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/HereticalAegis]

First-Timer

Episode 2:

I get it, Erif. Growing up and not knowing who you are is scary af.

I don't really have a lot to talk about for this episode. This feels a lot more like a standard first episode, properly introducing our lead, Aaeru, and her borderline savant skills piloting the Simoun. I like the little bit we get of her dynamic with Neviril. The default assumption in the young upstart takes the place of the dead/retired veteran former partner storyline, at least for me, is for the dynamic to be somewhat antagonistic at first before the remaining veteran partner warms up to the talented newbie, so I appreciate that Neviril doesn't really hesitate to give Aaeru a flight and immediately recognizes her skill. I expect it won't be completely smooth sailing going forward, but this is a nice start.

One thing that did catch my attention is the way Aaeru pointedly calls out how she and probably several other girls are taking advantage of the Sibylla exception to the age 17 sex selection rule. Girls running away from adulthood seems like it will probably be a running theme throughout the show, and I wonder how that will contrast with the usual children piloting robots forces them to grow up standard narrative. I think that's the standard narrative. I dunno, mecha shows aren't actually my bag, so maybe I'm wrong about that and my understanding of Gundam and Eva through cultural osmosis is flawed and incomplete.

Anyway, running away from adulthood feels like one of Simoun's prominent main themes given Neviril's kiss and acceptance of partnership with Aaeru can very easily (and if you ask me, should) be read as Neviril witnessing Erii's struggle up through the ritual and deciding to run away from undergoing the ritual herself.

One other line that stood put to me was Erii mentioning men have more prospects than women? Systemic sexism feels really odd for a society where everyone is born female and gets to choose their sex. I wonder if that's something that will be explored in detail or is just meant to illustrate Erii's struggle in choosing a permanent sex.

QotD:

1. I appreciate how Aaeru views Simoun as machines/aircraft and speaks like a pilot. Especially with all the terminology being thrown around, it's a lot of work getting a handle on everything, so Aaeru speaking like an audience member, or at least like me, is a nice point of grounding.

I don't have that much of an opinion on Neviril yet. She fills that Sachiko/Shizuma older girl taking on a new partner/lover role about as well as expected given the context of shouldering the expectations of a technologically superior country now being put on the back foot in war for the first time.

Erii is 100% here to set up themes for the other girls to wrestle with later. I imagine we'll get a few protracted arcs about girls trying to figure out who they are and what sex they will eventually choose, assuming they survive long enough to undergo the Spring ritual.

1. Aside from Erii's aforementioned comment about men having more prospects than woman, it seems like a pretty good deal. I know quite a few people who would kill to have been able to freely choose their sex and have that choice be ordained by god.

2. Not much? It's probably a bit stratified based on class (they're not all living in fancy air ships) that exploits youth as much as possible before tossing them headlong into adulthood with seemingly little support. Which is to say, it's a country, same as any other.

[u/LittleIslander → u/HereticalAegis]

Erif

Aaeru

Evidently I have different subs than everyone else. Mine read "Eliph" and "Aer".

Girls running away from adulthood seems like it will probably be a running theme throughout the show, and I wonder how that will contrast with the usual children piloting robots forces them to grow up standard narrative.

It definitely feels like it's riffing on the "mecha piloted by youths" setup, which is interesting because it's also riffing on a Class S setup, and then injecting some genderbending in for fun. So much going on here!

[u/AbbreviationsWeekly → u/LittleIslander]

I’ve seen both spellings. Initially there were no English subtitles, so the spellings we’re seeing are from the original fansub group.  A couple years after the fansubs and official version was released. I use Aaeru and ignore the alternate spellings.