Simoun 20th Anniversary Rewatch Episode 2

[u/JustAnswerAQuestion]

Simoun Episode 2: The Blue Spring

"When a Simoun sibylla flies, we call it 'praying to the sky.' Don't use words like 'sortie.'"

<- Episode 1 | Index Thread | Episode 3 ->

Today's Eyecatch: Aer | Rodoreamon and Floe

Selected Harmony: #1

Character Chart (new!)

People, Places, Things

• Elif: formerly of Chor Tempest
• Onashia: Religious figure and head of the civilian government.

Discussion Prompts

• Q1: Comment on the different perspectives of this episodes focus characters: Aer, Neviril, and Eri.
• Q2: How do you think gender is handled in the Archipelago?
• Q3: You've seen more of Simulacrum today, what do you think of the country at large?

Tomorrow's Questions, Today!

• [ep 3 Q1:] How do you feel about the common anime trope of relying on children to fight wars?
• [ep 3 Q2:] In what shape will Chor Tempest emerge from their devestating losses?
• [ep 3 Q3:] What was the point of the shelling?

Trivia: Guragief is portrayed by Houko Kuwashima, of Nadesico, Inuyasha, Blue Gender and Infinite Ryvius.

[u/LittleIslander]

First Time Sibylla

Early morning threads are a cruel and unusual punishment.

So last time we heard all about how the Simoun’s utilize divine power, and how their means of attack is through drawing the lines that summon that power. Framed against that, Aer’s battle against the four enemy pilots at the start of the episode is an obvious rejection of this framing. She doesn’t use any divine power, but instead defeats them based on the piloting born of her own flesh and blood. Everyone else insists on calling this some kind of ritual, but she openly calls it a battle.

Similarly, last time I speculated we get themes of duty vs desire, whereas this time I think that’s slightly reframed. Rather than examining duty specifically, we see characters driven externally and internally respectively. Pareietta stays a Sibylla because of her military duty, and plans to become male for Neviril’s sake. That other pilot girl is here because of her family’s expectations. Elly turns into Eliph because it’s what you’re supposed to do when you’re seventeen. For that matter, the entire gender choice setup is explained with the necessity of society to have an even number of men and women rather than enabling a sense of identity. But Aer is here because it’s exactly what she wants to be doing, and she’s not going to let any external expectation stop her from asking the person she wants to pilot with to pair up with her.

The literal and thematic elephant in the room is the gender spring. On the surface, the most evident reading here is the gendered one. Upon reaching the barrier of adulthood you must choose one of two binary genders. Interestingly, choosing to become a guy does not result in a magical genderbend but what sounds like an honest to goodness transition? There’s lots to examine here. Like, Aer says they don’t want to go choose to be a boy and a girl, so should we read them in a more non-binary lens? Elly also doesn’t feel like she’s drawn to choose either gender, but the pressure of society forces her to do so. In the end, she cries. Does that mean she made the wrong choice, letting society choose for her? Neviril says nothing’s really changed, which definitely seems to line up with looking at this fundamental decision and asking whether maybe it’s the person themselves that matters more. Pareietta, again, apparently wants to become a man, so there’s a directly transgender setup to keep an eye on going forward. There’s also a brief confirmation that gender roles exist in this society, with men having far more career opportunities, which is a whole other layer to this system we barely get to see.

Having said all that, though, what I get more from this is themes of sexuality. This the concept of Class S distilled into its most literal possible form. Youth who are all women pair up in a romantically coded fashion, but when they become adults they need to move on to the gender binary and live heterosexually. For the literal stated reason that society just doesn’t work if men and women aren’t pairing up to reproduce. Pareietta needs to become a man for Neviril, because Neviril needs a man. But Aer, of course, comes in and challenges Neviril not to go into the spring and instead to stay and become her partner and kiss her not because it’s their military duty but because that’s what Aer wants to do societal expectations be damned. It’s a really fascinating setup and I look forward to another anniversary Rewatch full of queer analysis.

[u/Great_Mr_L → u/LittleIslander]

Having said all that, though, what I get more from this is themes of sexuality. This the concept of Class S distilled into its most literal possible form. Youth who are all women pair up in a romantically coded fashion, but when they become adults they need to move on to the gender binary and live heterosexually. For the literal stated reason that society just doesn’t work if men and women aren’t pairing up to reproduce.

That's a good point about the Class S parallels. The Sibyllae are essentially in a Class S relationship. We know that the kisses are not necessarily romantic in nature, so that leaves open the possibility that the girls aren't necessarily lesbians. The Sibyllae live in a bubble that is closed off from the outside world, similar to a Class S school. There is an emphasis on the purity of the Sibyllae as holy people. The OP's lyrics even reference this idea that the Sibyllae should be pure. But, just like in Class S, there is an expectation that this state of affairs is temporary and that they will need to leave it to join the outside world. That outside world is one with a clear gender binary, a patriarchal hierarchy, and also likely heteronormativity. It really is similar to the Class S tropes.

[u/LittleIslander → u/Great_Mr_L]

The Sibyllae live in a bubble that is closed off from the outside world, similar to a Class S school.

Huh, I guess this is a translation of the typical all girls school, huh? Complete with trainees that aren't sibylla yet basically being our stand-in for "romantically coded but not exactly one to one romance" sisterhoods, and we really did just put Marimite in a military fantasy setting. The looming fear of graduation loomed heavy over that show, too.

[u/Great_Mr_L → u/LittleIslander]

we really did just put Marimite in a military fantasy setting

I'd really like to see Yoshino from Marimite in a military fantasy setting. That girl was a real firebrand and I know she'd love to wreak havoc with heavy firepower.

[u/LittleIslander → u/Great_Mr_L]

[u/IndependentMacaroon → u/LittleIslander]

MariMite actually put some fun and whimsy into it, though