We finally got to see the encounter between the Vertex squad and EDVA; the guys now know what they’re up against and what she looks like. She’s quite pretty, I must say.
his episode focused much more on the character of Lala, whom we discovered was the one who took it upon herself to start bringing the others together; it was she, with her intelligence, who has taken on the task of defending planet Earth from EDVA’s imminent attack.
So it might have felt like not much happened in this episode that contributed to the main plot, and it might have felt like a bit more filler—that’s what some might argue—but personally, I couldn’t disagree more, because as I said, this episode serves to make everything we’re seeing and will see in the future make sense.
As we saw, the episode focuses on Lala’s efforts to crack the code of one of the Batanoids that the guys managed to capture. Lala, who’s trying to reverse-engineer it, works all night without a break and asks the guys not to interrupt her—in fact, she asks them to leave her alone because she doesn’t want any noise that might distract her. Something I liked about the episode is that it shows more of the group’s cohesion; although they still haven’t achieved synergy among themselves, it’s clear they’re already understanding each other much better. This is something I pointed out a couple of episodes ago, and while it still doesn’t fully convince me, it’s evident that work is being done to make them look like a real team—after all, the mission they’ve taken on is no small feat, to say the least.
We see that Lala isolates herself and bears her loneliness alone. Lala carries a past that’s revealed to us a little in this episode—a past that has shaped her into the young woman we see today. However, I liked the fact that the group was looking out for Lala at all times; the guys were worried about whether she was eating, since there was nothing else they could do—she’s the only one with the knowledge needed to carry out that decoding.
I liked this episode; I think it was necessary to explain a bit more about the group to us, especially a character like Lala, who’s been there but hadn’t been developed properly—she hadn’t even been properly introduced. Therefore, it’s commendable that they’re developing the characters and toning down the action and fights a bit. I liked the emotional aspect of the episode; the fact that the guys made her a cup of coffee creates a sense of unity and belonging within the group.
One thing I liked about the episode is that EDVA is a “data conglomerate” that wants to merge with ENIA in order to materialize—in other words, it’s a kind of AI seeking to become the ultimate robot to carry out its plans. I didn’t like that. Something else worth mentioning is the fan service. For those of us who’ve been watching anime for years, we know it’s a marketing tool—and that’s not necessarily a bad thing—but at least sometimes it feels a bit out of place in this anime; I’m not sure why. Well, that wraps up today’s analysis. Take care.
