AMAIM Warrior at the Borderline EP 16- Ghost on a Leash

Hi Irina, how are you doing today? I’ve been thinking about your blog a little more than usual recently. Started watching an anime called Bartender where characters visit a bar over their own stories and then a person’s problem is solved or at least helped by what bartender chooses for them. Then the ending happens where they talk about what makes the drink. Really makes me think more about your blog in just how comfy it is. Hopefully your week has been ok and you’ve had some nice things to drink perhaps :).

That sounds like a great anime. I had heard of it but I think I didn’t find where to watch it at the time and gave up. I should look into it again.

My week has been great, just a little busy. I feel like I am always sort of on vacation. A day off for Easter here, a long weekend there, but somehow I also feel like I really really need a vacation. Not sure why. Maybe it’s seasonal. It’s been very gray lately.

I don’t have a lot to really say about AMAIM this week, so this post might be shorter then usual maybe? (Unless I am lying and suddenly I pull out a six page thesis.) But there are only a couple things in motion and one of those is Shion and Gashin trying to talk to Amou. I mean, clearly something dark has happened to him which allowed him to kill someone in front of them. Those 8 months are really something, huh? People can really change over such a long time.

I find Shion and Gashin trying to find their approach to talk to Amou again pretty engaging. Even with Shion grasping with what she would have done in a similar situation considering that she is the sweetheart of the group. Then Gashin tries to at least come up with a conversation with the guy while simply doing maintenance or noticing how Amou is having nightmares. Our Gashin is a pretty big softy.

It is nice to see how far the three have gotten in their friendship. Considering the sort of things they have had to go through together, it’s not surprising that they would form a strong bond quickly, and it must be though to see one of your group going through something so difficult and not being able to do anything about it, or even understand.

I did think the scene of Amu being sick over what he did and Gai wishing he had an independent body so that he could pat his back, very cute somehow. It was awkward and not the type of conversation I think we would here much between two war buddies but then again Gai isn’t really a person so who’s to say this isn’t exactly the type of stuff he would come up with. It was a much softer and more emotional aspect of Amou and Gai’s relationship than what we’ve been shown so far and I liked it. Compared to how the series started, Amou is surrounded by people who care for him. Now if he could just find a way to see it.

The final encounter of the episode between Amou vs Gashin and Shion was excellent. I don’t know if forcing their way into knowing what happened to Amou is the greatest call in the entire world, but at the same time I don’t think anything is really going to be solved by Amou keeping everything to himself and his AI pal. Maybe its too much now, but it will open the door to something more later on at a pivotable moment. Something to keep an eye on for later.

That was out of character for Gashin, wasn’t it. In a way but then again in another way no. We do know that gashin is in fact a bit of an emotional timebomb. He does have very strong feelings about most things. And he has a lot of trauma to fuel tose feelings. But he’s been so good about keeping them bottled up and pretending he doesn’t care about anything. So when he lets the façade slip, it really makes an impact.

And Shion was a great contrast. Her reaction was the opposite, making herself even softer and smaller in order to not scare Amou away. But in the end, both are just a way to express how worried they are and how helpless they feel.


On the other side of the episode and Japan this week, Brad Wyat is doing some crazy things. As in, The Ghost is back in the form of it being a scarily pilotable robot. You know, even if it’s not finished yet. It’s time to see him face off against the Eurasian forces under Alexie Zolenov. That one particular brother of the brother and sister duo that appeared last season. I guess North America really does want everything to itself here. Sounds kind of familiar somehow.

Now, the fight was pretty cool and well directed with cool camera angles allowing some nifty reveals and things here and there. Especially with the new Ghost itself comes into view against a very well directed and angled Eurasian force. (How it moves reminds me of the Zero System from Gundam Wing.) I mean, I wouldn’t expect anything else at this point. Then there is the climatic duel between Alexie and Brad which obviously ended in Brad’s favor. The guy really is grasping power. He used to be a bit more subtle person last season, but his success has really done a lot for him in interesting ways. I did like the idea of the commander already facing Eurasia that he didn’t want Brad Wyatt to be involved from the many political and business angles he is using to push what he wants further.

I also really liked this fight. I find that the second cour is a lot better about blocking during action scenes, making the fighting choreographies easy to follow. I knew exactly who was who the entire time, I could keep a mental image of what the overall battle ground looked like and how the units were moving and I found the use of natural terrain as a strategy very compelling. It’s simple, effective and I can understand how and why that would work, which makes it interesting to follow along and see what the outcome is.

I’m not sure what I expected from a match up of Brad and the Ghost AI. In a way it was much more understated than I would have thought. Ghost was just a silent program like any other, and not an avatar with a personality like Gai and the others. It does make me wonder why Ghost was running amok in the first place. Who was controlling it then?

Now,  Alexie is alive and left to come with a plan on how he is going to approach the fight next. I feel like he is going to our “terrorist” friends in the future in a unique alliance. What do you think? Am I crazy? I really thinking Alexie and his sister siding with our three AMAIM pilots and their group would create some interesting dynamics going forward. A lot of good pushing and pulling from multiple people. Maybe I am crazy, but that is where I think this is going.

That would be interesting. In many ways Alexie seems to represent… Eastern European powers and I wonder how they will choose to depict that in the show. Maybe I’m reading too much into it. 

Still an unsteady alliance of convenience could open up a lot of possibilities for the story. I hope it happens one way or another.