I think you readers know that by now.

Besides some quite Gamilas stuff, the episode opens up with Yuki Mori and Susumu Kodai returning from a scouting mission. Yuki Mori wants to take over controls of their scout plane while Kodai refuses. Yuki tries to pull rank considering that Kodai’s authority is currently removed for what he did last episode. The two have a little bit of a love spat over the radio, which everyone on the Yamato’s command deck can hear. Of course, that is commented on and the two are embarrassed by it. You would be also, if you had the same kind of discussion.

Suddenly, the Yamato rolls out of control dead in space. Through some fancy flying and using the emergency hatch, Yuki and Kodai enter the ship and it’s completely deserted. Even the robot, Analyzer is down. Of course, the ship starts to power up which ends up with the two patrolling the ship with guns out. (Yuki’s butt was put on display again when the two went down the ladder. She does have nice butt, but the fanservice is so unnecessary here.)  As you would expect, that stops when the two are taken by the mysterious figure.

This is where my problem with this episode starts. Yes, the backstories where presented. Kodai saw his family again, which isn’t a shock to anyone considering that his family is dead. Nothing new here, but here’s the thing. His family never moves around. They all sit at the table in preparation for a meal, so we never get any semblance of personality from any of them. All they do is try to lure away kodai’s stray thoughts from the situation at hand. I can at least say that we got more of Yuki’s backstory. She lost her memory due to being in a terrorist attack. Can’t say that’s completely unexpected. Something huge must have caused her to lose her memory. Still, she never left that artificial reality on her own. There was a bit of a Deus Ex Machine thing with Misaki, the radio operator, being possessed by the navigation system, i.e., an Iscandar, that hacked into the figure’s systems. That’s how Yuki was released from it. Kodai did get released from stasis with his own strength of well. We just didn’t learn many things that are new about him in this episode.

With both of them escaping their realities, at different times mind you, they were able to stop this mysterious figure from taking over the ship and sending it over to Gamilas fleet. I should also mention here that the crew was in some weird kind of stasis as well. Anyway, Yuki and Kodai disconnected the Wave Motion Core from the drive and then the witch, whose name we learn is Jirel at the end of episode, is dead. Her consciousness never returns to the Gamilas base and the Dessler’s lead female is the last remaining Witch. There is also a small moment between Yuki and Kodai, which means their relationship advanced a little bit. The crew returned too, so yay! The Yamato survived yet another conflict. Of course, they kind of have to. They wouldn’t save Earth otherwise.

In conclusion, this episode was ok. The direction between the scene transitions was the neatest aspect of this episode, because I added a needed extra flair to something that would just be average. I mean, this was like Lain or Paranoia Agent in space, but without the depth of either of them. In my mind, I am comparing this episode to something from Batman: The Animated Series which isn’t completely fair. Not most people would do that, but that’s who I am. Also, this episode really showed how Yamato 2199 is more of an ensemble piece then anything else. I am not saying that Kodai and Yuki are bland characters, but it really helps when there are other characters and thing going on. That’s the way this show has been written up to this point and you can tell that this is something that was missing through out this episode. Still, not every episode can end up as a home run, right? Some are just base hits and that’s ok. See you all next Friday for more Yamato 2199.

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This post is a part of the Yamato 2199 blog tour between me and DerekL. If you want to get involved: please click this link here, read what it says, watch the show with us, and post before noon on Fridays. Simple enough right?